The removal of the Start menu in Windows 8 prompted a public outcry. Previously used by millions of users as their first point of access to all software, the Start button was replaced with a shortcut to Microsoft's mobile interface, featuring 'live tiles' optimised for touch-based computing.  With Windows 10, Microsoft has brought back the Start menu, featuring a list of most-used applications and some shortcuts to settings and power functions. By clicking on 'All Programs,' users can browse the full list of applications stored on their PC or device, just as they can on Windows 7.  It is now possible to navigate using a letter grid. Users can click on a letter to jump to a list of applications beginning with that letter, rather than trawling through the whole list.  Also included on the right hand side of the Start menu is a customisable panel featuring live tiles. These tiles can be repositioned, resized, pinned and unpinned, just as they could in Windows 8.  The advantage of this panel, according to Microsoft, is that users can create shortcuts to applications dowloaded from the Windows Store. They can also get a snapshot of what is going on inside any app. For example, a calendar live tile might show your next appointment, and a Facebook live tile might show the latest photo you shared.  In all likelihood, the applications that appear on this panel will overlap with the automatically-generated list of most-used applications that appears on the left hand side of the Start menu, but there are arguably some instances when the two will differ.  If having live tiles in the Start menu seems a bit pointless, you can just delete them all and reduce the size of the Start menu so that it appears just as it would in Windows 7.  With Windows 8, if you launch an app from the Windows Store while you are in desktop mode, it automatically goes full-screen and switches to mobile mode. Many users have complained that this is confusing and irritating, and that it is not clear how to get back to desktop mode.  With Windows 10, clicking on one of the live tiles in the Start menu does not take you into the mobile interface. Rather, it launches the application within the desktop environment, in a window that can be resized, maximised, minimised and closed, just like any other Windows program.  From the user's point of view, this is much more intuitive, and means you no longer have to think about whether the program you are running is a traditional program or a Windows Store application – they all run the same way.  Under the hood, Microsoft points out that improvements in Windows 10 mean apps start faster, run faster, are significantly more secure and help to extend battery life. However, from a consumer point of view, the most important thing is that they work the way you expect.  For 20 years, Microsoft has been offering the same web browser, called Internet Explorer. Over that time, numerous updates have been made and features added that primarily serve the needs of business customers – such as group policy settings and line-of-business app compatibility – that most consumers don’t need and don't care about.  With Windows 10, Microsoft is introducing a new browser called Edge, which is aimed squarely at consumers. The focus is on speed and ease of use, stripping out things like ActiveX controls and essentially making the internet a less stressful place to be.  Edge includes a number of nice features like a button that allows you to convert any web page into an easy-to-read format, removing adverts and sidebars and allowing you to focus on the core content such as text and pictures. Users can also customise the colour of the background and the size of the font to improve the reading experience.  If you bookmark a web page in Edge it will automatically cache the page so that you can read it offline. There is also a tool called Web Note that allows you circle things on the page, make notes and highlight passages of text. You can then take a screenshot and share the image via email or a social network.  Windows 10 will also come with Internet Explorer pre-installed, for people who want access to a richer set of web tools. However, Edge will become the default browser on Windows 10, and Microsoft believes that it will provide more than enough functionality for the average web user.  Microsoft has long supported keyboard shortcuts to allow people to manage multiple apps running on their desktop, such as alt-tab to cycle between apps, and the Windows and arrow keys to split the screen, but they are not well known. In Windows 10, it is more obvious how to issue these commands.  For example, there is now a button on the taskbar that gives you a zoomed-out view of all the apps running, and lets you select the one you want. It is also possible to create multiple virtual desktops and choose which apps to run on which desktop.  Microsoft said this could be useful if you are working on several projects and want to create a virtual desktop with all the relevant apps for each project. Then if you wanted to share your desktop with a colleague over Skype, for example, you could just share the appropriate desktop. It also lets you keep your work apps and personal apps separate.  Apps can easily be dragged between different virtual desktops, and if you close one desktop, all the apps that are open will automatically transfer to a different desktop.  It is also possible to 'snap' apps to different parts of the screen simply by dragging them into the appropriate place. So if you drag a window to the top right corner, for instance, it will automatically adjust its size to fill exactly a quarter of the screen. Other windows can then be snapped to the other three corners to present a neat split-screen view.  While none of these features are exactly Earth-shattering, they do help to make some of the less-well-known functions in Windows more easily accessible and consumer-friendly.  Cortana is one of the more innovative features of Windows 10. Already available on Windows Phone, Cortana is Microsoft's answer to Apple's Siri and Google Now. While many people think of it purely in terms of issuing voice commands, it is actually much more than that.  Cortana uses artifical intelligence to learn about the user and provide personalised information. The digital personal assistant is integrated into the desktop, Microsoft applications and the Edge browser, and works across PCs, tablets and mobile platforms, including iOS and Android. You can interact with Cortana either by speaking, or by typing queries, and she will respond in the same way.  On the desktop, Cortana appears as a search field in the taskbar. This can be used to search across documents, folders, settings, apps, photos, videos and music stored on the computer or device, as well as on the web using Bing search.  Over time, Cortana learns more about you, such as bands you like and sports teams you support, and proactively highlights relevant news and information from the web. With your permission, it can also use location technology to learn where you live and work, and identify other important places, to better tailor its responses  This means that, as well as typing or dictating standard search queries like "How old is Harrison Ford?" or "How do I get to Buckingham Palace?" which will provide responses from Bing search, you can also ask "How long will it take me to get home?" or issue a command like "Remind me to put the bins out," and it will understand and respond appropriately.  Thanks to integration with Microsoft's email and calendar clients, Cortana can extract relevant information and issue prompts. For example, if you have been discussing a particular airline flight in an email, and that flight is delayed, Cortana will alert you about the delay. Or of you have a meeting across town and there is heavy traffic, it will tell you when you need to leave to avoid being late.  Thanks to integration with the Edge browser, users can also use Cortana to pull up extra information on places, people, restaurants or individual words without having to leave the web page they're on, by simply right-clicking on the words and selecting "Ask Cortana".  Although digital personal assistants are becoming more commonplace, some people will find some of these features a bit creepy or invasive. Microsoft stresses that Cortana will only access the information you give it permission to access, so if you would rather she kept out of your email and calendar, you can block her from seeing that information.  People have become fairly used to having notifications popping up on their smartphones and tablets, but Windows 10 also brings them to the desktop. If you are using a keyboard and mouse, an icon will appear on the taskbar to alert you to messages and events you haven't seen.  Clicking on the icon will bring up a notification centre with more information, as well as shortcuts to the relevant apps. Users can also turn WiFi on or off from within the notification centre, or adjust 'quiet hours' and battery saver. If you’re using a touch interface, you can just swipe from the side to bring up the notification centre.  Windows 10 includes a range a new security features, including support for biometrics. A new feature called Windows Hello allows you to unlock your desktop either by looking at the screen or using your fingerprint.  The facial recognition feature requires an infrared camera like Intel's RealSense. The camera scans your face in 3D and compares it with data stored on the computer to determine whether or not you are the validated user.  Microsoft said that Windows 10 does not store an image of your face on the computer, merely a data representation of that image, so if the data got into the wrong hands, it would not be possible to reconstruct the image.  Microsoft is killing off of Windows Media Center – its software for recording and playing TV, music and video – in Windows 10, and replacing it with modified versions of Xbox Music and Xbox Video, which have been renamed as 'Groove' and 'Movies & TV' respectively.  Groove users can upload all their MP3s (including those purchased from iTunes) to Microsoft's cloud service, OneDrive, and access them using the Groove app on any Windows device, Xbox, or via a web browser. Microsoft said that the Groove app will also be available on Android phones and iPhones soon.  On the Windows 10 desktop, users can drag individual tracks into playlists, hover over the taskbar icon for playback controls, or right click to pin an album to the Start menu.  They can also sign up for a Groove Music Pass subscription (previously Xbox Music Pass) for £8.99 per month, which allows them to stream and download music from the Windows Store and create custom radio stations based on their favourite songs, albums and artists – a bit like Spotify.  Meanwhile, the Movies & TV app in Windows 10 lets users import their personal video collection, buy or rent films and TV shows from the Windows Store, and drag and drop videos between different collections.  One nice feature of the Movies & TV app is that users can start watching a video on one Windows 10 device, and then pick up where they left off on another device.  Unlike with previous versions of the operating system, Windows 10 works across all Microsoft devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones – as well as the Xbox games console and HoloLens, Microsoft's new wireless holographic headset.  This means that any device can theoretically run Windows 10 in any mode, but practically it works by detecting the status of the device it is on and automatically choosing the most appropriate mode.  For example, when a Surface Pro 3 tablet is plugged into a keyboard it will be in desktop mode, but when the keyboard is unplugged a notification pops up asking the user if they want to switch to tablet mode. If the user agrees, the live tiles will become full screen, and it will feel more like Windows 8 – but with some improvements.  For example, there is now a button on the taskbar that lets you see all your frequently used apps, as well as date, time, network and power levels at a glance. Cortana is also integrated into the tablet and mobile mode, and draws data from all the same apps.  Users can choose to manually switch to desktop mode, even on small tablets and smartphones. However, if you open an app it will switch back to mobile mode and run full-screen, unless there is a keyboard attached. This is because Microsoft claims that most users prefer to use live tiles if they have a touchscreen.  If you hated Windows 8 in tablet mode, you'll probably hate Windows 10 in tablet mode as well. However, this is Microsoft's best attempt yet at making its core applications work on a touchscreen interface.  Microsoft will begin rolling out Windows 10 in 190 countries and 111 languages on 29 July. Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users can pre-register for their free Windows 10 upgrade by clicking the Windows logo that will have appeared on the right-hand side of their taskbar.  However, this does not necessarily mean they will get Windows 10 on 29 July. The update will first be rolled out to the 4.4 million people who have taken part in the Windows Insider programme.  Microsoft will then begin notifying people who have reserved their copy of Windows 10 in waves, slowly scaling up after 29 July. Once a copy becomes available, Microsoft will scan the user's computer to check it is compatible, and then download Windows 10 automatically.  If the user's system is not yet ready to be upgraded to Windows 10, Microsoft will provide more details during the upgrade experience. In some cases, users will need to contact an application provider or device manufacturer to learn more.  The update is free to anyone with a registered version of Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 who opts in within a year. After this time, Microsoft will charge a fee. Anyone using an older version of Windows, or buying a new computer with Windows 10 installed on it, will also have to pay.  Windows 10 for desktop is a massive improvement over Windows 8. It builds on the more intuitive aspects of Windows 7 and Windows 8, combining the familiarity of the Start menu with a number of new features that genuinely seem to improve user experience, such as Edge and Cortana.  Microsoft appears to have learnt from the success of Google's Chromebooks that most consumers would choose a clean interface and the ability to access the web instantly over a complex system with lots of heavy-duty tools. These tools are still available if you dig down but, crucially, they don't get in the way.  Although live tiles are still a feature of Windows 10, they are much less intrusive than in Windows 8. They can be as much or as little of a feature as the user wants, and can even be removed altogether. With this new level of control, users may feel more inclined to explore the utility of live tiles in a desktop environment without feeling like they're being forced upon them.  When used on a tablet or smartphone, Windows 10 is not hugely different from Windows 8; most of the changes are under the hood. However, small improvements in usability should make learning the system less of a chore for the uninitiated.  Ultimately, Windows 10 seems like an operating system that both Windows 7 and Windows 8 users can upgrade to with confidence. For Windows 7 users, some elements will still feel alien, but unlike with Windows 8, there is enough that is familiar to make the transition relatively painless.  Windows 8 users, meanwhile, will find a lot to like in Windows 10. Many of the rougher edges of Windows 8 have been smoothed over, making the whole experience feel slicker and more like what its predecessor should have been.  Some may choose to wait and hear what friends and family have to say about Windows 10 before taking the plunge. However, with the ongoing investment in this version of the platform from both Microsoft and the millions of Insiders who will continue to provide feedback after launch, Windows 10 may prove to be not only the last but also the best version of Windows.
Is Windows 10 any good? Find out with our preview ahead of Microsoft's new   release on 29 July