Microsoft Plans to Talk More About Windows 10 at January 21 Event

Microsoft plans to reveal more of the consumer features of its Windows 10 operating system at a Jan. 21 event at its Redmond, Wash., headquarters.

Microsoft

The operating system isn’t due out until later next year, but Microsoft had said it planned to share details in stages when it first unveiled the Windows 10 name and an early preview version back in September.

CEO Satya Nadella is expected at the January event, along with Windows leaders Terry Myerson and Joe Belfiore.

With Windows 10, Microsoft is aiming to unify its mobile and desktop operating systems as well as create a product that is more appealing to businesses that have long relied on Windows but were turned off by the radically different look of Windows 8. Microsoft has yet to show the mobile version of the operating system that will power phones and tablets.

On the desktop, Windows 10 resembles Windows 7 as much as it does Windows 8, with Microsoft having scaled back the radical touch-centric overhaul it made with the last update. New-style Windows 8 apps can run full screen, but now can also run in standard windows alongside classic programs. The old-style start menu and desktop are front and center as well.

Windows 10 will be a critical launch for Microsoft, which has to show not only that it has learned from past missteps, but also that it has come up with enough new to compete with Apple, Google and others.

As for timing, Myerson had said in September that the middle of next year was a reasonable time frame, but recent comments from Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner suggest it could be more like fall before the software is on new PCs.

Microsoft also has yet to say if it will make substantial changes to the way it prices the new software. The company has already made Windows free for devices with screens smaller than nine inches.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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