Windows 10 launches: User experience makes work easier

For enterprises and businesses, Windows 10 takes the best usability experiences of Windows 7 and Windows 8 combining them into one operating environment that works seamlessly across devices: Surface, PC, tablet, and smartphone. The usability features also mean reduced support costs for the IT department. It’s a win-win!

Start menu

The favorite Start menu, expandable to large screen or back, has returned and improved with one-click access to functions and files you use a lot. Click the Windows icon in the bottom left corner to open up a new Start menu panel. Save apps and Live Tiles directly in the Start menu for real time updates; group items; use Office; power down; right click for more. For faster access, you can pin your favourite items to the Start menu such as apps, programs, folders, contacts, websites.  For example, select All apps, right-click an app, select Pin to Start or Pin to taskbar (which is at the bottom of your screen).  It is that simple and easy to use.

On the left side of the Start menu you will see these areas:

-Most used—apps

-Recently added—new apps

-List of the quickest way to File Explorer, Settings, Power

-All apps—all your apps in alpha order

Towards the center of your Start screen, you will see Live Tiles originated with Windows 8 giving up real-time updates on email, appointments, weather, news, money-related, Microsoft Store and more from your apps.

Feeling cluttered, move your pinned apps into a group by moving an app tile to an open space and releasing the tile when a gray divider appears. Move tiles into or out of the group. To remove a tile, right-click and select Unpin from Start.

Action Center, Task View, Snap Assist

Make multitasking easy and simple with Action Center, Task View, and Snap Assist.

To save you time of having to go to the application, Action Center (on the bottom of your screen, right-side of the taskbar) keeps your notifications and key settings like email replies, changing screen brightness, airplane mode (for busy travelers), tablet (desktop) mode (system adjusts to device size) in one view for quick action and simple management.

Task View keeps things simple by allowing you to see your open apps, docs and files in a single view and if things gets too crowded you can create a virtual desktop (more on this below).

Snap allows you to drag a window to the corner or edge of a screen and it automatically adjusts to fill part of the space leaving leftover space to fill with another program or app. With Snap Assist, when you snap an app or program to the screen edge, Windows 10 will suggest recently used windows to fill the remaining space. Want to fill a quarter of the screen for up to four concurrent applications? Use Corner Snap! Your layout is preserved when switching between tablet and desktop mode.

Virtual Desktops

When things get too crowded, click the Task View button (towards the left and beside the search box) on your task bar and click the “+ New desktop” option (right-side of the screen) to add a new virtual desktop. There are no practical limits to the desktops you create. You use Task View to easily switch between desktops–with Hover Preview you can search between desktops to find files, documents or apps; you can click on the app preview button to bring that window forward. Finally, you can easily drag and drop programs to your virtual desktop of choice.

Fast, easy—Usability is front and center with Windows 10.