Microsoft is planning to launch the much-anticipated Windows 10 this summer across 190 countries and 111 languages, though the exact date of the operating system's global launch was not revealed.
During a speech by Microsoft Executive VP of Operating Systems Terry Myerson at the Windows Hardware Engineering Community Summit in Shenzhen, China, Myerson said that Microsoft was committed to a summer release for Windows 10.
Myerson's statement of a summer release date for Windows 10 was also included in a blog post on the official blog for Windows.
Microsoft is hoping that Windows 10 will allow the company to recover from the failures experienced by its predecessor, Windows 8. The company has previously stated that Windows 10, which will be used across various electronic devices from high-end computers down to entry-level smartphones, will be a free upgrade to users with computers running on either Windows 8.1 or the older Windows 7.
During the WinHEC summit, Myerson also took the opportunity to introduce a new feature for Windows 10 named Windows Hello, which is a new process for authenticating identities using the face, fingerprint or iris of users to unlock Windows 10 devices. Windows Hello will be supported by third party systems that incorporate the RealSense technology of Intel, which is able to measure depth using infrared cameras for tracking the position and location of objects.
Another new feature for Windows 10, which was leaked earlier this week, would allow updates to the operating system and certain applications to be rolled out using peer-to-peer protocol, as opposed to how Microsoft has traditionally released updates, which is through a single source and through the Windows Update software. The leak showed that users can choose to receive updates from more than one place, including from other computers on the user's local network and/or from other computers connected to the Internet.
In his speech, Myerson also said that a free Windows 10 version that will be optimized for small-footprint Internet of Things devices will be launched along with the operating system's general release.
"Windows 10 will offer versions of Windows for a diverse set of IoT devices, ranging from powerful devices like ATMs and ultrasound machines, to resource constrained devices like gateways," said Myerson.
With these new features, Microsoft is hoping that Windows 10 will find more success compared to Windows 8, which was largely criticized by experts and the public due to factors such as the requirement of a touch screen interface to take full advantage of the operating system's features and the removal of the iconic Start Menu, which will be reintroduced in Windows 10.
