The completed consumer edition of the newly-announced Windows 10 operating system will be available in late 2015, the software giant confirmed on Tuesday.
Microsoft announced the surprisingly-named OS at an event on Tuesday, but focused largely on the benefits for Enterprise users rather than go into use detail on the innovations aimed at the public.
The firm said it’ll be going into more detail about new features next year and will preview a more complete version of the operating system at its annual Build conference in April.
If Microsoft follows previous form, its vow to launch ‘later in 2015,’ could mean an October release date, but Windows fans might have to be patient in order to nail down a firm release date.
One way to take the software for an early spin is to sign up to the Windows Insider Program, which will offer an early beta of the software from Wednesday.
These tech-savvy, “enthusiastic fans” who’ll get access to the Technical Preview will get to test drive the new features before anyone else.
Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore, the Windows VP, said the company is sharing “more than we ever have before, frankly earlier than we have before”
“We’ve designed the tech preview so you can see what we’re building, as we’re building it, so you can tell us what you think,” Belfiore said.
Belfiore says the version of Windows 10 available to these preview testers only “scratches the surface of what we have planned,” adding that a lot of polishing will take place before consumers get their hands on the software.
Microsoft will be taking user feedback over the next few months and feeding that into the final product, much in the way Apple has done with its public Mac OS X Yosmite beta versions.
The company says the tech preview is designed for PC experts who are used to working with incomplete software, rather than those users who simply fancy a nose around Windows 10 and aren’t equipped to deal with the inevitable array of bugs. Belfiore recommends beta participants to install the preview on a secondary PC.
For putting up with those “rough edges” Insiders will get two major benefits. Firstly, there'll be more frequent updates with earlier access to the less polished software. There’ll also be access to the Windows Feedback, giving tests a direct line to Microsoft.
Still interested? Head to preview.microsoft.com and await the availability of the download. You can take a look at the preview in the view below.
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