Windows 10: Top 8 Features for Business

Windows 10 marks the return of the classic Start menu. Credit: Microsoft

Microsoft's next major operating system was designed with business users in mind. The upgrade, called Windows 10, is the follow-up to Windows 8, which garnered a tepid response from businesses when it launched in 2012 due to numerous confusing interface changes. Yes, you read that right — it seems that Microsoft was so eager to distance itself from Windows 8 that it skipped version 9 and went straight to Windows 10. The official line from Microsoft is that the new name is meant to convey that Windows 10 is a big leap forward and not just an iterative update.

Bizarre naming conventions aside, the newest version of Windows seems primed to deliver what Windows 8 couldn't for business users: a no-nonsense upgrade to Windows 7 that keeps the focus on the familiar Windows desktop layout while adding a slew of productivity-boosting improvements. From the return of the traditional Start menu to easier security updates, Microsoft seems primed to recapture the enterprise sector with Windows 10. Here are eight features that will make it better for work than its predecessor.

 

Return of the Start menu

Windows 8 did away with the classic desktop Start menu that appeared in every prior version of Windows, opting instead for a colorful, full-screen "modern" Start menu. However, the new interface wasn't quite designed with productivity in mind, since it was easier to navigate on a touch-screen tablet than with a mouse and keyboard. Plus, it forced businesses to retrain employees on how to perform basic tasks such as launching apps. Windows 10 reintroduces the old Start menu; just click the Start button on the bottom-left corner of the screen to open it up. But Microsoft hasn't totally abandoned Windows 8's colorful, "Modern" app tiles – they appear in the (now scalable) Start menu, right beside standard desktop programs, and users even have the option to hide them altogether.

Continuum 

Windows 8 was designed to work on touch-screen tablets; the Start menu featured big, highly visible buttons that were easier to press on your mobile device's small display. But that approach was less successful on the desktop, where users wanted greater control and more options. That's why Microsoft is introducing a new context-based feature called Continuum that can change the user interface of your device, depending on whether you have a mouse and keyboard plugged in. It's primarily designed for use on "hybrid" devices such as Microsoft Surface tablets, which can be used as either a tablet or a keyboard. When you have the display docked to the keyboard, you can work on the desktop as you're used to doing. When you unplug the keyboard, a box will pop up, giving you the option to switch to a touch-optimized interface that's basically the full-screen Modern Start menu in Windows 8 — perfect for tablets.

Better search

Microsoft first implemented a persistent search bar in the Start menu in Windows 7; just open the Start menu and start typing to search for files and programs on your computer. The old search bar is still there in Windows 10's Start menu, but now, users can also activate the search dialog by clicking the new magnifying-glass button on the taskbar. More important, the search functionality has been improved, giving you quicker and more accurate results when you search for recently opened files or folders. That way, you can spend less time searching for files and more time working. You can even search for Web content from the search bar now; Web results will be returned alongside other search results, with an icon to indicate that it's a Web page. 

Virtual desktops

As you move through your typical workday, you probably use different apps at different times. That's why the new virtual desktop functionality — dubbed Task View — in Windows 10 might be useful. It's a handy multitasking feature that lets you create as many "desktops" as you like, each with different apps open, and switch between them on the fly. For example, you might create one desktop that always has Microsoft Excel, the calculator app and your favorite finance software open. When you're done crunching numbers, you can keep those apps open and running so they're ready to use, but switch to a different desktop so they aren't cluttering up your workspace. Switching between desktops is as easy as clicking a button on the taskbar.

Universal apps

Alongside the new Modern Start menu, Windows 8 introduced Modern apps, which ran inside the new full-screen Start menu. Unlike standard desktop apps, Microsoft restricted your options for minimizing or resizing modern apps, making multitasking more difficult. Now, in Windows 10, Modern apps work just like any other Windows program, allowing for a more unified experience. Each app runs inside its own window on the desktop, and app interfaces now scale as you change the size of the window. Microsoft says it is also working on new "Universal" apps that work just as well on the desktop as they do on a tablet or smartphone, to help you stay productive no matter what device you're working on.

Snap-view multitasking

In Windows 7, Microsoft introduced Aero Snap, a useful feature that lets you drag windows to the left or right boundary of your desktop to "snap" them in place over half of your screen, letting you quickly and easily set up a split-screen view with two apps. It instantly became one of the best multitasking features ever introduced on Windows — and it's even better in Windows 10. Now you can also snap windows to the corners of your screen so they take up one-fourth of your display, letting you easily divvy up screen space when you need to view multiple programs at once. 

File security

Though not many details have been announced, Microsoft hinted at a new micro-level security feature that can help you keep your work files safe. Instead of running enterprise apps inside a secure "container" that can't be accessed by other apps on your computer, Windows 10 is capable of employing data separation at the file level. That way, files stay secure no matter where they go — even when you move them from your PC to a mobile device, email them to a co-worker or upload them to the cloud.

Easier updates

Businesses rely on regular updates to keep their employees' machines secure, and Microsoft says that enterprise updates will be easier than ever with Windows 10. A new feature lets businesses opt in to a steady stream of consumer-level updates, or lock down their employees' Windows environments so that only critical security updates are applied automatically, giving IT administrators more control.