Introducing Windows 10

Microsoft has taken the wraps off its new version of Windows. Windows 10 brings back some old favourites, while looking into a cloud-first, web-first future. By Graham Barlow, Dan Grabham

Microsoft has announced the successor to Windows 8, cutting version 9 out of the chronological sequence altogether and jumping straight to version 10.

“I think we’d all say that Windows is at a threshold,” said Terry Myerson, executive vice president of the Operating System Group at Microsoft, introducing the new Windows 10 while making a joke about the well-known codename for the next OS, “and now its time for a new Windows.”

10 Years of Ubuntu

We celebrate a decade of the distro by looking back at Ubuntu with its movers and shakers.

Ten years ago this month, a seemingly unassuming distro nicknamed Warty Warthog emerged in the Linux landscape and set in motion a cultural landslide that would see Linux rise from the shadows of the archetypal operating systems and become, in 2014, a household name. Since October 2004, Warty Warthog has evolved through numerous forms into Utopic Unicorn, the latest version of Ubuntu.

A catalyst for change, Ubuntu has achieved a great deal in its first fabulous decade. It pioneered the idea of a Linux operating system that just worked straight out of the box, without the need to manually troubleshoot and configure your hardware. It popularised the graphical interface that we use for most of our distro installations today, making them more accessible and easier to use, as well as the long-term support releases that many of us rely on for our main computers. It sharply divided opinion by having an opinion on the future of desktop and mobile operating systems, predicting convergence and boldly taking a hand in preparing the way.