WINDOWS 10 IS finally here , bringing the familiar desktop back to the forefront and introducing new treats like Cortana, the virtual assistant, and Edge, the browser that will finally erase those bad memories of Internet Explorer. Wondering how to get in on the goodness? Don’t worry. It’s easy—and if you’re an existing Windows 7 or 8 user, it’s free.
First, you need to make sure your device meets Windows 10’s minimum requirements, which it should, because they’re not all that strenuous. You just need a 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM (or 2GB for 64-bit), and 20GB of free disk space. Forget your PC; other than the storage, even most phones measure up.
All set? Great. From there it’s varying degrees of easy, mostly depending on whether you reserved your upgrade already.
If you already reserved your Windows 10 upgrade: Good news! Upgrade files may already have discreetly downloaded onto your PC. Just look for the notification that says your upgrade is ready, and run the installer. The whole process should take between 20 and 60 minutes, depending on your rig.
If you haven’t reserved your Windows 10 upgrade yet: Look to your system tray for a “Get Windows 10” icon. From there, you can either reserve an upgrade (Windows 10 will roll out over the next few weeks, so not everyone can get it day one), or go ahead and schedule an install if your device already qualifies. When your magic moment arrives, in the form of a notification from Microsoft, go ahead and run the installer.
If you want to skip the line: Both of the above methods will work eventually, but they’re also dependent on waiting for Microsoft to anoint your device. Lucky for you, there’s an easy shortcut available. First, head here to download Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool (under “Select Edition” choose “Windows 10″ and click “Confirm”). Launch it, select “Upgrade this PC,” and click “Next.” From there, just sit back and relax; you’ll be basking in Windows 10 before you know it.
As always, it’s smart to back up your system ahead of time. And maybe most importantly, remember that the free upgrade offer only lasts a year; if you wait until July 30 of 2016, you’re going to have to pay up.
Cortana, Microsoft’s voice-activated personal assistant (and distant cousin of Siri) is one of Windows 10’s shiny new features. So far, the voice assistant has appeared on Windows Phone 8.1 as well as other mobile devices, but with the new OS, Cortana will have a home on your PC.
Finding Cortana is easy, just look for the circle to the right of the Windows icon, in the bottom-left corner of your screen. Once you clicked the circle, you can type your command, or click the microphone if you want to speak it. If this is too much clicking, saying “Hey Cortana” will also activate it. From there you can ask to set reminders, search for information, or navigate through your computer.
- How to Stop Windows 10 Auto-Updates
Microsoft included automatic software updates on Windows 10 in order to keep people up to date and using the most secure software. However, the opposite happened after beta testers were forced to download a Nvidia driver that kept causing crashes. These types of crashes due to faulty updates are rare, but the episode caught Microsoft’s attention and they offered a way to resolve it. On a support page, Microsoft offers a troubleshooter file for download that prevents drivers or updates from being automatically installed.
In order to do this, download the troubleshooter from the support page and open it. Once it’s running, you’ll have the option to hide or show hidden updates. “Hide updates” is Microsoft’s polite way of saying “stop these crazy updates!” so you’ll want to click that.
Next you’ll see a list of automatic updates with boxes next to them. Click any of the box corresponding to the update you don’t want and hit next.
If you ever want to see which automatic updates you prohibited, choose “show hidden updates” instead of “hide updates” on the initial screen. This will reveal the list of hidden updates and give you the option of unchecking them. So it’s no big deal if you change your mind later.
Keep in mind that this will only prevent future automatic updates, but if you want to uninstall an already installed update or driver, you’ll have to do that separately. To uninstall updates go to the search bar in the bottom left corner and type “view installed updates.” This will bring up a control panel, and once you have located the update, select it and choose uninstall. To uninstall drivers, open the Device Manager, choose the bad driver and choose uninstall. From there you’ll be able to select “delete the driver software for this device.” After that you should be all set.
- 9 New Windows 10 Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Know
While there are dozens of new keyboard shortcuts in Windows 10, most of them apply to Command Prompt, a part of the PC most casual users don’t have much call to explore.
The following shortcuts, though, will help you master improved features like Snap (which lets you “snap” desktop windows to the left or right side of your screen, taking up either a half or a quarter of your display) and new ones like Task View, which like OS X’s Mission Control allows you to set up several different virtual desktops that you can quickly switch between.
Snap a window left: Windows key + Left
Snap a window right: Windows key + Right
Snap a window to a quadrant: Windows key + Up or Down (after moving left or right)
Open Task View interface (to see all the virtual desktops you have running): Windows key + Tab
Switch to recent window (within Task View): ALT + TAB
Create new virtual desktop: Windows key + CTRL + D
Close current virtual desktop: Windows key + CTRL + F4
View the next virtual desktop: Windows key + CTRL + Right
View the previous virtual desktop: Windows key + CTRL + Left
