Windows 10

March 12, 2015March 12, 2015 Ben Coelho Operating Systems features, technical preview, windows 10

Recently there’s been a lot of talk about a certain operating system. A greatly anticipated, high-budget yet ridiculed operating system.

By now you’ve probably heard of it – the eponymous Windows 10.

The Windows 10 Technical Preview is shown at a press conference in Redmond.

It’s the latest iteration of the Windows OS, and it’s good.

So what really is there to be excited about?

Well let me show you.

First of all, they’ve brought back the start menu!

At long last, it's finally back again! — At long last, it’s finally back again!

If you’ve been a user of the recent Windows 8 operating system, then you may have realised there was no start menu. It was all based around the tastefully named ‘Metro’ structure, which was based on tiles and primarily designed for a touchscreen interface. After a good 4 years we still haven’t seen much of the start menu in Windows products, but that’s set to change!

The snap tool is now easier to use than ever!

The user can snap up to 4 separate windows onto one screen.

Even though it was present in Windows 8, it wasn’t the easiest feature to use. It was admittedly buggy, especially if you had more than one monitor. Now in Windows 10, they’ve done a really good job of fixing up the feature so that it’s intuitive and flexible. If you spend a lot of time multi-tasking, you will come to love this feature.

Cortana – your artificially intelligent assistant

Cortana allows you to interact with your OS like never before.

First available for Windows Phones, Cortana has finally moved over to the Windows 10 desktop operating systems.
Cortana is an artificial intelligence that you can ask to help you out with your daily tasks. She’ll keep you up to date with the latest news, lets you set reminders and even offers herself as a conversational partner for when you’re feeling lonely – how kind!

Those were the most prominent features of Windows 10, for more information, check out the technical preview from Microsoft. You can even get your hands on a test version of the operating system, if you’re feeling curious! http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/preview-iso

The Oculus Rift

March 5, 2015March 13, 2015 Ben Coelho Virtual Reality virtual reality

So by now everyone has heard of simulators, those games that let you realistically fly planes or drive cars. Yeah, old news.

But have you heard of Virtual Reality?

Virtual reality is like a simulation of real life. You play as yourself, you use your head, your hands and your body as the controller – you are the controller.

So how does that work?

It’s actually pretty simple, to look around inside a video game, you would simply move or tilt your head as you would in real life. To grab things, you would grab with your hands. To move around? – Well, I’ll let you guess.

The most mainstream product right now for virtual reality gaming is the Oculus Rift.

The Oculus Rift headset is tested by attendees at the Eurogamer Expo at Earls Court in London.

The Oculus Rift is a piece of technology that you wear on your head, it acts as a motion tracking device that keeps track of your head as it moves and translates that into the game you’re playing.

Many people see the Oculus Rift as an evolution in entertainment technology, as finally you can fully immerse yourself into the virtual world.

A totally awesome video demonstration of the Oculus Rift in action can be found below