The highlights from Build 2015
Update: With both keynotes over with, that's a wrap on all the major announcements from this year's Build. So, we've added the Day Two highlights below. Sadly, we've had to cross the last remaining predictions – new hardware just wasn't in the cards, it seems. Check it all out below!
We all know that Windows 10 is supposedly dropping in late July of this year, but when exactly? And we all know that Microsoft is working on another Surface Pro – well, at least we think we know – but what has Microsoft done to prepare it to compete against the new MacBook and would-be iPad Pro?
Sadly, Microsoft neglected to answer either of those questions at Build 2015, the company's fifth annual conference that's all about Windows, from the Moscone Center in San Francisco. It looks like we'll have to wait for another special event to see the company's latest hardware and find out just when Windows 10 will land on our devices.
Between the first operating system update to excite this editor in years, a super rad-looking head-mounted display tech in HoloLens and a much-desired update to the first Surface device to at least start to get it right, this was no doubt the most-hyped Build yet. And with good reason. (And that's even without Xbox One, which wasn't discussed much.)
With that, of course, came some serious expectations – or, at the very least, hopes – for what Microsoft had to show us. In addition to our now mostly-stricken predictions (and one obvious rumor) for Build 2015, we've added the highlights from the second day of Build 2015 below.
Build 2015 Day Two: Surface will ... surface another day
The second and last Build 2015 came and went with neither a single hardware announcement nor a release date for Windows 10. However, some super interesting news and some time with Microsoft Edge, the new Windows 10 browser, kept us sated.
Microsoft made the best (or the worst) website ever
Using its Machine Learning platform and face recognition tools, Microsoft crafted a website that it thinks can tell how old you are with just one photo. The site, called How-old.net, didn't exactly report back stellar results. Harrison Ford may look 57, Microsoft, but you forgot his time inside the carbonite!
Final Fantasy gets a dose of hyper-realism from DirectX 12
Possibly the most exciting thing to come out of Microsoft's second and last Build 2015 keynote was a super gorgeous graphics tech demo by Final Fantasy maker Square Enix. Using the company's latest gaming graphics API, DirectX 12, the company made what might be the most advanced graphics to date – this is definitely worth a look.
Microsoft Edge gets put through its paces
While not all of the stuff shown off on stage was available during our latest run-in with the Windows 10 browser, now known as Microsoft Edge, there was still plenty to sink our teeth into. We toyed around with the Inking and sharing features within Edge, but ultimately realized there's plenty more work to do.
Build 2015 Day One: Spartan gets a name
Microsoft Edge is the name of the Windows 10 browser
Finally, it gets a name. Microsoft outed what its spanking new browser is called: Microsoft Edge. Replete with a new logo spoofing the original Internet Explorer symbol, Edge will be the default browser for Windows 10 devices. The browser will bake Cortana, Microsoft's voice assistant, right into its interface for easier voice search and other tasks.
iOS and Android apps will work on Windows 10
With some work, of course. While on stage at the conference, Microsoft EVP of Operating Systems announced that developers will be able to tweak iOS and Android apps to work on Windows 10. This has the potential to blow the Windows app marketplace wide open.
Windows 10 for phones puts a PC in your pocket
Microsoft isn't done showing off what Windows 10 can do. The latest? Windows 10 on phones supports the same agnostic, adaptable approach to computing found on the desktop known as Continuum. In short, through a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse coupled with an HDMI cord connected to a screen, your Windows phone can allow you to work in an almost identical way to how you would on a PC.
Now, check out what we predicted (or hoped) would come out of Build 2015. Spoilers: we were proven wrong. A lot.
Our predictions and hopes for Build 2015
What follows here are our predictions, hopes and dreams for what would be announced or shown off during the big show. As it turns out, Microsoft wasn't quite ready to wow us with shiny bits of hardware or even a big release date to look forward to. Oh well, there's always May (or June?).
Prediction: Windows 10 will launch July 21 or 28
Sure, we're reaching for the low-hanging fruit here, but may as well get this one out of the way. As far as we know officially, Windows 10 will launch "this summer," according to Microsoft EVP of Operating Systems Terry Myerson.
However, AMD CEO Lisa Su recently let slip during an earnings call that the OS is expected to launch at the "end of July." So, between Microsoft recently putting out a narrower launch window and one mighty slip of the tongue, it's extremely likely that the company will issue a date for the big release during the conference.
So, when exactly will the OS drop? Well, language like "the end of July" narrows things down to the fourth of fifth week of that month. And, since Microsoft issues patches to Windows every Tuesday, it's likely that the Windows 10 upgrade will appear either July 21 or 28. That is, if Su's slip up turns out to be true – we'll find out soon enough.
Sadly, we whiffed hard on this one. It looks like Microsoft has something even more special in store for this little nugget of info.
Rumor: Surface Pro 4 will be shown at Build
Take it with some salt (though appreciate the logic in it), but Digitimes has reported that Microsoft plans to unveil its Surface Pro 4 during Build 2015, citing sources close to the matter. While the publication's track record isn't stellar with these leaks, this move would make complete sense.
Microsoft needs not only to show us what's so great about Windows 10, but how exactly those things are so great. It needs a model for what the new Windows experience looks and feels like.
The timing couldn't be better, being days shy of a year since the Surface Pro 3 release. And there's little doubt that Microsoft Corporate VP of Surface Panos Panay and his team sat on their laurels for long after launching that gem. Not when they were so, so close to the perfect hybrid device.
So, how will Surface Pro 4 combat the MacBook and iPad this time? Based on a report by cnBeta, the 2-in-1 laptop is expected to come in 12- and 14-inch varieties and will likely run on Intel's fanless wonder, the Core M processor. (Meanwhile, International Business Times reports citing anonymous sources that it will still run on Intel's Core i5 or i7 chips.)
A recent report by Chinese outlet 36KR also pointed to the new Surface Pro 4's chip of choice, though only that it will be an Intel Broadwell processor, the latest from the firm. However, "Broadwell" could mean a lot of things: Intel's new fanless Core M line, its tablet-aimed Atom series and its laptop-grade Core i range have all been updated to the new Broadwell architecture.
At the very least, it's safe to assume that Atom is off the table – if it wasn't up to the task of powering last year's Surface Pro, then it likely isn't this time around, either.
We also know that, whatever design evolution the Pro 4 shows off, last year's Pro 3 accessories will be compatible, according to Microsoft. So, at the very least don't be surprised if the dimensions of Redmond's next Pro slate don't differ too terribly.
Rounding out the Pro 4's potential spec sheet, according to the same report, the device will run on a 2,160 x 1,440-pixel display, up to 1TB of storage and as much as 16GB of RAM. Also, remember that Microsoft is thought to be working on purchasing N-trig, the Israeli company that helped develop the Surface Pro 3 pen, so expect even deeper integration there.
Another miss here – looks like Microsoft has bigger plans in store for pulling the curtain back on this bad boy. Onward, to May!
Prediction: We'll see a flagship Windows 10 phone
Frankly, Microsoft itself has promised that Windows 10 for phones will, too, have its very own marquee device. What's likely to be the biggest stage of the year for the new OS seems like the most likely place to unveil such a handset.
Plus, now that we've already seen leaks of a flagship phone, from Chinese vendor Elephone, that allegedly can switch between Windows 10 and Android, surely the bigger players are even farther along. Of course, this assumes that Microsoft has attracted major handset makers to its new platform, which is a safe assumption.
However, since we have next to no idea where this first flagship Windows 10 phone will come from, it's tough to say whether a Build 2015 reveal is in the cards for sure. If the first device is to come from anywhere other than Microsoft through its Lumia line, then they might want their own stage to unveil the device.
Yet another big fat miss here. In fact, Microsoft barely discussed phones outside of iOS and Android code support and Continuum features. Man, May better be awesome.
Prediction: Project Spartan will be named in a deeper preview
The codename for Microsoft's new web browser is cute, but it needs to go. Even if the company were to name the browser simply "Spartan", which would certainly be fitting given the app's minimalist trappings, that would suffice.
Not to mention a name like that would fit with Microsoft's Halo-inspired name for its Windows 10 voice assistant, Cortana. But anyway, what's more important is that we see more of the Internet Explorer replacement. How do extensions work exactly in Project Spartan, and what about stuff like video, Flash, HTML5 and other features?
Sure, you can see how some of those features look and feel, if you're in the "fast ring" of the Windows 10 Technical Preview. But we need a refined look at how it all comes together now that Microsoft has had another few months to iron out the kinks.
It's safe to expect Microsoft to give us a longer look at Project Spartan during the show – its teams have clearly spent a lot of time and effort on it. Perhaps we'll more closely see how the browser might interact between devices when it comes to sharing and saving content.
This is one we got right. Project Spartan is now known as Microsoft Edge, and it was given an even deeper look during the first Build 2015 keynote address.
Prediction: We'll see HoloLens in even more scenarios
This too might be a safe one, but surely what we saw of HoloLens back at Redmond in January was only the tip of the holographic iceberg. Much of the HoloLens API (or application programming interface) has already been in developers' hands since that fateful event, according to chatter on the company's Channel 9 developer forums.
So, if independent developers have already dug into much of the codebase working behind the device, it's not a leap to think that larger app companies are well in the know if not working with Microsoft directly. Given that it's keen to put its app on every screen it can, one likely company would be Facebook – we spend all day there, so why not just strap it to our faces?
Plus, since Microsoft has previously said that HoloLens will be ready for the launch of Windows 10, we might even get a release date or launch window out of the company. But, judging by the prototype shown to the press during Microsoft's January event – it definitely wasn't what we all gawked at on stage – it'd be a shock to see this device release day and date beside the new OS.
We knew this prediction was a safe one, so it wasn't a huge surprise to see it confirmed. However, none of us could have predicted exactly where Microsoft was going with the HoloLens system. Spoiler: HoloLens will be everywhere.
