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Cortana responds in more places in Windows 10 on the phone. She now gives smart responses even to typed queries, for example here figuring that you're probably interested in the results of the game if you're searching for the Seahawks. A couple of new keyboard features are also shown off. The microphone in the autocomplete bar indicates that you can use dictation instead of typing. Pressing and holding on the blue dot reveals a 4-way cursor, for fine caret positioning. This is a very nice addition.
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Substantially the same Cortana app runs on the PC; she's a universal app. There's a new facility for tailoring or modifying the things she shows you using these icons.
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This is the new Outlook mail experience on the phone. Swiping left and right on messages deletes and prioritizes them.
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Because it's a universal app, it also runs on tablets and PCs. The extra space is used to provide the traditional 3-pane view, but it's all very similar. The same swipe left and right gestures, for example, continue to work.
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The Outlook e-mail editor is based on Universal Word. So it can do Word-like things, such as insert tables.
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Picture attachments are thumbnailed, documents are not.
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Outlook provides both the mail and calendar experiences, and of course bridges the gap with meeting requests.
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The mobile calendar includes this rather nice view; the week view at the top gives a sense of how busy each day is, with the details for a particular day shown below.
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The Photos app is universal, coming both to PC...
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... and to phone.
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It looks damn near identical on each.
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Texting and calling have been updated. The notifications have changed.
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And notifications are now actionable directly, so you can respond immediately to texts.
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The phone app has been refreshed.
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In a move that will be extremely welcome to long-time Windows Phone users, in Windows 10 the messaging app once more integrates SMS, MMS, and Skype/Messenger conversations.
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The deep blue messages are unread; the Skype blue message came through Skype rather than SMS.
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Within a conversation, Skype messages get a blue background.
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The new Maps app aims to integrate the best of Maps, HERE Maps, HERE Drive+, and Bing 3D Maps.
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It can pull information from Bing so it can provide details about, for example, restaurants, and it can use Cortana's knowledge of your home and workplace, too.
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The driving instructions are still a work in progress.
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Lumia Camera's circular dial controls will be found in the standard camera app in Windows 10 on phones.Microsoft
REDMOND—Windows 10 on phones—and that's what Microsoft is calling it, at least for now—will be available in preview in a few weeks. In the meantime, we had a short look at it on Microsoft's Redmond campus at its Windows 10 "Next Chapter" event.
The big point Microsoft was making was that Windows 10 on phones was Windows 10, and it runs Windows 10 apps. Core applications, including e-mail (now under the Outlook brand), mapping, photo management, and messaging, as well as the Cortana digital assistant, are all now universal apps, sharing their code between phone and desktop, but tailoring their interfaces to each device.
This means much greater commonality between the platforms. Their status as apps also makes for easier maintenance: Microsoft no longer needs to roll out an operating system update to improve mail, for example. It can just update the app through the store.
Microsoft's Nokia purchase will also start to bring benefits to all Windows phone users, even those with non-Nokia/Microsoft handsets; in Windows 10, the camera app will be based on the current Lumia Camera app, with its circular dial interface for quick access to controls.
Listing image by Microsoft
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