Windows 10 on phones: Six things to know

This single operating system migrates to everything from mini tablets to smartphones. Here is what to expect:

The leap from Windows Phone 8.1 to Windows 10 on smartphones isn’t just going to be a jump in version numbers. It’s going to drop “phone” from the name entirely. This has been a huge advantage for large tablets that run full Windows instead of watered down mobile versions of the desktop software, unlike iOS 8 does with Mac OS X Yosemite. A closer look at what to expect from Windows 10:

1. Free upgrade to Windows 10 for Phone 8.1

The first way in which Windows 10 on phones acts like a grown-up operating system is through the upgrading process. It’s free for the first year, just like the desktop software. That means you won’t have to ditch your current Windows Phone 8 . 1 device in order to test out Windows 10. In fact, it’ll be available to Windows Insiders starting February.

2. Design tweaks that make sense

Lined with Microsoft’s now-standard app tiles, Windows 10 on phones doesn’t look completely different. However, the Start experience has been tweaked.

A full-bleed background photo lies beneath the tiles, greeting you with a nice personalisation feature when you swipe up from the lockscreen, something users have been clamouring for.

Panning over to the right, the apps list now begins with “recently installed apps” at the top. It’s been promoted to make new downloads easier to find right after you hit the Windows Store.

3. Actual Office, universal apps on the phone

The company made the look and feel consistent on touch devices, beginning with the familiar recent documents list that operates across all of your Windows 10 systems.

Opening up a Word file in reflow mode optimises everything for the mobile editing environment.

The Office ribbon is squeezed into the app bar experience so that key elements like the formatting commands tab and review tab are easy to get to. PowerPower also has full editing tools handy, and it’s easy to project a rich slideshow using a phone and wirelessly via Mircast.

Windows 10 is all about universal apps, from the all-new Outlook mail, Calendar and Internet Explorer — replacing Project Spartan apps that were also preview.

4. Action Center syncing with PC

Windows phones and computers need to move in step with each other, so it’s about time that checking a notification on a phone clears it from the computer and vice-versa.

That ’s the idea behind the redesigned Action Center in which grouped and single item alerts can be dismissed from this pull-down notification menu. It’s reflected across your devices.

5. Adjustable keyboard, inline messaging

Microsoft’s Wordflow keyboard makes the transition from Windows Phone 8.1 to Windows 10 on touch devices, complete with built-in shape writing and personalised vocabulary learning.

The ability to resize the keyboard seems helpful. Pulling it up and to the right so that it was onethird the size, makes it fit for one-handed typing on a 6-inch Lumia 1520.

Inline messaging is also keeping in step with what iPhone users have been able to do with iOS. Switching between SMS and Microsoft’s own Skype platform happens all in one app.

6. Photos app uses pruning

The brand new universal Photos app caches images across all of your devices synced with OneDrive and it automatically weeds out duplicates and auto-enhances pictures.

Red eye and repeat photos are out. Brightened faces and automatically created albums are in. Google+ has been doing this for a while, and Windows is finally doing it too.