Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 15-inch review: Far from the cutting edge

Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 15-inch review: Far from the cutting edge

Deja vu. Just like last year's Microsoft Surface Laptop 3, the 2021 Surface Laptop 4 indistinguishes itself by its utter averageness. It's still not particularly light, or fast or feature-packed. It's not inexpensive or full of cutting-edge tech and it doesn't have an especially long battery life. It's faster and has better battery life than the older model, but so does every other laptop updated for 2021. But it's also still reasonably portable, sufficiently fast, pleasantly sleek looking, durable, somewhat upgradeable, and backward-compatible with previous power supplies and Surface Connect accessories sold by Microsoft. 

Very little has changed for this generation. It's been bumped to the 4000-series of the AMD Ryzen 7 mobile processor and 11th-gen Intel Core i7-11875G7, plus storage and memory increases and newer Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Given the rote upgrades, it's a bit annoying that Microsoft chose to use the last generation (Zen 2) of the AMD CPUs rather than the current and faster 5000 series (Zen 3), though that's probably due to the timing of the laptop's release. It's also par for the course: the Surface Laptop 3's AMD CPU was also an older-than-current generation.

Like

• Retains the thin, sleek look
• Solid performance and battery life

Don't Like

• Screen still has wide-ish bezels
• Too few ports
• Can't upgrade memory

The Ryzen 7 4980U processor in the 15-inch system is dubbed the Ryzen 7 Microsoft Surface Edition. That made sense last year when the processor differed from the rest of its siblings by the addition of an extra graphics core (compute unit) its Vega 9 integrated graphics. But this year's CPU is effectively identical to the Ryzen 7 4800U, albeit with clock speeds a mere 200MHz faster, and in fact its Vega 8 integrated GPU has one CU less than the chip in the Surface Laptop 3. 

Note that this year's AMD model will always outperform last year's simply because the older model used a lower-end Ryzen 5, not a Ryzen 7, and the AMD model will likely outperform the Intel model, at least on multicore-intensive tasks, simply because it has 8 cores compared to the Intel's 4. 

The 3:2 aspect ratio, 201 pixel-per-inch display is the same as before; nothing to get excited about unless you're upgrading from an old laptop with a dim screen. It's fine for work, but somewhat washed out for Netflix. There are two color profiles which come with it, a standard sRGB and an "Enhanced" mode, but the latter seems to be the native screen profile and looks like it just increases the contrast. It retains the same old sufficient 720p webcam and the paucity of ports -- one each USB-A and USB-C plus an analog headphone jack. 

Read more: Meet Microsoft's new Modern family of work-from-home audio accessories

The under-the-hood-only updates mean much of what we liked and disliked about the Surface Laptop 3 remain the same, from the slim and sleek design to the insufficient number of ports and soldered memory. This year I'll toss in the somewhat stodgy looking  screen bezels because it uses the same screen in the same chassis as before; even Apple finally overcame bezel inertia for the MacBook Pro a few years ago. 

Still slim and still Microsoft Surface Connector powered.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Down to business

Microsoft offers only AMD processors in its consumer-focused models, but both AMD and Intel for its Surface Laptop 4 for Business line. The two sales channels differ by the variety of configurations and version of Windows they offer -- Windows 10 Home versus Windows 10 Pro. The biz prices are about $100 higher.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (15 inch)

Price as reviewed	$1,700, £1,649, AU$2,699
Display	15-inch 2,496 x 1,664 (201 ppi, 3:2 aspect ratio) pen and touch display
PC CPU	2.0GHz AMD Ryzen 7 4980U
PC Memory	16GB 4,267MHz LPDDR4
Graphics	AMD Vega 8
Storage	512GB SSD
Ports	1 x USB-C, 2 x USB-A (1 in power brick), headphone jack, 1 x proprietary (Surface Connect port)
Networking	Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX200, Bluetooth 5.1
Operating system	Microsoft Windows Home (2H20)
Weight	3.4 lbs/1.5 kg

The pricing for the 15-inch model starts at $1,300 (£1,469, AU$2,499) for AMD and $1,800 (£1,799, AU$2,849) for Intel, but the AMD base models have only 8GB of RAM. You really can't run Windows 10 very well in 8GB except for maybe lightweight cloud-based applications and possibly enterprise remote PC software like Citrix Desktop. The flip side is that 32GB is overkill for most software you'd be running on this laptop. So if you're going to opt for the 15-inch Surface Laptop 4, I recommend the 16GB memory, 512GB SSD models.

That's still a lot to pay for what you get compared with competitors: Laptops like the Lenovo Yoga 9i, a 2-in-1 which is smaller at 14 inches but superior in almost every other way for hundreds less. On sale, it might be a different story. That model even has discrete graphics for gaming; there's not a ton of graphical muscle here with the integrated Intel Iris Xe or AMD Radeon Vega 8 graphics. The heavyweight multiplatform shooter Outriders was choppy even at the lowest graphics preset, but lightweight Hades, the recent award-winning indie game, ran perfectly. 

Overall, the Surface Laptop 4's AMD CPU performed very well for its size class. At 11-12 hours, battery life was much improved over the previous generation, to the tune of about 2.5 hours, and quite competitive for its size. 

Toss in some wonky USB-C and touchscreen behavior I experienced -- they both stopped working until a random reboot fairy sprinkled some magic dust on them -- and it's hard to place the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 in the top tier of models we've tested over the past couple of years. But you'll probably be perfectly happy with it, especially if your IT department buys it for you.

Geekbench 5 (multicore)

Surface Book 3 (15-inch)

Surface Laptop 3 (15-inch Intel)

Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482

Surface Laptop 4 (15-inch AMD, 2021)

Note:

Longer bars indicate better performance.

Cinebench R20 (multicore)

Surface Book 3 (15-inch)

Surface Laptop 3 (15-inch Intel)

Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482

Surface Laptop 4 (15-inch AMD, 2021)

Note:

Longer bars indicate better performance.

3D Mark Fire Strike Ultra

Surface Book 3 (15-inch)

Surface Laptop 4 (15-inch AMD, 2021)

Surface Laptop 3 (15-inch Intel)

Note:

Longer bars indicate better performance.

Video streaming battery test

Surface Laptop 3 (15-inch Intel)

Surface Laptop 4 (15-inch AMD, 2021)

Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482

Surface Book 3 (15-inch)

Note:

Longer bars indicate better performance.

PCMark 10 Pro Edition (complete)

Surface Laptop 3 (15-inch Intel)

Surface Book 3 (15-inch)

Surface Laptop 4 (15-inch AMD, 2021)

Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482

Note:

Longer bars indicate better performance

System configurations

Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482	Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-1165G7; 8GB DDR4 SDRAM 4,267MHz; 128MB Intel Iris Xe graphics; 512GB SSD
Microsoft Surface Book 3 (15-inch)	Microsoft Windows 10 Home (1909); 1.3GHz Intel Core i7-1065G7; 32GB DDR4 SDRAM 4,267MHz; Intel Iris Plus Graphics and 6GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti with Max-Q design; 512GB SSD
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 (15-inch, Intel)	Microsoft Windows 10 Home (1903); 1.3GHz Intel Core i7-1065G7; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,667MHz; 128MB (dedicated) Intel Iris Plus Graphics; 256GB SSD
Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (15-inch, AMD, 2021)	Microsoft Windows 10 Home (2H20); 2.0GHz AMD Ryzen 7 4980U; 16GB LPDDR4 SDRAM 4,267MHz; tkGB (dedicated) AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics; 512GB SSD

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Microsoft Surface event: Surface Pro 8, Laptop Studio, Duo 2 and more

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Microsoft Surface event: Surface Pro 8, Laptop Studio, Duo 2 and more

It's been nearly a decade since Microsoft surprised the tech industry with its first Surface hybrid tablet featuring a detachable keyboard. Until that moment in 2012, Microsoft had primarily been a software company -- if you don't count its wildly successful entrance into game consoles with the Xbox in 2001 and its failed foray into Windows-based phones in 2010 with Microsoft Lumia. 

Today, Microsoft is a hardware veteran, making well-regarded Surface tablets, laptops and desktops. 

On Oct. 5, the company will begin rolling out Windows 11, its biggest Windows software update in six years. New hardware, announced today, will also arrive Oct. 5. Today, Microsoft unveiled the upcoming changes to its Surface lineup, from the new Surface Laptop Studio to the revamped Surface Duo 2, with a lesser update for the Surface Pro 8 and minor refreshes to the Surface Go 3 (new processors) and Surface Pro X (Wi-Fi). Also unveiled were a new Surface Slim Pen 2 that introduces haptics for the first time in a stylus and the company's first mouse made from ocean-bound plastics, reinforcing its environmental pledges for 2030.

Microsoft

Surface Laptop Studio

With a three-position display, a slimmer, sleeker profile and 14-inch size, the Surface Laptop Studio replaces the Surface Book 3 with a complete overhaul. There are things that we don't like, such as the nonremovable memory and service center-only storage upgrades, but it sounds like a very intriguing option.

Read our Surface Laptop Studio preview.

Microsoft

Surface Pro 8 and Surface Pro X

Microsoft's hero Surface device grows to 13 inches and gets the essential component updates for better performance. A new Type Cover (still optional) has a resting place for the new, wirelessly charged Slim Pen 2.

The Surface Pro X now has a Wi-Fi only version, too.

Read our Surface Pro 8 preview.

Microsoft

Surface Duo 2

Microsoft takes a small step toward making the Duo 2 dual-screen phone/tablet hybrid more phone-like by adding a trio of rear cameras. We still think it has more walking to do before it's an appealing product, though.

Read our Surface Duo 2 preview.

Microsoft

Surface Go 3

The smallest and least expensive Surface has been modestly updated with faster chips. However, its $399 starting price remains unchanged.

Read our Surface Go 3 preview.

Microsoft

Surface Slim Pen 2

Microsoft has updated it Slim Pen in a few notable ways: haptics for a more paper-like feel, a sharper nib, Zero-Force Inking for better responsiveness and wireless charging.

Read Surface Slim Pen 2 preview.

Microsoft

Surface Adaptive Kit

Microsoft's making it easier for folks who have trouble navigating standard laptop keyboards and connections with its new Surface Adaptive Kit, a set of bumpy decals and more you can use for tactile identification and operation.

Read our Surface Adaptive Kit preview.

Microsoft/Screenshot by CNET

Microsoft Ocean Plastic Mouse

Microsoft launched its first product made with ocean-bound plastics -- a big trend these days -- the Ocean Plastic Mouse, along with promising improvements to its sustainability practices.

Read our Microsoft Ocean Mouse preview.

Our liveblog remains below.

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It's been nearly a decade since Microsoft surprised the tech industry with its first Surface hybrid tablet. Until that moment in 2012, Microsoft had primarily been a software company. Fast-forward to 2021, and Microsoft is a hardware veteran, making well-regarded Surface Pro tablets, its Surface Laptops, and Surface Studio desktops too. The company today announced the Surface Pro 8, faster, bigger and cooler and the Surface Go 3. The Surface Adaptive Kit looks really cool for helping folks who have issues with using keyboards and ports and the Surface Duo 2 improves upon its imperfect predecessor. And the Surface Laptop Studio does an articulating display the Microsoft way.

And that's it

8:51 a.m. PT

After a brisk 49 minutes, Microsoft concludes its event.

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PCs are 'essential'

8:49 a.m. PT

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella joined the presentation to talk about how the last 18 months has put so much more attention on PCs. 

"Technology for technology's sake serves no one," Nadella said. "We must advance both the frontiers of technology and its impact on the world."

"Ultimately though, we build windows for you," he added. "So you have the tools to dream big and turn those dreams into reality. We are so excited to see what each of you will create with these new devices and how together we will shape the next wave of computing for everyone."

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Microsoft

'Most powerful' Surface

8:41 a.m. PT

Microsoft replaced its Surface Book laptop with a new design that shifts from it being a laptop to being a "studio"-like device, the Surface Laptop Studio.

So the screen has a kickstand that allows the screen to be put at an angle, like the typical Surface devices. Microsoft says this is "stage mode." And you can fold it down to "studio" mode where the screen is flat like a piece of paper. 

Microsoft also includes an Nvidia RTS 3050 GTI GPU, Thunderbolt 4 and an 11th gen Intel chip. It also has an "AI"-enabled camera, which has a face tracker (a popular feature on Apple's iPads, Facebook's Portals and others).

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Dual-Screen Life

8:33 a.m. PT

One of the key features of the original Surface Duo was its ability to "span" apps across both its displays, putting an image on one side for example, and editing options on the other. You can also drag and drop items from one screen to the other, taking that photo you were editing for example and dropping it into a Microsoft Teams chat.

"Surface Duo 2 is for the creator in each of us," Microsoft said.

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Microsoft

That light bar

8:30 a.m. PT

Since it has no outer screen, Microsoft has added a light bar on the hinge to help you tell how many notifications are waiting when the screens are closed. Microsoft said it'll also help you tell battery life, and of course if someone's trying to connect with you through Microsoft Teams.

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Surface Duo 2

8:27 a.m. PT

Microsoft's not-a-phone is official, and promises better cameras, faster chips and 5G wireless.

It also has a light bar on its spine to help get your attention. Microsoft calls it "notifications at a glance."

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Inclusive design

8:25 a.m. PT

Microsoft got a lot of accolades for its Xbox Adaptive Controller, which was designed to help disabled gamers play Xbox titles. Now, it's taking that approach to its Surface products with the "Surface Adaptive Kit." The kit adds features to make it easier to use their devices, with glue-on raised keyboard labels. There's also port labels, to make it easier to identify which ports you can plug items into. And there's a stick-on lanyard tab, Microsoft said, which allows someone to more easily pull out the kickstand for their Surface device.

"When you're designing products for someone like me today we're actually building for for our future selves," said one Microsoft employee, born with cerebral palsy.

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Microsoft

Ocean Plastic Mouse

8:18 a.m. PT

Microsoft announced a new Ocean Plastic Mouse, which is made of 20% recycled ocean plastic, and the box is 100% recyclable. (Other device makers have also started including ocean plastics in their products, for what it's worth.)

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Surface Go 3 is 'fastest' yet

8:15 a.m. PT

Microsoft says its new Surface Go 3 is 60% faster than before, powered by a 10th Gen Intel processor.

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Surface Slim Pen 2 in its new charging spot.

Microsoft

Microsoft built a special chip for pen haptics

8:13 a.m. PT

Part of what Microsoft says sets the Slim Pen 2 apart is its custom "G6" processor, which can talk to Windows 11 in interesting ways. Among them, Microsoft said the pen creates "tiny mechanical vibrations that mimic the feel of pen on paper." 

Microsoft said the pen tip is also sharper, and it has "ultra low latency."

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Surface Pro 8

8:10 a.m. PT

Microsoft begins by talking about Surface Pro 8, which has a new "Slim Pen 2," Thunderbolt 4 and other features that Microsoft says has 43% more compute power and 75% faster graphics. Microsoft will also offer 32GB of RAM, Dolby Atmos and a high-res 13" display. And it has 16 hours of battery life.

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Eight devices: Be prepared

8:09 a.m. PT

Panay says there's a new Surface Go, Surface Duo 2 and a "transformed Surface Pro lineup," which he said "brings you incredible power in modern design and details throughout this product."

Panay says the company's also got an "ocean plastics" mouse, and an adaptive kit for accessibility.

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And so it begins

8:04 a.m. PT

Microsoft's event begins with Product Chief Panos Panay, who starts by talking about Windows 11. "Windows is a driving force for innovation. It's an enduring platform for each one of us to create," he said. "And it's home for billions to do their jobs, live their dreams, connect with the people they love. Windows 11 gives you a place that feels like home. It's an area of calm, security, openness, and it's designed to be centered around you."

A bunch of different companies have Windows 11 devices they're building, but today is about Surface, he said. "Surface has always been a stage for software and hardware to come together," he adds. "For the last 10 years it's been a force for revolution in this industry, creating products that push the boundaries of what's possible." 

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Windows 11 around the corner

7:30 a.m. PT

All these Surface announcements aren't happening in a vacuum. This event is happening less than two weeks before Microsoft begins rolling out Windows 11, its biggest Windows software update in six years. Though Microsoft is focusing on its devices for this launch, many of its partners like Dell, HP and Lenovo have PCs prepped for the big release. 

Microsoft's also started an ad campaign around the launch. We don't know how much Microsoft is spending to get the word out, but in the past it's laid out hundreds of millions of dollars as part of its ad blitzes.

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Surface not-a-phone

7 a.m. PT

Probably the biggest rumors for Microsoft's event suggest the company has an upgrade for the Surface Duo phone-not-a-phone in the works. A leaked image earlier this year pointed to a trio of much better cameras, which was a key complaint of the original device. Whether it'll have 5G is still an open question -- last year, Microsoft made it clear that omitting the wireless technology last year was about tradeoffs of battery life, thickness and other issues.

READ MORE: Here are all the rumors swirling ahead of Microsoft's big Surface event

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Modern times

6:30 a.m. PT

In nearly a decade since, Microsoft has done a lot more work to make its Surface appealing. In 2013, it announced the Surface Pro, a more performant version of the Surface that's since become what CNET's reviewer Dan Ackerman now says is "the best overall Windows two-in-one tablet."

Microsoft also revamped the Windows software to be more tablet friendly when it released Windows 10 in 2015, and will go even a step further by giving Windows 11 and Apple-like feel when it launches on Oct. 5.

Microsoft's also expanded out its lineup of Surface devices. There's now the Surface Go, a smaller more small-bag-friendly Surface. Ackerman called last year's Surface Go 2 an improvement on the "good-but-not-great" design. He did say that the smaller tablet may become popular though when the pandemic wanes, and people start considering taking their computers to the park, coffee shop or plane.

There's also the Surface Book, a more powerful two-in-one that leans more into being a laptop than a tablet.

Don't forget the Surface Pro X, a two-in-one that's more of a tablet than a laptop, down to the specialized chips inside that are more akin to the innards of a smartphone than a power-sucking laptop.

And I didn't even get into the Surface Duo dual-screen phone-that's-not-a-phone, the unreleased Surface Neo dual-screen tablet and the $3,500 Surface Studio massive-screen computer.

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Bumpy ride

6 a.m. PT

The thing I remember from when Microsoft announced its first Surface tablet devices in 2012 was how upset PC makers were with Microsoft. I was covering the PC industry at the time, and Microsoft gave them little warning about this new device.

Microsoft had been playing with tablet ideas for years, even creating a prototype called the Courier, that lit up the internet when it leaked back in 2009. Microsoft eventually killed the project, in favor of its Windows 8 software and the Surface tablet project.

By the way, if you want to go down memory lane, here's the video demo that leaked:

When the Surface launched in fall of 2012, CNET's Eric Franklin said it was "innovative" in his review at the time, and that its keyboard cover accessories were "the best way to type on a tablet, period." But he also said Windows software wasn't a good match, and that it left users in an "app desert."

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Long way

5:30 a.m. PT

It's been interesting to follow Microsoft's hardware ambitions over the years. The company started its Surface line of products back in 2012, ahead of the release of Windows 8.

At the time, the Surface an unusual take on the still burgeoning tablet form factor. Microsoft's surprise announcement wasn't so much the idea of a Windows tablet -- plenty of companies had been trying to sell those -- but rather the keyboard cover. Though some iPad cases had keyboards integrated into them, the Surface largely changed how we thought of tablet accessories. It had so much impact in fact that Apple followed Microsoft's lead, and created its own take on the keyboard cover with the first iPad Pro in 2016.

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Welcome

5 a.m. PT

Well, here we are, ahead of Microsoft's big hardware event for the year. Rumors seem to have settled on the company announcing an updated phone-not-phone Surface Duo 2, in addition to the pretty much expected updates to the Surface Pro, Surface Go and other Surface products.

READ MORE: Microsoft Surface event 2021: All the rumors, predictions and announcements to expect on Sept. 22

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Microsoft also teased at least one other change in its announcement for the event, tweeting a profile image of what appears to be a thinner Surface tablet device than it's offered so far. We'll be keeping our eyes peeled.

When is the Microsoft Surface Event?

Microsoft's event will be held entirely online, starting Sept. 22 at 8 a.m. PT, 11 a.m. ET, 4 p.m. BST and Sept. 23 at 1 a.m. in Sydney, Australia.

Where can I stream Microsoft's announcements?

The event will be livestreamed on Microsoft's website. CNET will cover the event live, as we always have, with real-time updates, insights and analysis you can only find here.

What can expect from the Surface event?

Microsoft's gotten progressively better at holding online events. Despite the glitchy struggles it faced during its Windows 11 reveal, the tech giant's taken a similar tack as companies like Apple, Samsung and Sony, which have put significant resources into creating slickly edited presentations. With the company putting so much effort into its surface line, as well as the recent promotion of product chief Panos Panay to Microsoft's senior leadership team, it's a good sign the presentation will be a worthwhile watch.

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Microsoft Windows 10 review: Microsoft gets it right

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Microsoft Windows 10 review: Microsoft gets it right

When Microsoft unveiled Windows 10 in 2015, it delivered an elegant operating system that could -- for the first time -- fulfill the potential of each modern computing form factor. Equally proficient on a touchscreen tablet, laptop, or conventional desktop PC, Windows 10 resuscitated the operating system's best features while setting the stage for Microsoft's ongoing innovation streak that includes idiosyncratic products like the Surface Pro 4, Surface Book and, more recently, the Surface Studio -- a desktop PC for artists and designers in need of high-end horsepower and display -- and the Surface Dial, a touch-friendly dial designed to facilitate fine contextual controls.

Late 2016 update

The next generation of the popular Surface tablet, the rumored Surface Pro 5, is expected to appear in the spring of 2017 -- timing that may coincide with the rollout of the next version of Windows, a free update scheduled for the first half of 2017. Windows "Creators Update" will introduce 4K video game streaming and support "augmented reality," bringing 3D capabilities to legacy applications such as Paint and PowerPoint. It will support 3D rendering for Microsoft's HoloLens technology, which will be incorporated into forthcoming devices from Acer, Lenovo, Dell, HP and Asus. And it will enable a virtual touchpad that lets you control external monitors from tablets, without need for a mouse.

It's worth mentioning that Apple delivered its own operating system overhaul in September 2016. MacOS Sierra added some new features inspired by its own mobile operating system. And though Apple clearly wishes to continue the integration of Macs and iOS products, providing additional incentives to keep your hardware inside Apple's walled garden, it's not always a perfect fit. In fact, the new MacBooks announced in early October 2016, equipped only with USB-C ports, can't connect to the new iPhone 7 and its Lightning Connector, without an adapter.

Editors' note: The original Microsoft Windows 10 review, first published in July 2015, follows.

Windows 10 is the Goldilocks version of Microsoft's venerable PC operating system -- a "just right" compromise between the familiar dependability of Windows 7, and the forward-looking touchscreen vision of Windows 8.

This new Windows, available as a free upgrade for existing Windows 7 and Windows 8 noncorporate users, is built from the ground up to pursue Microsoft's vision of a unified OS that spans all devices without alienating any one platform. It's an attempt to safeguard Microsoft's crumbling software hegemony, assailed on all sides by Google and Apple. And it's a vision of the future as Microsoft sees it, where a single user experience spans every piece of technology we touch. Welcome to Windows as a service.

Yes, this new OS is chock-full of fresh features. To name just a few: a lean, fast Internet Explorer replacement called Edge; Microsoft's Siri-like voice-controlled virtual assistant, Cortana; and the ability to stream real-time games to your desktop from an Xbox One in another room. (And in case you're wondering: there is no "Windows 9" -- Microsoft skipped it, going straight from 8 to 10.)

Windows 10 bridges the gap between PC and tablet. Nate Ralph/CNET

But Windows 10 is also the end of a long, awkward road that began with the release of Windows 8 in 2012, when Microsoft tried to convince a world of keyboard and mouse wielders that touchscreens were the way to go -- or else. Ironically, in 2015, the PC hardware for that touchscreen future is now here -- everything from 2-in-1s such as the Lenovo Yoga line to convertible tablets with detachable keyboards, like Microsoft's own Surface. And Windows 10 smoothly lets users transition from "tablet" to "PC" mode on such devices like never before.

For the rest of the PC universe -- including those who still prefer good old-fashioned keyboard and mouse navigation -- Windows 10 is a welcome return to form. The Start menu, inexplicably yanked from 8, is back and working the way you expect it to. Those live tiles from the Windows 8 home screen still exist, but they've been attached to the Start menu, where they make a lot more sense. And the fiendishly hidden Charms bar has been morphed into the more straightforward (and easier to find) Action Center.

As always, there are some quibbles and gripes with the end product, but all-in-all -- after living with Windows 10 for months -- I can say it's a winner. It's flexible, adaptable and customizable. And it's been battle-tested by an army of beta testers for the better part of a year, making it one of the most robust operating system rollouts in recent memory.

A fresh Start

The Start menu is back; it's almost funny how relieving that is. That humble Start button has been a fixture on the lower left corner of the Windows desktop since the halcyon days of Windows 95, offering speedy access to apps and settings. Press it on Windows 10, and you'll see the latest step in a long conversation about the state of the PC industry.

I spend more time than I'd like to admit rearranging the Start Menu. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

The past sits on the left: a neat column with shortcuts to your most used apps. Press the "All Apps" button and you'll get an alphabetical list of all of the apps installed on your PC. There are folders in there too -- press them, and extra options will fly out, just like they always have.

The future -- or at least, the future as Microsoft envisions it -- sits on the right side of the Start menu. These are the colorful, animated live tiles that debuted in Windows 8, pulling double duty as app shortcuts and informative widgets. You can resize these live tiles, drag them about to arrange them into groups and pin as many apps as you'd like -- the entire Start menu can be shrunk or expanded to suit your liking. It's essentially a miniaturized version of the fullscreen Start menu we saw in Windows 8. Hate live tiles? Then unpin them to excise them from your computer, leaving you with the narrow column of frequently used apps we've known for so long.

One step back, two steps forward

The Start menu in Windows 10 is admission that Windows 8 maybe have been a bit too forward thinking. But Microsoft hasn't abandoned that vision of unifying all manner of devices under a single operating system: Continuum in Windows 10 is the latest attempt to bridge the gap between touch and non-touch devices, and this time it doesn't force us to relearn how to work with our PCs.

To start, there's no divide between the Windows 8-style "Modern" apps you get from the Windows app store, and those you install the old-fashioned way. Everything exists as a traditional windowed app, sharing space on the desktop. If you're on a two-in-one device like Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 , pop the keyboard off and Windows 10 will switch to tablet mode. The Start menu and your apps will stretch to take up the entire screen, and all of the miscellaneous apps and shortcuts on your taskbar will disappear, to give your finger fewer obstacles to hit.

Apps go fullscreen, and the taskbar gets a little less cluttered in tablet mode. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

Reattach the keyboard, and everything slots back into place. It's an instantaneous, seamless process (once you've shooed away the annoying confirmation window). It's also entirely optional: you can disable the feature and switch to tablet mode manually, or forget that this whole touch concept exists at all.

This is what Windows 8 always should've been: an operating system that bridges the divide between touch and non-touch, without alienating folks who fall into one camp or the other. Like it or not, the future belongs to devices with touchscreens. But Microsoft (finally) understands that we'll all get there at own pace, and Continuum makes the transition painless. And now that there are so many hybrid devices to choose from, making the switch to touch without abandoning the interface we know is more important than ever.

Learning new tricks

Microsoft hasn't stopped at making touch make sense on a Windows PC. With Windows 10, just about every facet of the OS has been tweaked and updated, and a few new features have been rolled in. In typical Microsoft fashion, there's a dizzying array of keyboard shortcuts and touch gestures for each of these features, giving you no fewer than three ways to access the things you're trying to get to. No need to memorize them all -- just use whatever suits you (or your device) best.

Virtual desktops

If I had to pick my favorite new feature, I'd go with virtual desktops. Click the new Task View button on the taskbar and you'll get a bird's-eye view of all of the apps you've got open. Drag one of those apps onto the "new desktop" button, and it'll be moved to its own independent workspace. I can keep one workspace focused on work, a separate desktop for gaming forums, yet another workspace for the new camera lenses I'm checking out; there's no limit to the amount of virtual desktops you can create, and each one is treated as its own little private island.

Virtual desktops help you spread your apps across several workspaces. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

Virtual desktops are far from a new development, and they've been available in past versions of Windows thanks to third-party apps. But it's nice to see Microsoft catching up here. The feature could still use some work: desktops are numbered, but if you create a lot of them it can be hard to keep track of where everything is. The "traditional" Win32 apps you might download and install from a website are happy to open a new instance on any desktop, while clicking the shortcut on an app from the Windows store will yank you back to whatever desktop you used it on last.

You can move apps across virtual desktops -- just drag them, or right-click to shunt them over -- but there's no way to reorder the virtual desktops themselves, which would be really useful for staying organized. I'd also like to be able to set a different wallpaper for every virtual desktop -- I can do both of those things in Apple's OSX operating system, and have always found it really handy.

Windows Snap

The Snap feature introduced in Windows 7 has gotten a bit of an upgrade, too. Drag an app to the left or right side of the screen, and it'll "snap" to fill that space. The new Snap Assist feature will then chime in, showing you little thumbnails of any other apps that are currently open -- click a thumbnail, and it'll fill up the remaining space. You can also snap an app into a corner of your display and fill your screen with up to four apps, divided equally across the screen -- this could prove useful for folks with massive monitors.

Action Center

The new Action Center replaces the "Charms" introduced in Windows 8, and is another nod to mobile operating systems. Click the Action center icon on the taskbar to bring up a panel that houses all of your app notifications, and offers quick access to a few important system settings, like toggling your Wi-Fi network or switching in and out of tablet mode -- you can choose the options that turn up here in the settings menu. If you're coming from Windows 7 and have no idea where to find some of the settings you're used to, there's a good chance you'll find them here.

Wi-Fi Sense

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Wi-Fi Sense. While technically not a new feature (it's part of Windows Phone 8.1) its presence in Windows 10 should've been a welcome addition: Wi-Fi Sense connects your devices to trusted Wi-Fi hotspots.

I love the idea. Automatically sharing Wi-Fi credentials with my friends would remove much of the hassle of most social gatherings, when people just want to jump on my Wi-Fi network. And -- this part is key -- Wi-Fi Sense doesn't share your actual password, so it theoretically eases a social transaction (the sharing of Wi-Fi connectivity) without necessarily compromising my network security.

Until Wi-Fi sense offers granular control over sharing, I'd avoid it. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

But the implementation is, in a word, daft. I do want to automatically share my network with a select group of friends who are visiting, and have them return the favor. I don't want to automatically share access with everyone in my Outlook address book, or on Skype, or the random assortment of folks I've added on Facebook over the years. Give me the ability to choose who I share access with, down to the individual, and I'll give it a shot. Until then, I'll be leaving Wi-Fi Sense off -- I recommend you do too.

Windows Hello and Windows Passport

Microsoft is also beefing up security with Windows Hello. The feature will use your Windows 10 devices' camera or a fingerprint scanner to turn your body into a password. Once you've authenticated yourself with Windows Hello, Windows Passport will then give you access to a number of third-party sites and products, without forcing you to log in all over again. This should make it a bit more convenient to log in to your devices, so you don't skimp on traditional measures, like having a robust password. The only catch is that Hello isn't widely supported on a lot of existing hardware: you'll need a device sporting Intel's RealSense camera, or a fingerprint scanner.

Chatting with Cortana

Microsoft's virtual assistant Cortana isn't exactly a new feature, as she's been on Windows Phone for just over a year. But the company's answer to Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa and Google Now has made the transition to the desktop with Windows 10, taking over the OS' search functionality, while also handling quite a few housekeeping duties. You can have Cortana trawl through your email and calendar, and keep you notified of any upcoming flights you're taking, or packages you're expecting. She can set reminders and track stocks, and you can even dictate email messages for her to send to your contacts. Cortana can also be set to listen for you to say "Hey, Cortana," and can be trained to recognize several different voices. If you want to learn more about Cortana, head over to my preview on Microsoft's virtual assistant .

Cortana will help you get things done. James Martin/CNET

I'm torn. I love Google Now's proactive stream of useful information, served to me whenever I need it. But my primary mobile device is an Android phone and not a Windows Phone, which keeps my interactions with Cortana sequestered to my desktop.

She's not especially useful here. Windows 10's Voice recognition is rather accurate, but if I have to send an email message and I'm at my desk, I'm just going to use my email client. She'll offer recommendations for places to eat or things to see, but that'd be a lot more useful when I'm out and about than at my desk. The same goes for reminders, which are decidedly less useful if I can't access them anywhere.

Cortana will be making her way to Android and iOS devices later this year, which should clear up most of these issues -- provided most of her functionality crosses platforms without issue. I'll still turn to Cortana for the occasional joke, but until it's available on a phone I use regularly, I'll be sticking to Google for Now.

Microsoft Edge rethinks the browser

Microsoft has added a brand-new browser into Windows 10, and it's called Microsoft Edge. Introducing a new browser in a world that already has Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Apple's Safari is a pretty bold move. Doubly so when your previous effort was Internet Explorer -- once a juggernaut in the space, now the Internet's favorite punchline.

Annotate webpages with Microsoft's Edge browser. James Martin/CNET

Edge is a fast, modern browser that offers quite a few commendable features. Cortana is integrated right into the browser, and she'll offer detailed information on things like the weather or flight statuses while you're typing into the browser's address bar. Navigate over to a bar or restaurant's website, and Cortana can pull up a little sidebar full of useful information, like reviews or directions. The webnote feature lets you scribble on webpages and share your annotations to OneNote or via email, and you can use the Reading view option to strip a website down to its bare essentials. Edge has also been built with tighter security from the start, to hopefully circumvent some of the headaches that erupted from Internet Explorer.

But there are no extensions to tame overzealous advertisements, or enhance websites like Reddit, or simply organized my tabs -- I've been thoroughly spoiled by Google Chrome. There's no way to sync tabs or bookmarks across devices, and you currently can't import bookmarks from other browsers. All those features will be available eventually, with support for extensions coming sometime before the end of the year -- like Windows 10, Edge is a constantly evolving work in progress. But it's going to take a lot for someone like me, wholly enmeshed in Google's ecosystem, to ditch Chrome for something new. Internet Explorer also isn't going anywhere: it'll remain a part of Windows for the foreseeable future, as legacy apps are dependent on it. Head over to my Microsoft Edge preview to learn more about Microsoft Edge .

Getting your game on

Windows 10 adds and tweaks a few things in the entertainment department. The Xbox Video and Xbox Music apps have been renamed to Movies & TV and Groove Music, respectively. Their function is identical: any music and video files on your device can be found here, but it mostly serves as a means to convince you to buy or rent content from Microsoft's stores. You've got plenty of streaming services to choose from, for music and video.

Xbox Live achievements for Solitaire? Brilliant. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

If you're a gamer, the Xbox app will prove far more interesting. It's a window into your Xbox Live feed, letting you see what your friends are up to and send them messages, browse recordings people have made, compare achievements, and all of the expected ways of interacting with the social network. But if you own an Xbox One, you can stream activity from your console to any device running Windows 10.

It's awesome. No, it's not a game changer, and certainly not a reason to run out and grab an Xbox One. But it's still awesome: if someone wants to use the television, I can just plug an Xbox One controller into one of my PCs and continue plugging away at the Xbox One version of The Witcher 3 . The quality of the experience is going to be dependent on your network, so I'd recommend making sure both your console and the PC you're streaming to are connect to your LAN. The console also can't be used by others when it's streaming so this won't enable cooperative gaming. But if you frequently find yourself sharing the TV and have a PC with Windows 10 on hand, it's a fun little addition that could come in handy.

Handy tools for shutterbugs

The new Photos app isn't going to replace something like Adobe Lightroom, but if you take a lot of photos and are looking for a simple tool to keep things organized, you'll do well here.

Use the Photos app to make quick, non-destructive edits to your pictures. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

The Photos app scans your devices and OneDrive account for photos, and automatically arranges them into albums. You can use the app as a way to keep track of your pictures, but it also offers some basic editing tools too. If you prefer a hands-off approach, Photos will automatically enhance all of the photos it finds, wrangling red eye and sorting out exposure levels -- it works on RAW files, too. But don't worry: the edits Photos makes are non-destructive, so you can undo any changes it makes, or prevent it from altering your photos altogether.

Windows, everywhere

Windows 10 has finally arrived, but this version of Windows is fundamentally different from any that have come before it. It will truly be an everywhere OS, a concept Microsoft will be pushing with Windows 10 Mobile , and Universal Apps. We've been here before: apps developed for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 could share much of their code, which was supposed to make it easy to create a single app that ran everywhere.

Microsoft's universal apps share an identical codebase: the Excel client on your desktop, for example, will be the exact same client as the one on your phone, with elements adjusted to make sense of the different display, and the lack of a keyboard or mouse. You can currently get a taste of this on the latest version of Windows 10 Mobile, and while I wouldn't recommend editing spreadsheets on your smartphone, it's possible.

Universal apps will lead to their own challenges, as developers will have to weigh creating rich, robust apps that can run on a mobile device, against developing apps that can make use of all of the power a full PC can bring to bear. Microsoft is already drafting a solution using Continuum. Microsoft has demonstrated Continuum for phones: plug a Windows Phone into a display, and the interface will one day morph to mimic the PC-based version of Windows. You'll see the desktop, desktop-versions of Windows Store apps, and get full mouse and keyboard support. There's no word on when Continuum for phones will be available, or what devices it'll run on, but it offers a tantalizing glimpse of what Microsoft has in store.

Getting ready for what's next

The Windows Update process will be key to getting everyone on board with Microsoft's vision of the future of Windows. It'll also prove to be one of the most contentious elements: if you're running the standard Home version of Windows 10, updates are automatic and can't be refused.

This is a great thing. Windows' Achilles' heel has long been its nigh-ubiquity, which makes it a prime target for malware and other digital nastiness. A computer that's kept up to date is a happy computer, as it will offer you the best chance of avoiding viruses and other unpleasant things.

You can delay updates, but you can't avoid them. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

This is also a terrible thing. Many of us have encountered software updates that don't quite work out, occasionally breaking more than they fix. One of the last updates to the Windows 10 preview has been triggering software crashes, a recurring reminder that things occasionally don't work out as intended.

Microsoft has plans in place to mitigate these snafus: those of us who've signed up for the Windows Insider program can opt to continue serving as beta testers in perpetuity, and we'll be receiving every update first, for better or worse. But an army of five million testers could go a long way toward making sure these compulsory updates go as smoothly as possible. Insiders will also be able to continue driving the future of Windows by sharing feedback on features and functionality in Windows as they are developed.

I still worry that something will eventually slip through the cracks, and that will be the forced update that sours everyone's mood on the whole process. But I still favor Microsoft's approach: better to deal with the occasional botched update than have the legion of vulnerable or compromised devices that currently exists.

Conclusion

In an ideal world, we'd just call Microsoft's latest operating system "Windows," and sweep version numbers and codenames under the rug. That "10" gives the impression that something comes next, when in reality Windows is transitioning from something you buy (begrudgingly) once every few years, to a living document that's constantly being updated, and tweaked. For many Windows users expecting a predictable upgrade cadence, this is going to be a difficult transition.

Windows 10 will mean the end of grand, sweeping changes, with a marked increase in the sort of minute, quality-of-life tweaks we've grown accustomed to on our smartphones and tablets. Cortana will learn new tricks, and the interface will become flexible enough to support entirely new kinds of devices, like Microsoft's HoloLens . Should Windows Phone survive, we'll eventually see the world Microsoft envisioned back at the launch of Windows 8, when every device was supposed to feel right at home.

All of that comes later. What we have, at present, is a fast, functional OS that that is equally at home on a beefy gaming rig as it is on a Surface tablet. It does everything you expect it to, and bakes in all of the improvements Windows 8 brought to bear. Both Cortana and Edge have a long road ahead of them before they'll supplant Google's vicelike grip on my digital life, but the novelty of dictating emails and requests to my PC is not lost on me. And then there's the price: free, for those upgrading from Windows 7 or Windows 8.

If you're running Windows 7 or Windows 8 you've little to lose, and quite a bit to gain, by making the jump to Windows 10. If you're still on Windows XP, you've probably got your reasons. But Windows 10 marks the first steps in a transition from operating system to ecosystem, a wild dream that gets a little less crazy every time I ask my PC a question, or pop the keyboard of my laptop to get some reading done. This is Microsoft's second attempt at bringing us the future, and this time they're getting it right.

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