Windows 10 news recap: Cortana everywhere, the ever shrinking app gap, and a 'Spartan' is to be born

It’s 2015! And already we’ve had a few Windows 10 bits trickle out onto the internet. This week,  we revealed that Microsoft had started their plans to bring Cortana to iOS and Android, in an attempt to bring Cortana to everyone running Windows 10. It’s happening because of her arrival on Windows 10, and how Microsoft is setting her up to be the same assistant available to you everywhere. Set a reminder on the desktop and it’ll popup on your phone, or setup a meeting on your phone and have it popup on your desktop. It works both ways, and much like a personal assistant, is always available to you where most convenient.

Furhtermore, information regarding the upcoming Spartan browser for Windows 10 was revealed. Microsoft may be shifting focus from its long time web browser Internet Explorer (IE) to a new product, code named “Spartan”, while still maintaining support for IE.  The browser, said to be “lightweight” and based on Microsoft’s Trident rendering engine (not the more widely used WebKit, as some have hoped), as well as the company’s Chakra JavaScript engine.

Up next, info about Microsoft’s plans to close the shrinking app gap on Windows Phone appeared online. Over the past few years, Microsoft has been trying to grab developer interest with its Universal App model. The software giant is making it easy for developers to write their apps once, and have it available across the desktop, the tablet and the phone. Another strategy is rumored to be enabling Android apps to run on Windows, which according to sources is “still a possibility with Windows 10”.

Finally, it was revealed that Windows XP and Windows Vista users would not be able to directly upgrade to Windows 10.  For those running Window Vista, XP or older, a complete format will be required, so all files and settings will be lost according to Microsoft‘s Gabriel Aul.

And that’s it for this weeks Windows 10 roundup. Stay tuned for even more Windows 10 news in the coming weeks, leading up to the January 21st event.