Microsoft Windows 10 is out: Here's what is taken from Apple OS X and iOS 8

Microsoft yesterday announced Windows 10 for its users and for the first time, this upgrade will be free of charge. Of course, it's not hard to miss the similarity with Apple, which had announced that OS X Mavericks (the OS launched for MacBooks and iMacs in 2013) would be a free upgrade. The OS following that OS X Yosemite was also a free upgrade for Apple users. Also iOS updates have always been free.Now Microsoft has caved in and made its Windows OS free as well. Let's not forget that Google's Chrome OS is also free of cost on its Chromebooks, even though Google's Chrome OS is yet to take off in a big way. Android, the most popular mobile OS in the world has been a free one.But other than the free upgrade, Windows 10 has taken quite a few ideas from Apple and we take look at some of them.Mailbox gestures As post on CultOfMac points out Microsoft has given Windows 10 gestures to clear up your inbox. On iOS 8, you can just swipe to the left to either archive or trash a mail. However as the piece also points out Apple stole the swipe left to delete gesture from Mailbox in the first place and at least Microsoft''s Joe Belfiore acknowledged during the demo that these might appear familiar to users.Continuity and Continuum Apple's Continuity allows users to keep their iOS and Macs connected, enabling them to take phone calls, SMS and even pick up work on the iPad or the iPhone from where they left off on a Mac or vice-versa.[caption id="attachment_251014" align="alignnone" width="640"]

Action Centre in Windows 10.[/caption]With Continuum, Microsoft is giving a new spin to the whole idea and allows Windows 10 users in 2in1 devices to easily navigate between keyboard/mouse and touch/tablet as it detects the transition and conveniently switches to the new mode.Windows 10 will also ship with Microsoft's universal apps for Photos, Videos, Music, Maps, People & Messaging, and Mail & Calendar and according to Microsoft they will have the same look and feel from app to app and device to device and content will be stored and synced through OneDrive, enabling you to start something on one device and continue it on another.This is what Apple already offers. Macs have their own app for Photos which is iPhoto, iMovies for video-editing, etc and Apple allows users to sync all documents, photos from an iPhone to a Mac on iCloud. Microsoft may have changed the specifics a little bit but the idea is essentially the same.Action Centre and the Notification CentreApple had already introduced a Notification Centre to OS X Mavericks and it was improved in Yosemite and iOS 8. Microsoft has now bought the Action Centre from Windows Phone to Desktops as well. Action Centre will enable users to see notifications from apps like Skype, Calendar alerts, emails, etc. The Action Center can be accessed via a new icon in the notification area.Interestingly Microsoft's voice-assistant Cortana is a part of the Action Centre as well, unlike Siri which has pretty much been restricted to iOS 8. We haven't see Siri come to the Mac yet, and Microsoft has gone ahead of Apple by bringing Cortana to Windows 10 desktop as well.Spartan browser and SafariAs this post on Infoworld points out, "Spartan Web browser shamelessly copies longtime Safari behaviors, such as Reading List (including its local save capability) and Reader mode." The reader mode shows an article like you would view a document, without any ads, etc.According to Windows, Spartan's reading view is distraction free and displays the article in a simplified layout and allows both online and offline viewing. This is exactly what Safari already does. Other features of Spartan include the integration of Cortana, something that Safari hasn't got.Skype and iMessageSkype is going to be a combination of FaceTime plus iMessage. On Windows 10, Skype detects if the person you're texting has a Skype account and then the message is sent over Skype. Sort of like in iMessage where the phone automatically detects if the other person has an iPhone or iOS-enabled device and ensures that users send each iMessages instead of regular SMS texts.