It's official—you can download Windows 10 on July 29

MUMBAI, INDIA: Microsoft's much awaited operating system, Windows 10 will be available for download from July 29.

Microsoft has confirmed that it will lunch the OS on the said date.

The touch friendly Windows 10 will be available as a free upgrade for users of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. Some of the new features include: the return of the Start menu, an all-new Internet browser, and Cortana, a digital personal assistant making to Google Now or Apple’s Siri.

To publicize the same, Microsoft is putting small notification in users’ task bars. By clicking on the notification, a slide show pops up. It extols the benefits of Windows 10.

According to an earlier report, Windows 10 will be available in Home, Mobile, Pro, Enterprise and Education editions. Windows 10 Home edition will be the consumer facing edition which will be seen on most desktop PCs, laptops and 2-in-1s. The Home edition will support voice-assistant Cortana, Windows Edge web browser as well as Windows Hello face recognition, iris scanner and fingerprint login for various Windows apps such as Photos, Maps, Mail, Calendar, Music and Video.

For the business users, you have the Windows 10 Pro edition, which has all the features of the Home edition plus additional features such as device management, security features, cloud features ideal for smaller businesses. For medium and large size organisations there is Windows 10 Enterprise edition which builds up upon the Windows 10 Pro. Apart from providing security features, Windows 10 Enterprise also has a broad range of options for operating system deployment and comprehensive device and app management.

On the mobile front, you get Windows 10 Mobile edition which is the new name for Windows Phone OS and the Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise edition. As the name implies, Windows 10 Mobile is meant for use on mobile phones, tablets and other touch-centric devices. It will support Windows Universal apps which are there on Windows 10 Home edition along with a touch-optimised version of Office. Windows 10 Mobile will also offer Continuum for phone which will let users use multiple devices seamlessly. Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise is the mobile arm of the Windows 10 Enterprise edition. Just like the desktop version, the Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise will also incorporate the latest security and innovation features on the mobile devices.

Windows 10 Education is a new edition which builds upon Windows 10 Enterprise and, will be available through academic Volume Licensing, and there will be paths for schools and students using Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro devices to upgrade to Windows 10 Education.

Microsoft also said new PCs and tablets running Windows 10 will go on sale July 29, while Windows 10 for other devices such as smartphones would be available later this year.

"With Windows 10, we start delivering on our vision of more personal computing, defined by trust in how we protect and respect your personal information, mobility of the experience across your devices, and natural interactions with your Windows devices, including speech, touch, ink, and holograms. We designed Windows 10 to run our broadest device family ever, including Windows PCs, Windows tablets, Windows phones, Windows for the Internet of Things, Microsoft Surface Hub, Xbox One and Microsoft HoloLens—all working together," Microsoft said in a recent blog post.