Microsoft is updating Windows 10 again, in its latest bid to win you back - CNET

This is not the Microsoft you might remember from days of old, when the company and its partners would plow considerable resources into informing the world that a new version of Windows has arrived. In the years since Windows 8's debut in 2012, when the company spent hundreds of millions of dollars spent telling the world about it, Microsoft has signaled change.

Satya Nadella took the reins as Microsoft's new CEO two years ago, the Windows leadership team has changed, and the company is now releasing its widely used Word, Excel and PowerPoint Office software for phones and tablets, not just PCs. It's even begun releasing new pet projects first, like a computer intelligence-powered camera app for Apple's iPhone.

Windows is changing as well. The software behemoth is making good on its promise to run Windows "as a service," meaning it will send refinements and new features to PCs a couple of times a year. The result is our PCs get new features quicker, and regular refinements of existing ones.

Microsoft also offered its latest Windows 10 software for free to nearly everyone who bought a PC in the past decade, a break with its tradition of charging hundreds of dollars for upgrades. That offer ended Friday.

Leaing from the past

The PC makers say they're changing too. No longer focused on the computer-equivalent of talking about horsepower all the time, companies have settled on discussing the "experience" of using a computer. The new software, called "Windows 10 Anniversary Update," it just a part of the overall puzzle.

Dell has opted to market its computers in two ways: ads showcasing how good they look, and others about what people do with them (like making the Ghostbusters reboot). After all, why spend time marketing Windows features every other computer maker offers? "HP has Cortana too," said Allison Dew, head of marketing for Dell's PCs.

HP has also chosen not to directly market Windows or its features. "Our job is testing the new PCs shipping with the anniversary release and testing existing PCs," said Mike Nash, VP of customer experience and portfolio strategy at HP.

To be sure, that's not a small job. In recent years, HP has stepped up its communication with Microsoft in an effort to make sure its computers offer the best experience running the latest Windows 10 features, not merely support them.

As part of that effort, Nash, who used to work at Microsoft before leaving for Amazon and eventually HP, identified the most frustrating problems with computers and sought to fix them one-by-one. Among the changes, PCs start up faster these days and battery life is getting better too.