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I'm writing this Windows 10 tribute on a MacBook Air, which tells you exactly how well my relationship with Windows is going. Even so, back in the day, Windows 10 was a broadly good iteration of Microsoft's venerable platform, and it was also a showcase for one of Microsoft's most quixotic efforts: Cortana.

Microsoft and Windows were my jam, and I spent decades covering every version of Windows from Windows 3.1 to Windows 11, but Windows 10 was special. It fixed so many missteps, all while taking a rather huge digital assistant and other swings.

Now, though, we celebrate Windows 10's tenth birthday with the specter of its demise looming in October. That's when Microsoft will officially stop supporting Windows 10. Until quite recently, it was overwhelmingly Microsoft's most popular Windows version. Windows 11, its adoption held back in part by stringent TPM 2.0 security requirements that many still-new PCs could not meet, has in recent months surged to essentially match the Windows 10 install base.

Windows 10 was one of the upgrades that introduced bold new furniture without redesigning the whole house. The platform felt familiar, but I remember bumping into a cluster of new ideas, some that stuck and others that were dropped by the time Windows 11 arrived.

This was the update where Microsoft finally shoved aside the much-maligned Internet Explorer in favor of Microsoft Edge. Over time, it grew into my favorite web browser, one I loved for its vertical tabs, speed, and stability. It's still a distant third in browser market share, behind Safari and Chrome, even though it uses the same Web engine, Chromium, as Chrome.

Windows 10 introduced Windows Hello, a biometric security system so new that most PCs at the time didn't fully support it. The face ID system relied on 3D scanning, which used standard and IR cameras to map a face. Even the laptop I tested Windows 10 on in 2015, a Surface Pro 3, couldn't fully support Windows Hello, though subsequent Surfaces would all ship with it as standard equipment. I loved how easy it was to unlock my PC and that it was virtually impossible to fool.

There were other nifty bits like the Action Center, which thankfully replaced Windows 8-style Charms, and the Xbox App, which brought the console's profile management and other gaming features to the Windows platform.

Like most of the best platform updates, Windows 10 remained fantastically familiar with unchanged Printer menu, Device Manager, File Manager, File Folders, and Recycle Bin. Some might argue, as I did at the time, that Microsoft was still struggling to go more than skin deep with its Windows updates. After all, the inscrutable Registry was still a thing. But to know and love Windows is to understand that it's still the world's most widely used platform. Fundamental changes to the core of the OS risk breaking Windows for millions of users and, possibly, rendering some of their trusted hardware and systems incompatible. I always appreciated the care Microsoft took in not severing these critical connections.

There were still vestiges of Windows 8 oddities living on in Windows 10, like Continuum, which could transform Windows into a touch-first interface for use on tablets like the Surface Pro. I know, no one uses Surface devices without keyboards, but Microsoft always positioned the convertibles as, well, convertibles. They thought the Surface Pro could ably compete with both the iPad and the MacBook Air. In the end, all Surface devices, those with or without detachable keyboards, mostly compete with traditional laptops. Continuum's disappearance in Windows 11 is mourned by no one.

This brings us to Cortana, Microsoft's biggest Windows 10 idea.

Cortana was not, in and of itself, new. After all, Microsoft took the name and modeled the digital voice assistant on Master Chief's helpful (and occasionally murderous) AI companion in the company's popular Halo console game series.

In Windows 10, Cortana occupied critical real estate next to the start button. It essentially replaced Search. You could talk to it and ask it to manage some system tasks. It was even a bit conversational. That's right, years before ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini, Microsoft had us talking to our computers.

Here's how, in 2015, I described an early interaction with Cortana:

"Cortana can be smart and sassy. When I told her to "turn on Bluetooth," she perfectly interpreted my speech and, because she has access to system-level tools, told me (in her Halo-esque Cortana voice) that she had turned on Bluetooth. And when I asked Cortana, “Flights in Denver,” she correctly interpreted it and launched a webpage featuring MSN Travel results for flights. Later I asked her if she would marry me and she responded: "Among a handful of challenges, I don't think the Supreme Court would approve just yet." She's such a card."

Some things never change.

Cortana was as adept at written queries as she was at spoken ones and could even launch a Bing search for web-based queries, which is ironic since Bing's big ChatGPT-powered AI glow-up marked the end of the line for Cortana. Microsoft ended Cortana's standalone app existence in 2023, right around the time it introduced Bing AI, which was built on ChatGPT, and that eventually became Copilot.

Windows 11, which arrived roughly six years after Windows 10 is arguably a better version of Windows, ushering in one of the platform's most radical redesigns, including a divisive, centered task bar, finally redesigned core app icons, and a deeply integrated Copilot that is riding the AI interrest wave to a prominence Cortana could only dream of.

Still, Microsoft's insistence on requiring TPM 2.0 support when it knew that vast numbers of consumers owned PCs that didn't include that was the opposite of the classic Windows big-tent approach: support everyone, make everyone happy. To be fair. Better security is better for everyone, but if Microsoft knew it was going to do that, it should've given Microsoft customers five years' notice and worked with Windows system partners to sell them all TPM 2.0-ready PCs.

I celebrate and will ultimately miss Windows 10. It's the bridge between the iconic Windows many of us grew up with and all that it would become in the 21st century. In it, Microsoft was willing to try big ideas, all while still holding its arms open for a deep embrace of all Windows PC owners. Windows 11 never felt like that, and now, as everyone is herded onto the Windows 11 and soon, Windows 12 train, it's worth taking one last look back at maybe the best Windows there ever was or will be.

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• Razer has revealed a new line of BlackShark V3 Pro headsets
• There are dedicated versions for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox
• It's part of the brand's wider push into the console space

Gaming hardware brand Razer has unveiled the new Razer BlackShark V3 Pro line, with dedicated options for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox gamers.

A successor to the already excellent Razer BlackShark V2 Pro, a hugely popular headset that we awarded four and a half out of five stars in our review, the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro introduces hybrid active noise cancellation (ANC) for the first time in a BlackShark headset.

It features four microphones to detect and help filter out background noise, plus comfortable memory foam ear cups to provide an ideal fit.

It's also the first Razer headset to benefit from the brand's new Gen-2 HyperSpeed Wireless technology, reducing audio latency as low as a claimed 10 milliseconds. That, according to Razer, puts it well ahead of the competition and makes it an ideal choice for professional gamers.

In addition to a slightly revised overall design, there have been substantial changes under the hood. The headset now has Gen-2 Triforce 50mm drivers with bio-cellulose diaphragms, completely redesigned for more precise audio and spatial accuracy.

The microphone has also been upgraded, with a whopping 48kHz sample rate that puts it in competition with some of the best microphones for streaming right now.

The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro launches in three variants, each tailored to its distinct platforms. The PC version supports THX Spatial Audio, while the PlayStation variant is fully compatible with Tempest 3D Audio. The Xbox options, then, are designed with Windows Sonic spatial sound in mind.

All three cost $249.99 / £249.99 each, and come in either Black or White colorways. While the Xbox and PC versions are available now, the PlayStation variant will hit shelves at a later date.

They release alongside the more affordable Razer BlackShark V3 and entry-level Razer BlackShark V3 X HyperSpeed. Both of these models also come in distinct PC, PlayStation, and Xbox flavors.

The launch of these new headsets represents something of a shift for the traditionally very PC-focused hardware brand, which is now aiming to become a major player in the console space.

"So I think in the past, we had really worked as very separate entities as far as PC and console were concerned," explains Razer senior product evangelist Paige Sander.

"We took a step back and realized that, as we have so much credibility and innovation in the PC space, why not take some of those iconic things, like BlackShark V2 Pro or like our mouse click switches, and bring them to our console products?"

In the end, "it's about bringing those innovations to console gamers so that they get the same level of performance and esports-focused features", though Sander admits that there are some special considerations when designing a console product.

"The most important thing is making sure that it's really optimized for the platform that it's built for. That's why we do driver tuning specifically on the platforms, to make sure that the audio is really dialed in," she says. "Also, things like the 3.5mm jack. We know that many console gamers like to plug headsets directly into their controllers, so we made sure that that feature was present."

Razer is also carefully considering feedback from pro players, a formula that has proven successful for its PC products.

"We also worked specifically with pros in the console space 'Snip3down' on Xbox, 'Shotzzy' on PlayStation," Sander reveals.

"These are their preferred platforms when they're gaming, and so we made sure to work directly with them on the development of their FPS profiles, on some of the design elements like the subtle Xbox and PlayStation stitching that you'll see on our headsets."

According to market research firm Circana, the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro is currently the most popular PC gaming headset in the US.

Will Razer find similar success in the console market? Only time will tell, but I'm certainly looking forward to taking these new models for a spin.

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