

The advantage that El Capitan has is that it starts showing and filtering results as you type. For instance, if you type "New York Weather," you'll see the hourly forecast followed by the 10-day forecast.

Improved Spotlight searching is a "tent pole" feature of El Capitan, as it now delivers results for additional topics, such as sports, weather, stocks, transit directions and even Web video. Microsoft's latest OS simply offers more features for everyday users and power users alike. (We will wait for the final version in the fall to test these claims.) The result is up to 10 times faster performance, for smoother gameplay and more speed in pro-level apps. The biggest deal in this regard is the addition of Metal graphics technology, which promises to boost performance by allowing the CPU and GPU to tag-team. Actually, most of the special sauce in El Capitan is under the hood. Other special features in Windows 10 include DirectX 12 for better graphics performance, and the ability to stream Xbox One games to your PC.īecause OS X El Capitan isn't a major release for Apple but more of a fine-tuning of the features introduced in last year's Yosemite, it doesn't offer many special features other than Split View and some enhanced apps. OS X doesn't support touch displays, but its Handoff feature will let you pick up where you left off in an app on your iPad. Sure enough, a little alert popped up while I was writing the message in the Mail app. For example, I asked Cortana to remind me to ask Avram about our Windows 10 coverage plans next time I email him. I especially like that Windows 10 lets you use your voice to dictate both emails and reminders. Where the heck is Siri for the desktop, Apple? It remains missing in action in El Capitan.


Cortana gets smarter the more you use it, but you can personalize it right off the bat via the Notebook settings. Like Google Now, Cortana provides cards that give you a quick glance at the weather, news, sports scores, restaurant recommendations and more. Special Features (15 Points)Ĭortana, a voice-enabled personal assistant that does more than just answer questions, is the star of the show for Windows 10. You can snap more windows at once, and you can automatically snap two windows at once. For instance, if you click on a link in an email, the Edge browser will load and snap to the right side of the screen. Another benefit of Windows 10 is the automatic-snap feature, a carryover from Windows 8.
