MicrosoftMicrosoft Corp. MSFT, -0.17% gave its first public peek at the next version of its Windows operating system, pledging to give users a voice in the development of its most famous product and acknowledging that the current version veered off course.
The new version will be called “Windows 10,” skipping a number in the company’s recent product naming convention. The current version of the software, released two years ago, is called Windows 8.
At a press event Tuesday in San Francisco, Microsoft showed some preliminary new features such as ways to switch more easily from one computing task to another, or work on multiple applications -- such as email, Web browser and Excel spreadsheet -- simultaneously in one screen.
The Windows “Start” menu also is getting a makeover, with new ways to see work software and social apps like Facebook in one spot.
Microsoft executives said Windows 10 would launch sometime after next spring, but they declined to discuss other details, including timing or prices.
