Microsoft confirms Windows 10 launch date: 29 July

Creepy 'Gets Windows 10' icon appears on Windows 7 taskbars

Microsoft has finally confirmed the launch date of Windows 10, the latest version of its client operating system that, it says, will unify its various different versions on a common code base.

The date, 29 July, confirms rumours that had been widely circulated and comes ahead of the release of new microprocessors by Intel, which have been scheduled for autumn. However, analysts are sceptical that the twin launches will have a significant impact on the moribund PC and laptop market.

Windows users will also have been greeted today with a "Get Windows 10" icon appearing in their taskbar enabling them to reserve a free upgrade to the new operating system, when it comes out next month.

Consumers will have one year from 29 July to take advantage of the free upgrade. Once a Windows device is upgraded to Windows 10, Microsoft has pledged to support it for the "lifetime of the device" at no cost.

The launch date gives Microsoft just two months to iron out glitches and bugs in the current beta-release of Windows 10. Many of the new features in Windows 10 are part of the Windows Universal Apps, which enables Windows desktop and Windows Phone apps to be built with the same shared code.

The launch of Windows 10 comes just under three years after Windows 8 - a launch so disastrous that Microsoft opted to skip the planned Windows 9 moniker for its next operating system, and which also resulted in the departures of Steve Sinofsky, the head of the Windows and Windows Live group at Microsoft and, eventually, CEO Steve Ballmer.

Windows 8 had intended to unite the operating system family with a common tile-based user interface. However, this ran alongside the standard Windows desktop on PCs and laptops and ended-up confusing and irritating users. With Windows 10, Microsoft has returned to the old Windows design, but with elements of the tiled interface.

New CEO Satya Nadella has also sought to tie together the various different Windows operating systems in Windows 10 across various different devices, with Universal Apps capable of running on both a PC and mobile devices, provided the devices have the raw power to run them.