Windows 10 Preview

[bkingUK]

I was burned badly on this board by hyping up Windows 8. Win10 is coming out though and I have started playing around with it.

Some thoughts so far:

The new UI is better (still in beta), but still leaves some things to be desired. The Metro interface is gone, and has been blended into a hybrid where the start menu has tiles similar to the Metro interface. The previous menu that lists all programs returns, however. The menu has an option to be expanded back to full screen (something I have no idea why you'd want to do) thus can look similar to Windows 8 if you want it to.

Biggest complaint with the new menu is that the tiles can be longer than the length of the visible menu. In effect, there is a scroll bar to scroll down to view all tiles. Also, the tiles are random colors for tiles, something I still don't get, as colors should indicate some type of functionality. Instead, they are just random colors with no real meaning...a bad design choice.

While not in the version I am testing (Windows 10 Enterprise Technical Preview), there is a customize button grayed out in this version, which will allow users to simply turn off tiling or further customize the start menu.

One thing they did right is keeping the functionality of simply typing when you are looking for something after pressing start. This is the only way people found anything in Win8, and is actually pretty useful in Win10 as well now that it's an established practice.

Win10 introduces multiple virtual desktops, something that has been available in Mac OSX and most Linux distributions. While personally, I have never used virtual desktops much, they will be a welcomed feature to people who want to separate desktops according to their functionality. This feature is still in Beta, but did what it was supposed to do when I tried it.

A great update for the IT guys is that they've finally updated command consoles (and Powershell) to allow cutting and pasting from the prompt. Holy shit, what an upgrade for 2015. But is needed.

Lastly, what were previously known as Windows 8 apps or Modern apps are now being marketed as Universal Apps (for the tech people based in XAML or HTML5/JavaScript). These apps now float as their own windows in Windows10 like all other desktop apps. This is also a welcomed edition.

More coming supposedly, but it's definitely a step up from Windows 8 and better than Windows 7 when it all comes together.

 

[argubs2]

But why male models?

 

[bkingUK]

Originally posted by argubs2:
But why male models?

huh

 

[LineSkiCat]

Windows OS iterations seem to go in waves.

XP - Ground-breaking
Vista - Buggy, sluggish
Win7 - Great
Windows8 - Messy, not what the people wanted.

I suspect Microsoft took Windows8, figured out what they did wrong, and made the appropriate changes from the ground up. Kind of similar to how the Galaxy S series launches with new features and ideas, while the Note series shores them up and corrects issues.

I think it will be pretty good.

 

[TankedCat]

I know they plan to give Windows 10 away to former Win 7 and Win 8.x users if they are early adopters.

I jumped on the Win 8 bandwagon early with traditional desktops and it was a horrible experience - it actually made me stop using the computer as much and I ended up going back to Win 7 on every machine in my house - my thinking being that Win 8 must be designed for tablets and touch screen laptops and that is when you'd want to use it.

Fast forward to six months later and I purchase a Winbook tablet with Windows 8.

Compared to droid its not competitive at all. Its almost like loading a windows based OS with windows based programs (I'm hesitant to call them apps) onto a tablet

The first major problem I can see is that tablets will only have 16gb or so and you will expand it with an SD card to 16 or 32gb additional but when loading apps that were written with the expectation that the end user has a hard drive of 500gb to 3tb - you will see that is just isn't much space to do anything with

Then if you are a droid user you expect the same droid functionality like sizing with a finger swipe and multiple windows for many apps that you want to access in some order. Doesn't work that way in Win 8 on a tablet.

So to me , Win 8 is really the worst of both worlds - too tablet oriented for a desktop and to bloated for a tablet.

I'm not all that anxious to see how they plan on making the jump with Win 10 to desktop, laptop, tablet and from what I hear now, Xbox - and seamlessly pull them together for a positive end user experience.

This post was edited on 3/24 9:09 AM by TankedCat

 

[argubs2]

Thankfully, the major players are starting to understand that no, everyone does not want the same experience on every device they own, because every device serves a different purpose. They're starting to realize no one gives a shit about a laptop with a screen you can touch. If someone wants a laptop, they want a laptop, not a tablet. They want a desktop class OS.

Look for these dumbass 2in1's to start slowly fading. I predict a surge of UHD / performance based flagships coming in the next couple of years for all of the major manufacturers.

 

[bkingUK]

Originally posted by TankedCat:
I know they plan to give Windows 10 away to former Win 7 and Win 8.x users if they are early adopters.

I jumped on the Win 8 bandwagon early with traditional desktops and it was a horrible experience - it actually made it stop using the computer as much and I ended up going back to Win 7 on every machine in my house - my thinking being that Win 8 must be designed for tablets and touch screen laptops and that is when you'd want to use it.

Fast forward to six months later and I purchase a winbook tablet with Windows 8.

Compared to droid its not competitive at all. Its almost like loading a windows based OS with windows based programs (I'm hesitant to call them apps) onto a tablet

The first major problem I can see is that tablets will only have 16gb or so and you will expand it with an SD card to 16 or 32gb additional but when loading apps that were written with the expectation that the end user has a hard drive of 500gb to 3tb - you will see that is just isn't much space to do anything with

Then if you are a droid user you expect the same droid functionality like sizing with a finger swipe and multiple windows for many apps that you want to access in some order. Doesn't work that way in Win 8 on a tablet.

So to me , Win 8 is really the worst of both worlds - too tablet oriented for a desktop and to bloated for a tablet.

I'm not all that anxious too see how they plan on making the jump with Win 10 to desktop, laptop, tablet and from what I hear now, Xbox - and seamlessly pull them together for a positive end user experience.

Not sure on Xbox, but they are pushing out a feature called Continuum for tablets and hybrids. Tablets on Win10 will see full screen menu experience (as would theoretically preferred by tablet users). When plugging in a keyboard or mouse, however, the system is intended to detect the change in hardware and flip into desktop mode with traditional Win10 start menu.

 

[argubs2]

Also, as an Xbox One owner, the capabilities of Win10 do excite me.

If I'm able to stream / play games on my laptop (seamlessly) without pissing off my wife, that's sick. I'll believe it when I see it in action, though....seems to me they're throwing in the * of "only for supported games" which I hope does not mean the selection will be limited.

 

[anon_l8pbkn96tg3j6]

I took a quick gander at the price of Windows 8 because of this, and it's only 100$? Maybe it is because I was little and had a completely different concept of money, maybe it was because my dad always stole his office version of Windows for us, but I always thought Windows was ridiculously expensive. Weird.

 

[TankedCat]

I think I got it an at introductory price of like $59 for an upgrade.

At this point I think Microsoft is more concerned about market share than pricing structure for OS.

 

[bbonds]

There was an article somewhere that said Microsoft would allow free upgrades to W10, for all users...even the pirates*


*have to have at least W7 or W8 to upgrade.

 

[CC_332]

Originally posted by argubs2:
But why male models?

 

[d2atTech]

Normally I don't comment on the subject matter at hand today, but I'd like to share with you my experience. I used to use Windows XP, and Windows 7 after that. Both were polished OS's. And when I used both, I hoped/prayed/begged to god that I'd be lucky enough to get a mac. After all, it's common knowledge that Windows is the OS for luddites, suits, and DMV employees, while the Mac OS is used by musicians, movie directors, and hot asian women from Thailand. The OS X is an "avante-garde" grade os, there is nothing better.

Or so i thought....till i found the only OS of any merit: Linux. I use the Ubuntu flavor. It takes about ten times longer to set up, and it never crashes. Like ever. Also, most importantly, it's "porn-grade" os. Meaning, you can visit every porn website on the planet and download every potential malware, and Linux just shrugs it off.

Linux is that kid from elementary school who ate dirt during recess. Sure it damaged him mentally, but his immune system built super powers only ebola would envy. he's practically invincible--he will never, ever get an STD (probably because he is never getting laid). Moreover, all that retardation wasn't half as bad, since it turned him into an idiot savant who will one day win Jeopardy. Upgrade to windows 10 at your own risk!