Windows 10 Technical Preview #
Windows 10 Technical Preview ISOs are out. A few thoughts (billg: I carp because I care):
- Setup screens during install are the same as those from Windows 8
- Same annoying "Sign in to your Microsoft account" after install with no apparent way to bypass. As before, disconnecting from the network, clicking the back arrow, then clicking next allows creation of a local account instead. Microsoft: Please fix this - give users an obvious way to avoid having to setup or sign in to yet another online account (as OS X does).
- Strange popup (for feedback, I suppose): "How hard was it to use Start?" Seriously? How hard was it to add Start?
- The power button ("Power Options") is now at the top of the Start menu - please put it back at the bottom where it belongs.
- Put all of the "Windows Store apps" in a folder instead of having to scroll endlessly through them. And while you're at it, please re-add the ability to easily create, delete, and rename folders on the Start menu (the only options from the context menu are "Expand" or "Collapse").
So far, as near as I can tell, Windows 10 is basically Windows 8.1 with a garish Start menu; calling it 8.2 or even 8.1.1 would seem closer to the truth.
Updates:
- Happily, the Windows Store app icons on the Start menu can be removed by right clicking and selecting "Unpin from Start". The result is close to the original Start menu.)
- Microsoft shows off new multiple desktop tool called Task View in Windows 10. Virtual desktop apps for Windows have been around for a long time, like Robin Keir's BossKey from the last century: "BossKey is a simple virtual desktop program. Create hot-keys to switch between the desktops and have one set of windows/applications on one and a different set of windows/applications on another and flip between them instantly with a single key press. Up to 10 virtual desktops can be defined and windows can be designated always visible." Relatedly, despite being incorporated into OS X since 10.5, I have yet to see a single customer actually using virtual desktops under OS X (or any OS for that matter).
/windows | Oct 01, 2014
Subscribe or visit the archives.
