Windows 10

[KemoKa]

I saw that in the past day or so, Microsoft has released Windows 10 as a preview operating system. I watched Tek Syndicate's video on it and was pretty impressed at what they've done to it. It looks to be a much, much better deal than what we had previously with windows 8. I'd like to try it out but I have some questions for any people on the forum who have tried it out. Note that I do have a spare hard drive I can throw it on so I can bounce back to 7 immediately if I don't like it.

1. The name "preview" they've given it makes me a little worried that this early beta test of 10 is just a scrappy, barebones version like you would find with Windows Basic. Is this the case or can it be considered as far as workability and function is concerned, a fully-fledged operating system (I know in terms of bugs, it certainly isn't, but can I do the stuff I can do on my full version of Windows 7?)

2. I have heard mixed reports about driver support. Some people are saying that Windows 10 preview is bad because it doesn't have any graphics driver support (yet) but I have heard more people saying that they're running super-OP graphics configs on 10 flawlessly. Which of the two should I believe? Windows 8.1 was said to support all of the programs that Windows 7 did, just as 7 did with XP and that XP did with 98 and 2000. Microsoft has usually been very good about backwards compatibility. Being that as far as we know, 10 is pretty closely related to 8.1, which has support for 7's drivers, I'm leaning towards the claim that they do support the display drivers, especially because there are reports on gaming performance from 10, but I wanted to hear from you guys first.

 

Cheers!

[Hazy125]

1. It's pretty much a full fledged version. When they release the final, it would be the "pro/ultimate" version as it includes features such as remote desktop etc.

 

2. Driver support is there, but it is simply not anywhere near as good as win8/8.1. Many of the complaints in the feedback is about drivers. But for all intensive purposes, driver supports is pretty much good. I know some people that have shockwave issues and I'm experiencing some flash issues, so from what I've seen, many of the issues reside in runtimes

[GoodBytes]

1. The name "preview" they've given it makes me a little worried that this early beta test of 10 is just a scrappy, barebones version like you would find with Windows Basic. Is this the case or can it be considered as far as workability and function is concerned, a fully-fledged operating system (I know in terms of bugs, it certainly isn't, but can I do the stuff I can do on my full version of Windows 7?)

Preview is a kind of beta, where features that hasn't been approved or developed enough to do something useful has been cut out, and will be released in later preview update. Windows 10 has a long list of features coming. And the GUI will change at some point. The idea of these early previews is that feedback. Microsoft wants feedback. A similar approach was done with Windows 7, and we can how successful that was. Windows 8 was all closed doors, pretty much in comparison. You can do a full discussion on it. But some believe the reason for this, is that Microsoft knew that the Start Screen would be hatted, much like Windows 95 start menu when it appeared, and people over time will like it on all systems, especially with the current trend during the Win8 development which showed front and center that desktop and laptop would dispensary for tablets. Sadly, that wasn't the future, and that is OK. Microsoft tried to be first with productivity tablets, and they were, and still are. But, desktop and laptops regain momentum, and prediction were wrong, and mix with that, people reluctance of the Start Screen.

Anyway, like I said, you can make quite a discussion.

Windows 10 will feature a GUI that changes based on the device (not in the feature).

I STRONGLY suggest that to have a look at the preview announcement video.

So, like I was saying, it's all about feedback. The way it will work, is that Microsoft releases a few features, and wants to collect feedback while they continue to work on them, polish them, fix discovered bugs, improve them from feedback received, and at the same time finish to some degree other features, and release those, and repeat the process from them.

 

2. I have heard mixed reports about driver support. Some people are saying that Windows 10 preview is bad because it doesn't have any graphics driver support (yet) but I have heard more people saying that they're running super-OP graphics configs on 10 flawlessly. Which of the two should I believe? Windows 8.1 was said to support all of the programs that Windows 7 did, just as 7 did with XP and that XP did with 98 and 2000. Microsoft has usually been very good about backwards compatibility. Being that as far as we know, 10 is pretty closely related to 8.1, which has support for 7's drivers, I'm leaning towards the claim that they do support the display drivers, especially because there are reports on gaming performance from 10, but I wanted to hear from you guys first.

Windows 10 has no drivers support. It is too early for manufactures to really care. However, Windows 10 will support all Windows 8.1 drivers, as nothing was done (yet) to the kernel, or the changes/optimizations done, doesn't affect the FUNCTIONALITY of the drivers. So basically, anything that Windows 10 doesn't pick up by itself the drivers, you can jut download and install the Windows 8.1 drivers. If the setup complain about the version of Windows, then you can just run them under compatibility mode, and it will by-pass the OS check from the setup, and the drivers will successfully install.

Please note: Windows 10 preview, like all preview builds is a debug build, includes deep telemetry data tracking (everything is tracked, down application you use and how long, and what you search within Windows), and debug analysis code, which all can contribute in performance drop. So, it is normal and expected that Win10 performance is slower than Win8.

Deep telemetry tracking on preview builds is important for Microsoft in the development of Windows. Information collected isn't used to identify you (beside your e-mail name and e-mail address for the feedback system), to store everything in a database so that they can draw heatmaps, see what software has compatibility issues (that is how they know.. they don't test the multi-million software out there for Windows), and see how they can improve things in usage of the OS. So, when Cortana will be added, expect your interest and searches be logged by the telemetry data system, to improve that feature.

Once Windows 10 is released, all this tracking will be gone. All you'll have is the basic telemetry tracking that you can opt out, and occasionally communicate with Microsoft Windows. Basically all is tracked is software compatibility by asking you if the program or setup ran successfully, and software being used so that they know what to focus or drop on the next release of Windows. No personal information to any level is collected, not even where you click.

To download Windows 10, go here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/preview

[Zerreth]

I've been using it since yesterday, and I really like how it turned out.
I would still like more control over the tiles in start. I just want it to be a dumb grid so I can place those tiles however I see fit. On top of that just have the desktop use the same system so you can then drag tiles between the start menu and the desktop. (similar to the app drawer and home screens in android)

[Cookybiscuit]

But for all intensive purposes

Sure.

[watts300]

 

2. ....But for all intensive purposes, driver supports is pretty much good.

Intents and purposes.

[Map3y]

i'm using it has a main OS has UPGRADE from win 7.... all games i installed worked just has it was finished to install... all apps and drivers worked exept graphics, i had to installl ones for win 8.1

[KemoKa]

Okay, I guess I'm waiting for either better betas, Windows 10 consumer, or AMD to start writing proper drivers for Linux, whichever comes first.

I've wanted to try out Slackware for the past while...

[Norman_the_Owl]

Okay, I guess I'm waiting for either better betas, Windows 10 consumer, or AMD to start writing proper drivers for Linux, whichever comes first.

I've wanted to try out Slackware for the past while...

Windows technical previews are very stable, in the first build i've been having no issues at all.

It's really not a risk to use it, if that's what you're asking

[ChromeYeti]

Windows 10 has been 100% stable with me so far in the one day that I've been running it on my main rig. This rig also has a GTX 970, which I've also had absolutely zero issues with so far. I have to say, the best feature to come packaged with it is the improved Windows Task Manager. Microsoft did a really good job at telling you exactly what is running and doing what. (This is coming from a Windows 7 users, I have not touched Windows 8 in depth at all)

[Tadgh]

Using W10 on my laptop rn. I LOVE IT. Lightweight, technically beautiful (minus a few very annoying things that may be ironed out), and fucking stunningly attractive.

It's more or less W10 ultimate, and I had driver support for my awful AMD APU's graphics so you'll most likely be fine

[joenewbie]

I'm just holding on for a framerate comparison like Linus did between 7 and 8, just to see if there's a marked difference between 8.1 and 10.  If there's no improvement in performance I see no reason to upgrade, unless the rumors are true about 10 being free to Win 8.1 owners, that might compel me to upgrade as long as the performance is equal.  But to pay, I'd want to see an FPS increase or it's just not worth it. 

[GoodBytes]

I'm just holding on for a framerate comparison like Linus did between 7 and 8, just to see if there's a marked difference between 8.1 and 10.  If there's no improvement in performance I see no reason to upgrade, unless the rumors are true about 10 being free to Win 8.1 owners, that might compel me to upgrade as long as the performance is equal.  But to pay, I'd want to see an FPS increase or it's just not worth it.

So then you need to wait for Windows 10 official release And second revision of your graphics card drivers, as usually version 1 for a new OS aren't great.

[KemoKa]

I am assuming that Beta testers don't get a nice lovely free upgrade when the consumer edition finally comes out as a present for our wonderfully helpful feedback?

Could I theoretically use this OS as my daily driver and would anyone here suggest/recommend/confirm doing it isn't a bad thing to do?

[GoodBytes]

I am assuming that Beta testers don't get a nice lovely free upgrade when the consumer edition finally comes out as a present for our wonderfully helpful feedback?

Sorry. As always, you volunteer in exchange in hopefully having Microsoft realize your wishing from the feedback (especially if you have supporters, by clicking on the "Me too" button on existent feedback posts), and get to play with Win10 before the majority of people, giving you a head start in knowing all the OS features.

Could I theoretically use this OS as my daily driver and would anyone here suggest/recommend/confirm doing it isn't a bad thing to do?

Yes you can. While Microsoft does some good level of testing before releasing something, bad things can happen, so I suggest doing frequent backups, and also do one when upgrading from one preview to another as they come, because you never know. The OS bugs is mostly at the GUI level, the core of Windows is based on Win8, so its solid.