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Windows 10 Technical Preview: Hands On

By - Source: Tom's Hardware US | B 26 comments

Meet the new Start MenuMeet the new Start MenuAs expected, this week Microsoft released the much-anticipated technical preview of Windows 10. This build is not for consumers but for the adventurous type that doesn't mind glitches and troubleshooting. Microsoft is looking for tons of feedback with the technical preview and will eventually release a customer preview sometime early next year before the final version hits store shelves.

Naturally, the first thing I gravitated to in the Technical Preview was the Start Menu. The removal of this feature in Windows 8 caused quite a fuss, enough so that Microsoft caved in and brought the feature back to the desktop. As leaked images indicated over the last several months, it's comprised of two different styles: the traditional app lineup on the left and live tiles on the right.

The start menu is, surprisingly, not big and bulky. The traditional list includes links to Documents, Pictures, PC Settings, File Explorer and the on-screen keyboard. There's also the snipping tool, Sticky Notes, Windows PowerShell and Remote Desktop connection. Users can access all of their apps and programs by hitting the All Apps link, which brings up a list combining traditional programs and Modern UI apps.

Load up your screen with four apps.Load up your screen with four apps.As for the live tile portion, users can click on one of the apps and drag it to the desktop, creating a shortcut. On my build, the list of "Metro" apps includes Skype, Music, Windows Feedback, People, Calendar, Windows Store, Mail, Weather, Video and News. These apps open on the desktop, casting a nice shadow that gives depth to the desktop.

That brings us to one of the biggest changes in Windows 10: using Modern UI apps on the desktop. Why not just use them on the Start Screen? Because it's gone, or at least, it's not easily accessible in the Technical Preview as it is in Windows 8 and 8.1. Microsoft has essentially merged both worlds into one, and it works rather nicely. The Metro apps open at full screen, but they can be reduced down and resized to the user's liking.

Still, for customers who loved the Start Screen, there is a way to bring it back. Simply right-click on the Taskbar, choose Properties, then hit the Start Menu tab. There's an option to "Use the Start menu instead of the Start Screen." Uncheck this option, and the computer will assign the Start Screen to the Start button instead of the beloved menu.

Performing a searchPerforming a searchIn addition to the Start Menu, Microsoft has moved the Search app to the taskbar. Users can search for content locally, such as hunting down the Netflix app installed on the PC, to the latest trending news for the day (powered by Bing, of course). All of this conveniently resides next to the Start button and should make searches easier and quicker than when this feature resided on the Charms Bar.

That's another Windows 8 feature that's missing in action: the Charms Bar on the desktop. That feature was odd to begin with, and given that Microsoft yanked Search and PC Settings from the bar, there probably was no real point of having it. However, the Charms Bar will supposedly appear on tablets and phablets along with the missing Start Screen.

In addition to moving Search to the taskbar, Microsoft is also introducing multiple virtual desktops. This icon sits next to the Search icon and lets customers create new desktops with a simple click. For those with two or more monitors connected, this feature seems a little useless. However, for single-monitor setups and those with low resolutions, customers can spread out their work and access these windows using the Task View shortcut.

Adding a virtual desktopAdding a virtual desktopPower users should get a kick out of Snap Assist. This allows users to "snap" an app to each corner of the screen. For instance, maybe the user needs to write a letter and snaps Word to the bottom left corner while throwing Internet Explorer in the corner above, Skype in the top-right and the Music app at the bottom right.

Will Microsoft bounce back from all the negativity surrounding Windows 8? One thing is clear: Microsoft's move to release this Technical Preview shows that the company wants geeks/customers to have a hand in shaping this platform. This is a good move on Microsoft's part, showing that the company is listening to our feedback. For the Technical Preview users, there's even a dedicated app for that very purpose.

Given that this is a very early "consumable" version of Windows 10, there will be problems. Luckily, the only roadblock I've crossed in the several hours I've used Windows 10 is related to text. It's the strangest thing: turn the Start Menu on, and I can't type in Skype, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Word. Turn the Start Menu off, and the text bug goes away. Again, this is not a "gone gold" product we're evaluating, so there will be bugs to uncover and fix.

As for the appearance, Windows 10 really looks no different than Windows 8.1. The UI remains flat, and as previously mentioned, it uses shadows to make the apps stand out above underlying apps and the desktop. The File Manager icon has changed, and its interface has been cleaned up a bit so that the user doesn't have to scroll.

Overall, Windows 10 seems to be shaping up rather nicely. The installation took quite a while, and I can't seem to install the latest Radeon drivers at the moment, but that's OK: this is a technical preview, after all.

Follow Kevin Parrish @exfileme. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

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  • -3 Hide
    shankar yskr , October 2, 2014 12:17 PM
    Hey I installed radeon drivers on win 10
  • -3 Hide
    shankar yskr , October 2, 2014 12:18 PM
    Hey I installed radeon drive on win 10
  • 1 Hide
    cklaubur , October 2, 2014 12:38 PM
    I installed the Technical Preview on my Latitude D830, and I had issues using a USB keyboard attached to the dock. Rebooting seemed to fix it.

  • Add your comment Display all 26 comments.
  • -1 Hide
    Gary Mount , October 2, 2014 7:38 PM
    You can still show the Charms bar by using the track pad, swipe in from the right.
  • 1 Hide
    The3monitors , October 2, 2014 10:30 PM
    Ok to all you that are worried about the osx or linux like multiple desktops. I was rendering a 1000 frame animation in maya in one, had adobe illustrator/photoshop/bridge on another, had a fur mark test on another with another chugging away at a zbrush 4.6 render. It was a little sluggish for revolving around the object (only 9.5mil polys but no crashes/errors & its still going.
  • -1 Hide
    spectrewind , October 2, 2014 11:33 PM
    Perhaps THG has the technical expertise to record some virtual machine usage of this OS? ///HINT
    ... And post the video.

    Kevin Parrish... You are challenged. Make it happen?!
  • 1 Hide
    Monarch1 , October 3, 2014 4:36 AM
    Anybody get an error about a corrupt file? I received error code: 0x80070570. I redownloaded the ISO file and then burned another copy and still got the same error. The laptop I'm trying to install it on is crap and has Vista which might be part of the problem.
  • 1 Hide
    AlphaCompton , October 3, 2014 7:01 AM
    I installed the Technical Preview last night. It looks nice. It runs ok but I noticed some odd things. There was no good default driver so my 1080p monitor resolution was left to 1024x768 , 1280x800, etc, I'll install the correct Nvidia driver when I get home. Also the loading icons during installation had a weird fast I think overlapping animation. The metro apps run well. I can see them getting more use and becoming the norm when Windows 10 is released. I think the new start menu is a great compromise of having live tiles and still keeping the start menu. I found that the charms bar is still there and functions just as it did in Windows 8. I did like the tiles start menu from Windows 8 but I felt the charms bar was weird and I didn't like it, I'm glad they plan to move the feature and put the shutdown button back in the start menu.
  • 0 Hide
    MidnightDistort , October 3, 2014 10:04 AM
    I played with the OS a little and there isn't much to say other than it looks like Windows 8 with a start menu. It's not bad, at least now you can perform security updates without having to resort to a 3rd party start menu which could cause problems. 2020 for W7 is still a bit of time away but at least MS is listening to feedback a bit more. Just wish they wouldn't push the modern app stuff which is a big reason why W8 wasn't doing so well.
  • -1 Hide
    The3monitors , October 3, 2014 12:10 PM
    Alpha I just upgraded from 8 and it actually went smooth for once(this is against every moral fiber in my technical being because I always format and install a new ms os). The upgrade took about 45, no hikkups on my video drivers, the software I had installed transferred beautifully. The only glitch I am having is the Microsoft natural keyboard drivers glitch/dont funcion on the login screen.
  • 1 Hide
    06yfz450ridr , October 3, 2014 2:30 PM
    the start menu is still horrible, classic start has already replaced it,besides that seems fine to me. But even on my work laptop, i didnt need to browse to lenovos site to at least get a network driver to start getting missing drivers, everything actually worked from the start somehow. windows 7 and 8 never found my drivers
  • -1 Hide
    The3monitors , October 3, 2014 3:13 PM
    Secondary note I just installed it on an acer aspire laptop with 8gb of mem. Formatted and Installed in about 15 minutes and didn't have any issues. Only thing that was missing were some intel drivers. It seems to be a stable build.
  • 2 Hide
    belardo , October 3, 2014 4:26 PM
    Here is an IDEA Microsoft (Since I/we cannot comment on another Win10 article about MS wants feedback)...

    Include the USER option of the metro skin and Win-8 Preview Skin.
    Win8 Preview version LOOKED like a slicker version of Win7... I really liked it.

    Then check the user data and see WHAT people wanted to use:
    flat-metro or slightly MODERN looking Aero.

    Windows 8 and this version of 10 still look like multi-colored crap that I simply don't want to look at for 5 minutes... much less every day.
  • 1 Hide
    stubbies2003 , October 3, 2014 4:35 PM
    Ok I got my older computer and installed the beta today. Even though the start menu has live tiles in it, each one of them can be disabled and removed. I did that as I don't go to my start menu looking for the weather, mail, etc. With them all removed it looks fairly close to a Win 7 start menu. I did see the same odd issue that AlphaCompton saw above of an odd choice of resolutions for the NVidia card. Allowing Windows to do it's update fixed the driver which immediately brought the resolution to 1920x1080 after reboot. Prior to reboot it had selected 1024x768 as the default resolution and would only let me select up to 1600x1200. This was for a NVidia 580 GTX displaying on a 23" monitor that had a native resolution of 1920x1080.

    My main beef with this so far has been how they try to lead you to a Microsoft account login versus a local login. During the install process they never mention there being a choice and it took a little digging around to find out how to do it. Even after you go to a local login say you want to provide a feedback using the MS app it then again tries to push you back to a MS account login unless you see and push a small optional link on the first page.

    Thankfully even with the MS account login the install gives you the option of turning on or off the copy everything to the cloud function. Which after all of the hacking related to that I think we can all agree is a bad idea to leave that kind of info floating around out there.

    So after running Win 7 for a long time and refusing to go to Win 8 after that debacle I can see this becoming a worthy successor to Win 7 with some more work put into it.
  • 2 Hide
    MidnightDistort , October 3, 2014 7:08 PM
    ^ i bypassed the W10 login screen by putting in a fake email/password. It will then ask if you want to do a local account, but they should have given that option on the screen to begin with.
  • -1 Hide
    falchard , October 3, 2014 9:39 PM
    It seems 7 8 9... Why skip 9? there are a lot of cool marketing things you can do with the number 9. Sure X sounds good, but you missed all the good from 9.

    One thing I want are Live Tile desktop shortcuts. Move them over to my 4th screen and use it as a quick hot bar.
  • 0 Hide
    Nishant Soni , October 3, 2014 10:35 PM
    I found a start menu related bug too. press windows key, start menu appears but you can't type in the search box at the bottom of start menu. as soon as you hit first letter key the start menu goes away.
  • -1 Hide
    Tanyac , October 3, 2014 10:59 PM
    I'm sorry.. I have to interject.. I have been hammering this new version since the day it was released. I've reinstalled it now half a dozen times.

    The start menu is huge and bulky. It takes up way too much real estate. This really us just Winodws 8.1 with a hybrid start menu. As you said, it is still has the flat 90's style about it (ala Windows 8), and looks more suited to kindergarten children, than to anyone who wants to do serious work.

    The metro apps are resizable, until you shut them down and re-open them. For me, every time I re-opened one it was full screen. It does not remember your preferences.

    The search and multiple desktop icons can't be moved or removed. I use quick launch. I can fit 3 times more little icons on the space, and still have taskbar space left over. The pinned icons for me are a waste of space. But now I have to deal with these two extra icons on the left of quick launch.

    I've had explorer crash, and other applications crash the system, especially when attempting to shutdown or restart.

    I'm glad they want us to have a hand in shaping this product, but at present it's windows 8.2. There's nothing yet that would make this a "new" OS. I know that stuff is yet to come.

    I had no problems with installing the nvidia drivers. Actually, Windows did it automatically for me. Unfortunately I had to uninstall them because I don't have a 3D monitor, I use a surround system for audio, and I don't want auto upgrades or user experience programs. Attempting to disable this feature causes several headaches.

    I did like the fact that the file copy dialogue is small by default, but it's a little too simplistic. There was nothing wrong with the Windows 7 version. Sadly, this reflects Microsoft philosophy - change it even if it ain't broke.

    It seems to take a little longer to boot - perhaps the key logging and data collection starting up :-) Not enough to be annoying.

    Still even with all these, and several other "issues" I remain positive and look forward to more updates.

    let's hope that Microsoft are really serious about making this OS work.



  • 0 Hide
    stubbies2003 , October 5, 2014 8:07 AM
    Quote:
    ^ i bypassed the W10 login screen by putting in a fake email/password. It will then ask if you want to do a local account, but they should have given that option on the screen to begin with.



    Yeah I found there are a few ways to skin that cat but 100% agree this should have been a clear choice on setup just like not saving to the cloud was a clear choice. If you set up Win 10 via the MS account you can simply go into the users area and disconnect from the MS account. It will then ask you if you want to set up a local account.
  • 0 Hide
    stubbies2003 , October 5, 2014 8:14 AM
    Quote:
    It seems 7 8 9... Why skip 9? there are a lot of cool marketing things you can do with the number 9. Sure X sounds good, but you missed all the good from 9.



    This was covered awhile ago. Any old app code that was just looking for the 9 at the start (ala Win 95/98) would confuse Win 9 for Win 95/98. Rather than deal with the headache of changing thousands of programs just skipping Win 9 was the easiest solution.



    Quote:
    One thing I want are Live Tile desktop shortcuts. Move them over to my 4th screen and use it as a quick hot bar.




    Pfft, live tiles are one of the reasons I didn't go from Win 7 to 8. I'm not running on a tablet or a smart phone. I'm running on a PC.
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