Windows 10 Preview (How do you like it?)


Recommended Posts

I personally like it. From the moment I first installed it (somewhere in the 9000-series of builds) I have deemed it Worthy. Nothing gets the Worthy vote from me without either being awesome or having the potential to be awesome.

 

My only complaints are a few minor UI gripes (mostly about consistency across the title bar between Modern and Win32 apps), but there have been several indications of work being forthcoming in that department.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've installed it on a Centrino based Lenevo X201 (circa 2010) core i7 ulv 2.26Ghz (2 cores 4 threads) with 8Gb ddr2 and a sata 2 ssd and it flies to be honest. its a joy to use.

 

I've also installed it on my games desktop, performance is on a par with W7 atm, on my 660ti 8gb and 2600k clocked. nice and slick but just doesn't feel as smooth as the Centrino tbvh.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like what we have so far and can't wait for release, but there is a lot of work to do. Some features, I feel will be lost on the chopping block to meet the deadline, mostly with Edge.

 

Really can't wait to use Cortana though. The new Start is a decent compromise. I don't see many downsides of the platform in beta state so far.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Installed it on my Lenovo X1 (which was hosed up anyways). Works well and all software I installed worked without a problem. But ultimately removed it the following morning. I can't stand the UI - in my opinion it is hideous and way too big. I know it's preview and unfinished and all that but it's not like it's scheduled for release in a year from now either so not sure. If they radically revamp the UI then I will be a lot more satisfied. I like just about everything but the UI...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that we're all going to like things and not like things about Windows 10 depending on where your coming from. In the end, if we want to follow the Windows path that is where it leads. The Windows 7 users can stay on Win 7 but miss the free upgrade if they stay too long. Same goes for Windows 8. If you want to take advantage of Universal Apps though you have to go to Windows 10. 

 

I'm not so sure how big of bite it's going to be to Microsoft.  

I'm not, either - what I AM sure of, though, is that the bite WILL happen; too many folks either bought Windows 8 and 8.1 on new hardware OR upgraded existing hardware - and found out that it DID support touch - to dismiss it entirely.

(I'm talking just about family and friends that I support - I'd done three upgrades from 7->8.x at user request onto AIOs; two of them had touch support unmasked by the upgrade.  It's why I was not AS shocked when Baby Pavilion's Hyper-V support got uncovered by the Windows 10 Technical Preview - it wasn't the first time that upgrading an OS uncovered a feature that the user couldn't use because the original OS didn't support it - Baby Pavilion's original OS was Windows 7.)

 

It's why I ask those users that have decided to wait things out "How well do you REALLY know your system's hardware?"  (So far, I've uncovered touch support, Hyper-V, and poor trackpad support - all on hardware that dates back to 7 or earlier, and all of which got uncovered either by 8.x or 10 - the last two affect me DIRECTLY, as it's on my own hardware.  For your own sake, avoid the assumption trap - at the very least, try the Insider Preview yourself.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Only 1 thing to say-Improve Cortana.

I have only one nitpick with Cortana; for some reason, the voice output is still broke across all my hardware - however, typing in requests works a treat, and across all that same hardware.

It's a nitpick because I don't rely on voice output - too many places where I could compute on the move (both notebooks) are where vocal output is either frowned upon or utterly verboten, let alone vocal INPUT.

 

What is your specific issue (or issues) with Cortana?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its odd but for some reason, when I ask her a Question, I can't hear her answer it with her voice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its odd but for some reason, when I ask her a Question, I can't hear her answer it with her voice.

In other words, it's a variant on my own issue.  Still, it doesn't make Cortana any LESS usable.

 

As I pointed out above, the reality that neither Google Now or Siri accept typed input makes both a non-starter - too many places make the voice-only requirement a no-no.

Given that, why WOULDN'T you want Cortana at your beck in your cube? (Type-in/response out - without either you OR Cortana uttering a peep.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While Windows 8 and 8.1 was absolutely horrible as a OS, Windows 10 has so far redeemed itself to a point where Windows is once again usable. I dont have a tablet, a Windows phone nor a xbox so how Windows runs on those devices is of no importance to me what so ever. All I care about is the desktop, and on that at least, It does exactly what I want it to do, and so far, very stable. 
The only thing that bugs me is the inconstancy of Metro apps which are all over the place and look - well, stupid. Skype is just crap, The store is still full of bloatware apps that do absolutely nothing. The only good Metro apps are Netflix, Mail, Calendar and the video and photo previews. And even then there is no consistency between those apps. I'm still hoping that one day once the code for the new apps are complete, they hire a good UI designer to put it all in place with a similar look and feel to them. 
Seeing build 10108 it looks like Windows 10 for desktops is coming along nicely though, and how it would get regular updates can only be a good thing. 
I just hope sometime soon, they purge everything in the Windows Store, and have some kind of proper screening for the apps and games that are allowed to go in there. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Downloaded 10147 this morning and installed it. So far, I am really liking it. Every issue I had with 10130 is fixed and the OS is rock solid stable so far. Looks like they are very close to RTM. I'd just like to see an option to enable Aero transparency in window titlebars instead of just the startmenu and taskbar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Downloaded 10147 this morning and installed it. So far, I am really liking it. Every issue I had with 10130 is fixed and the OS is rock solid stable so far. Looks like they are very close to RTM. I'd just like to see an option to enable Aero transparency in window titlebars instead of just the startmenu and taskbar.

 

Send feedback if you want that happen in titlebars. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not impressed so far.  Problems and issues are numerous.  So much so I cannot see putting it in a production environment.  Bottom line impossible to do real work with it as is as pertains to running a business.  If  Microsoft would put the same effort into fixing the bugs reported as they do in marketing the OS ir would work better. As it stands all that is being accomplished is your companies complete loss off any credibility.  Frankly maybe th problem was not Mr. Balmer

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have only one nitpick with Cortana; for some reason, the voice output is still broke across all my hardware - however, typing in requests works a treat, and across all that same hardware.

It's a nitpick because I don't rely on voice output - too many places where I could compute on the move (both notebooks) are where vocal output is either frowned upon or utterly verboten, let alone vocal INPUT.

 

What is your specific issue (or issues) with Cortana?

 

Voice output won't work... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wish to like all of it but, damn, those modern apps fonts are ridiculously ugly. When will it be anti-aliased as the win32 apps? I know the problem existed ever since Windows 8 and up to this day it's still half-assed. It is one of the reported problems, but it seems it will never be resolved or I am losing hope (days before RTM). I guess if it will never be checked then Windows 10 has no use for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wish to like all of it but, damn, those modern apps fonts are ridiculously ugly. When will it be anti-aliased as the win32 apps? I know the problem existed ever since Windows 8 and up to this day it's still half-assed. It is one of the reported problems, but it seems it will never be resolved or I am losing hope (days before RTM). I guess if it will never be checked then Windows 10 has no use for me.

 

Unfortunately it likely won't be resolved, as it's 'working as intended'. The reason it looks so poor is it doesn't use RGB-subpixel positioning, which was basically the innovation of cleartype in the first place. The reason MS states they're not using it is primarily due to rgb-sub pixel not working correctly when the screen is rotated, so this is basically (yet another) compromise to support tablets/phones. The current rendering method just uses grayscale anti-aliasing, which is why it looks so jagged. You can see the difference especially when you switch from IE/Edge to Firefox/Chrome which still use RGB Clearype, and it's a significant reason why I doubt I'll ever go to edge until I get a 4k display.

 

I agree though they do look pretty bad. If you're going to make text the primary element of your GUI, you at least should consider the rendering quality. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unfortunately it likely won't be resolved, as it's 'working as intended'. The reason it looks so poor is it doesn't use RGB-subpixel positioning, which was basically the innovation of cleartype in the first place. The reason MS states they're not using it is primarily due to rgb-sub pixel not working correctly when the screen is rotated, so this is basically (yet another) compromise to support tablets/phones. The current rendering method just uses grayscale anti-aliasing, which is why it looks so jagged. You can see the difference especially when you switch from IE/Edge to Firefox/Chrome which still use RGB Clearype, and it's a significant reason why I doubt I'll ever go to edge until I get a 4k display.

 

I agree though they do look pretty bad. If you're going to make text the primary element of your GUI, you at least should consider the rendering quality. 

 

I don't get it. How does rgb-subpixel AA doesn't work when the screen is rotated? That sounds like working around a problem instead of solving it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...
On 5/7/2015 at 4:17 PM, Mando said:

I've installed it on a Centrino based Lenevo X201 (circa 2010) core i7 ulv 2.26Ghz (2 cores 4 threads) with 8Gb ddr2 and a sata 2 ssd and it flies to be honest. its a joy to use.

 

I've also installed it on my games desktop, performance is on a par with W7 atm, on my 660ti 8gb and 2600k clocked. nice and slick but just doesn't feel as smooth as the Centrino tbvh.

Two of my notebooks are done (Baby Pavilion and the ASUS X54C I mentioned  earlier I was adding) - both date back to 7 originally and both have 4GB of RAM.  I'm posting from the ASUS - as expected, the i3 with HT is smoking, despite the memory deficit.  The one weakness is the HD3000 graphics; can't fix that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/4/2015 at 1:58 AM, MiloVosmus said:

I wish to like all of it but, damn, those modern apps fonts are ridiculously ugly. When will it be anti-aliased as the win32 apps? I know the problem existed ever since Windows 8 and up to this day it's still half-assed. It is one of the reported problems, but it seems it will never be resolved or I am losing hope (days before RTM). I guess if it will never be checked then Windows 10 has no use for me.

It's NOT unique to phones or Windows - it happens in Android as well (same situation - device rotation) even in Chrome or Firefox. I would wager it happens with a rotatable desktop display in Windows, too (portrait mode, for example); basically, any non-default display mode.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Brandon H locked this topic
  • Daniel F. unpinned this topic
This topic is now closed to further replies.