Windows 10

[MacLeod]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30924022

Well some of the features of Windows 10 have been announced, Cortana is include to no great suprise.

But MS are offering free upgrades in the first year to users of Win 7, Win 8 and windows Phone.

Not so sure about the holographic helmet however.

Xbox One integration over your home network, so you can play Xbox One games on the PC if the TV is in use

 

[Dac]

Xbox One integration over your home network, so you can play Xbox One games on the PC if the TV is in use

I can't help but feel like thats an answer to a problem that existed 10 or 20 years ago, when there was only one screen in the house.

It would be way more valuable if it worked like Playstation's remote play, so I can play Xbox One games out and about over an internet connection, but that doesn't seem to be the plan.

 

[MacLeod]

Perhaps, but the point is that you would have to unplug the Xbox One and move it, then reconnect it. With the integration all you need do is have it switched on.

 

[tomswift2002]

I would say that one reason that Windows 8 and 8.1 have not been embraced by companies or even a lot of small business's is it's difficulty with integrating legacy software. As a small business owner, sure I can replace a computer every few years, but for replacing or upgrading the software I use, a lot of times the licensing costs for the software is more than I'm willing to spend, or in terms of upgrading to the current version is something where I may need to put it off for a few years till I've saved up the money to where I can upgrade all my computers at once. And Windows 8.1 has not been the easiest to work with in terms of legacy software/hardware, so hopefully Windows 10 will work better with legacy software than 8.1.

But I like how Microsoft seems to be going back to the XP look for the desktop.

 

[Dukhat]

So I've been using Win10 for about a month now, and it just updated to a new version. Now my Yahoo Messenger won't work

 

[Amaris]

Windows 10 is just for testing and previews at this point. Every time they update, they warn you things might go to crap. Make sure you report to them that Yahoo messenger is no longer working for you.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

I'm seriously considering making my next tablet Windows. I need the multimedia flexibility of an Android tablet, with better capacity to keep it from getting unusably outdated within two years. I have two android tablets and the one that's nearly three years old is barely able to keep up with the videos I want to play and the browsing I want to do, even with a custom ROM that's three versions ahead of where the manufacturer abandoned it.

I was close to getting a Windows 8 tablet but may hold off now for a better picture what 10 will look like for tablets, since most of what we're seeing is focused on desktop / peripheral use. What's the touch experience going to be like - does anyone have any good sources to how that end of the previews is going?

Mark

 

[Amaris]

I'm seriously considering making my next tablet Windows. I need the multimedia flexibility of an Android tablet, with better capacity to keep it from getting unusably outdated within two years. I have two android tablets and the one that's nearly three years old is barely able to keep up with the videos I want to play and the browsing I want to do, even with a custom ROM that's three versions ahead of where the manufacturer abandoned it.

I was close to getting a Windows 8 tablet but may hold off now for a better picture what 10 will look like for tablets, since most of what we're seeing is focused on desktop / peripheral use. What's the touch experience going to be like - does anyone have any good sources to how that end of the previews is going?

Mark

Touch for W10 will be like it is for W8.1, but updated, with greater flexibility. Windows 10 adapts automatically to the hardware, which means if you've got a desktop with mouse and keyboard, you get the desktop interface. If you have a tablet, you get the tablet interface, if you have a phone, you get the mobile interface. It's all very well done from what I've seen and used.

I tested the beta on my Pentium 4 with 1 GB of RAM, and it worked flawlessly. So old hardware will still benefit.

Plus, it will be free for all personal Windows 7 and 8 users.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Thanks. I've got a house full of Win7 products and I'm sure at least some of them will see an upgrade. My wife has a Win8 touch laptop an what little I've seen of it certainly doesn't seem to be as much a critical failure as some make it out to be.

I'm no gamer, but I wanna read my internet, comics, and watch movies in whatever format I see fit. Android does this for me, but once a manufacturer moves on it really does start to get buggy. I'm hoping that Windows will better support their OS on a chosen platform.

Mark

 

[Saturn0660]

Thanks.. I'll just keep using my mac

 

[RAMA]

Im still using Windows 7. I might give this new one a try.

RAMA

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I have a laptop with Windows 8.1, and while I do not have a touchscreen, it still often says "tap here to [do something]." If MS manages to fix nonsense like that in 10, I'll be impressed.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

That's nothing. I try to print my damn report and my computer tells me it can't because my printer is on fire. I check it, there isn't a fire, but it sits telling me PC LOAD LETTER. What does that even mean?! So I decide to send an email instead, and the computer now tells me I can't because my boss is not a typewriter. Seriously? So then I opt out for a floppy disk, and I get told I can't because some dude named General Failure is reading it. What the heck is an army general doing in my computer, we are an Internet shop! It asks me "Abort, Retry, Fail?", so I tell it to retry a few times, nothing. I tell it to abort, again nothing. I tell it to fail, and you guessed it... FAIL! So finally I get fed up and go back to the Unix workstation, try to "mv" the file to the floppy and now it tells me, and I quote, "values of β will give rise to dom!"

As one can imagine, I can't do anything but panic and run to the nearest bomb shelter at this point.

(Though be careful what you wish for. If the "fix" for "Bad command or filename" is any indication, the message will probably be replaced with "A mouse or trackball button press, touchscreen tap, touchpad tap or remote desktop button event at that position needs to be produced in order to [do something]". Microsoft should just mandate that keyboards get "X marks the spot" text on them for the Windows key license, and then display a X sign where you are supposed to tap/click/hammer/chisel.)

 

[Amaris]

I have a laptop with Windows 8.1, and while I do not have a touchscreen, it still often says "tap here to [do something]." If MS manages to fix nonsense like that in 10, I'll be impressed.

If I recall correctly, Windows 10 will scan your hardware and base its setup on that configuration. Tablets and phones will get the mobile format, while desktops and laptops will get the desktop/laptop format.

 

[MacLeod]

Thanks. I've got a house full of Win7 products and I'm sure at least some of them will see an upgrade. My wife has a Win8 touch laptop an what little I've seen of it certainly doesn't seem to be as much a critical failure as some make it out to be.


Mark

From what I read the issue had more to do with the fact that Win 8.X wasn't that great if you had a keyboard and mouse.

As others have said it seems as if that has been addressed in Win 10, with it adapting to your hardware.

 

[Amaris]

Plus, if you're a home user, you can't beat free, and Windows 10 is going to be all kinds of free for home users who have Windows 7 or Windows 8.

 

[Dukhat]

Plus, if you're a home user, you can't beat free, and Windows 10 is going to be all kinds of free for home users who have Windows 7 or Windows 8.

Question: for people like me who are using the Win10 Technical Preview, will that automatically be free as well, or will I have to uninstall it, reinstall Win7 or 8, and then upgrade?

 

[Amaris]

Plus, if you're a home user, you can't beat free, and Windows 10 is going to be all kinds of free for home users who have Windows 7 or Windows 8.

Question: for people like me who are using the Win10 Technical Preview, will that automatically be free as well, or will I have to uninstall it, reinstall Win7 or 8, and then upgrade?

You'll likely have to do a fresh install, because the tech preview is just that, and it is recommended that you don't use it as your primary OS because there may be times, during the beta, where they wipe out big chunks of data to install something else. So yes, you'll likely have to reinstall your primary OS before upgrading to Windows 10.