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Latest Windows 10 Preview Build Brings Slew of Enhancements
Deathspawner writes: Following its huge Windows 10 event last Wednesday, Microsoft released a brand-new preview build to the public, versioned 9926. We were told that it'd give us Cortana, Microsoft's AI assistant, as well as a revamped Start menu and updated notifications pane. But as it turns out, that's not even close to summing up all that's new with this build. In fact, 9926 is easily the most substantial update rolled out so far in the beta program, with some UI elements and integral Windows features seeing their first overhaul in multiple generations.
This update went through this morning with my morning coffee and broke my boot. I'm assuming it'll be as easy as booting a live disk, chrooting in, and running grub-install again but it's still a pain I haven't gone through in a fair while.
meh
We can't stop putting the same build on the front page.
Because people have been using largely the same UI for the last 19 years, and are used to it. Thats a good enough reason the screw it up isn't it.
Linux + systemd = MS-Windows.
To make explicit the concept that the Start Screen is nothing more than a full screen Start Menu, a maximize button on the Start Menu transforms it into the Start Screen. Finally, the vertical Start Menu users can shut the fuck up about it!
"This is a full build, and it will be installed as an in-place upgrade, so you’ll go through those colorful “installing your apps” screens again. This is because your account is being re-provisioned after the upgrade."
So you lose your current OS, not being able to install it elsewhere.
"You’ll notice that there is not a separate “Check Now” button here. This is because the button to check for WU updates now also checks for new builds."
I don't see any problems here... Unless your still able to select your updates. Else a future /. article will be of a bad update that took out all participants.
I think Windows 10 will be the new 7 (or XP for some). If they don't make everything "in your face" as they did with Windows 8 then this should be a huge win for everyone.
I couldn't help but notice, as I use a Mac at work, that some of the elements were borrowed from OS X and were heavily modified, I for one applaud them for doing this! Not because I'm a mac "fanboy", far from it, but because the UI in some instances looks so much cleaner as well. My 2 cents on that.
Ugly as it can be? All decoration gone? Why does everybody have to copy Apple? I understand copying when it is beautiful, but apple is now engaged in making computer graphics look like an X11 system from the 1980s and everybody else is following suit. Awful... truly awful.
I'll stick with linux, however.
Somewhat ironic that you would post this the same day another critical bug is announced in Linux. Time to spend tomorrow updating glibc! As for viruses, it's been a while since I had to deal with any in Windows.
I love my sig.
I see the ~cloud~ is mandatory again.
The ability to remove skydrive has vanished since the previous, despite being the most requested feature on the feedback app, and cortana is now stapled to your startbar, taking up 50% of the space with no apparent way to remove it.
Creating a local account rather than logging in with a microsoft account has been made more confusing by making the UI components for creating a new microsoft account bigger, so that the "log in without a microsoft account" button is pushed off the bottom of the page. Microsoft really wants your grandmother confused and scared so she makes an account without understanding what she's doing.
Now we have Google Now and Google design in windows without the quality of Google search.
Ceci n'est pas une Signature !
OK, I'll preface this with a "get off my lawn" to get it out of the way.
But I have to say, I have precisely zero interest in this. The more I read TFA, the more I cringe.
I don't want my fucking computer to feel like it's on a first name basis with me. I don't want to talk to it. I don't want my computer constantly listening to and parsing everything I say. I sure as shit don't want that crap integrated with an ad platform.
If I want to see the weather, I'll go to the tab I keep open with the weather.
This is a bunch of dreck I can't see myself wanting to use, which is mostly a "make pretend" version of AI which is at best a shortcut to search. I don't see the value in voice commands -- in fact, I see great nuisance in it (like in Offices, or just everywhere).
This sounds like an OS which is heavily focused on "teh social" integration with XBox, with the new lame-ass crayon interfaces Microsoft seems partial to, and a bunch of dorky features which seem like they're trying too damned hard.
I don't see any of these features being useful, I see them as being pointless eye candy, which is full of gimmicks I don't see myself using in the long run -- in fact, I see me disabling as many as possible.
I'm afraid Microsoft's "vision of the future" is a glimpse into hell. At least half of those features sound like shit which will slow down the machine and add zero benefit.
Now, seriously, get the fuck off my damned lawn.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
It's still a EUFI-using, Bing-infested, hybrid online/offline account nightmare from the depths of hell though. I don't give a flying fuck about some UI enhancements until that BS is dealt with.
Why would anyone still run virus-infested Winders in this day and age? Just use Linux you retards.
I run Windows because of the games I play, sometimes up till 6 AM.
I also have problems installing Linux or to be exact it's placement, three hard drives, and a 2TB USB UEFI drive which pretty much does what it wants to under a bios system.
I create three partitions meant to be swap, main, and storage; formatted in advanced to be such. I get one partition being used and a swap file created elsewhere.
There's more but it doesn't bode well for me or my abilities (which I consider to be, well able) to mention.
I've just said the heck with it and use CyWin64.
Well you can always join their insider program, and then bitchmoan to them personally. ...but if you can't be bothered, I'll understand :)
READY.
PRINT ""+-0
So what ultimately makes an OS a good one is when end-user application developers write applications for it?
Consider that the lack of applications for Linux is merely the result of design decisions made by software developers who simply feel that Linux's meager overall usage on the desktop does not make it worth their time to make any extra effort to support. So in reality, by your measurement, what actually makes an OS good is when enough people use it that it creates a measurable greed incentive to drive such application development.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
How is 10 ugly? Except for the live tiles in the Start Menu (which you can easily remove), it looks EXACTLY like Windows 7. (And believe me, I hated Windows 8's Fisher Price color scheme.)
Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
it looks EXACTLY like Windows 7
That is patently false. No Aero Glass in 10 so it does NOT look exactly the same. That's before we get to the icon changes, extraneous whitespace that 7 doesn't have, etc. They look more similar but "exactly the same" they do not look.
What I want to know about is performance. I don't care about the changes in explorer, taskbar, or start menu. I don't need them I use Directory Opus.
Here is what I'd like to know about.
CPU Usage of system processes 7/8 vs 10
Memory usage 7/8 vs 10
Services performance 7/8 vs 10
Load times
Thread performance/handling/optimization
Memory leaks
Page file performance
Virtual memory management upgrades?
Indexing performance
I feel like I visited an art gallery, but instead of talking about the pictures they talk about the plumbing. Well in reverse at least O_o..
Seriously. Are mostly-empty SQUARES *really* the best way to organize program launchers in a desktop menu system?
I'd be MUCH happier if they implemented the ability to convert the launchers to bars (see example image, note, I know it's just a crude mockup).
http://www.evilnet.net/Windows...
I'd be able to pack more useful programs into the launcher window and have less wasted screen real estate. Seriously, with those Duplo squares, you have an icon, a little text, and roughly 60+% space wastage.
Why? This start menu is supposed to be for the DESKTOP crowd? Why constrain them with something stupid meant to augment a touch interface? You're still going to have the Start Screen for tablet interfaces. So it makes SENSE to use squares there. Just, not for the desktop interface.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Yes there will be aero in future builds as evident in that screenshot.
Not too much of a biggie as long as the colors are not too bright or pastelish. It seems that is toned down in 10.
http://saveie6.com/
Yes this is a Linux oriented site yada yada.
But why so strong resistance to change on a technology site of all places? Does anyone else find this weird? Never in my wildest dreams would I picture slashdot turn into +5 comments with "CHANGE FOR THE SAKE OF CHANGE etc" I ask because I am curious and wonder if I am alone? You would not expect to see comments in a fashion oriented blog like "NEW LOOK FOR THE SAKE OF NEW LOOKS" be posted as an example.
It kind of saddens me a little bit as we computer geeks came here because we love technology and like to have new new things. Now that is uncool and I have seen it become more prevalent in other articles. Is it age or just scarred from experience?
What happened?
Anyway my unbiased 2 cents ...
I think this would be a good upgrade for a notebook or tablet. Much improved battery life and the ability to run Netflix and Hulu on the road is really cool. As long as the applets are not like Windows 8 and I can do work too I am fine if they can integrate.
For the desktop? I see little reason to upgrade. Windows 7 works fine. However for those reading my previous paragraphs I do not hate 10. I just think it offers little value besides enhanced security over 7. I probably will upgrade next fall after it stabilizes since the upgrade is free.Now if I bought a new computer with it on it I would not downgrade it. Can't say the same with Windows 8.1 though :-)
On my i7 4770k I have to say I find it faster and more responsive than 7. It was surprisingly stable with just 1 bug with nvidia if I do the dual screen 4k hack to stretch it. A MUST if you already ahve 8.
It is nice modest upgrade for desktop users and a BIG upgrade for mobile users.
http://saveie6.com/
Linux has been going for decades and still nobody wants it, you cant even give it away on the desktop.
This is SO the truth...
Lord, I've been waiting for Linux on the Desktop for 20 years now... installed Linux on a 486 nearly 20 years ago...
It is a great server OS, it is never going to be a widely adopted desktop OS.
That's right, we couldn't.
Because we use hardware that's less than five years old.
Aero is more than just translucency. In the Aero theme there's rounded corners, a small touch of color here and there, some pixel art, gradients, and white background for Start Menu.
Cortana is probably a new and better Clippy. But besides that, the rest seems like polishing the brass on the Titanic.
New folder icons? I remember visiting gnome-look.org for the first time ten years ago and being blown away: page after page of themes, icon sets, etc.
Start menu tweaked again? Why is this so hard? And it still looks awkward to me. Program names are inside squares, instead of just being text items in a list. Or small squares at least, like the launcher in Chrome OS.
I've used Mac since 1984, Windows since 95, and Linux since '05. I've either not minded or actually liked all of the iterations of program launching in Mac and Linux. But I have never, never, like the Windows Start menu.
Let's start with the word Start, which is where you go to Shut Down. Makes sense. And while it was a little more straightforward than today's shenanigans, it wasn't exactly pleasant to dig through. Plus, I was always stymied by why Windows took several seconds sometimes to me just trying to open the submenu --- not launch a program, just open a folder within the Start menu to see what's in there. It's like Windows was going to the bathroom, and I had to wait for it to finish even to answer a simple question.
And then there was the My everything fiasco, where Documents became My Documents, Computer became My Computer, and so on.
There is the trash can that they still won't default to the bottom right, because if you ever resize the screen, it messes up the position, since Windows calculates everything as the number of pixels from the top left, apparently. So they put the trash can in the top left. This never looked right to me. A trashy-looking thing like a trash can should be in a minor part of the screen (bottom right) even if they call it a Recycle Bin. The Macintosh somehow figured out how to do this 30 years ago.
We will see.
I hated the sterile look of 8.1 and I find 10 does bring darker colors in. It is not finished yet. You can have minimalism and still have color. The art professors who are pioneering this new way mention more emphasis on video and color. Not all blinding white like office 2013.
Rounded corners are gone. You can thank Apple for owning a patent on it for that as it is expensive to license the idea of using a shape. gradients and shine like the WIndows 7 bar? That looks to be gone. It may not be too bad.
MacOSX Yosemite does this new look rather well with a little translucency left where it does not look like glass and still has plenty of color.
http://saveie6.com/
Lord, I've been waiting for Linux on the Desktop for 20 years now... installed Linux on a 486 nearly 20 years ago...
It is a great server OS, it is never going to be a widely adopted desktop OS.
Let me guess.... Linux sucks for you because it won't run Microsoft Office and other Windows applications?
Let me guess.... Linux sucks for you because it won't run Microsoft Office and other Windows applications?
That is a common reply that I see...
First, yes... Microsoft Office is indeed important... for people who share documents, spreadsheets, etc. with the outside world, using the standard does matter. OpenOffice doesn't convert them perfectly and small errors creep when you try.
Second, yes... other windows applications do matter, many such as Quickbooks are important for many businesses. It is what their CPA uses, so keeping your accounting files in the same format that allows you to easily upload your data to your CPA, they can do their thing, and send them back, is more important than what OS you run.
Finally, Windows just works. XP was "good enough" and killed off most further interest in Linux on the desktop. Windows 7 took it further and torpedoed the rest of it... Windows 8 got a lot of flack, 8.1 fixed much of that mess... You install Windows 8.1 on almost anything made in the past 6 years and it runs very, very well.
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As a side note, if the reason you want Linux is because it is "not Windows", that will never be enough of a reason. You need a reason beyond that to get the bulk of the people to care.
Apple OS X has three times the Linux marketshare (if not more), and it is one of the most expensive options you can pick. That more than anything else should pour cold water on the Linux Desktop idea...
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For servers? Wonderful, totally wonderful, I get that it does have a bright future there.
The new control panel is all white with gray icons on top. It makes the X Athena Widgets interface seem user friendly in comparison.
I feel like I'm living in bizzarroland, where the shittiest, most customer-hostile companies are somehow the most profitable.
I can't remember when it wasn't like this.
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Except that by the aforementioned definition, what makes something "good enough" is an availability of applications in the first place.
The technical merits of an operating system are not sufficient to drive mainstream application creation.... what ultimately drives it is nothing more or less than human greed, and the desire to get a piece of the action.
Linux was not late to the game at all... it actually predates Windows 95.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
No [application development] is driven by making something disruptive and useful,
I'm going to assume that you genuinely believe that and are not deliberately trolling... your assumption, however, is mistaken. The number one motivating factor in application development, by far, is the human instinct of selfishness and greed. I would challenge you to find any study which shows that this is *not* the case. While certainly there is no lack of applications developed with more altruistic motivations, mainstream application development is almost invariably motivated by some sort of commercial incentive... which does not necessarily mean that the software itself will cost any money, but that in some way the development of the application will provide an increase in revenue.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
I would challenge you to find a study which backs the alternative. The human tendency to prefer choices that positively benefit oneself is almost axiomatic, and I would suspect you would actually need to give ample evidence that this is actually *not* the case. Practically every commercial game ever made, killer productivity appliications like spreadsheets and paint software, and even operating systems like Windows itself... the single greatest driving force behind them is nothing more or less than simple greed.
Of course, it's also greed that makes most of us get up every morning and go to work.... since we have to keep a roof over our heads. My point being that this is such a primal and instinctive characteristic of human nature that to thing that merely being a disruptive technology could overcome it is extremely naive. As was already said above, on technical merits alone, Linux easily meets the criteria of being such a disruptive technology, but because not enough people use it, there isn't an abundance of commercial application development for it, which in turn leaves the OS as feeling less useful to people who necessarily need or expect such applications to be available on their computer.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Really? Because other than the availability of applications for it, can you name even one thing that Linux itself actually lacks? I'm betting that you can't. Can you further explain how the lack of applications being developed for Linux is anything other than a reflection of the fact that not many people use it in the first place, which itself is a direct consequence of the fact that the applications that people want aren't found on it? Of course, it's a vicious cycle... but that's not the operating system's fault. Before Visicalc came out, for instance, there was almost no practical reason whatsoever for any non hobbyist or professional computer programmer or computer scientist to ever own one of these new-fangled home computers. Visicalc's success was not because of any technical merits of the computing platform it was developed for, it was because it was software that did what people actually wanted, and so people went and bought it.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Most installers for Linux distros are able to modify partitions for you and generally don't need you to create them in advance,
My "fear" is that it will take the wrong hard drive or partition. I know I can just remove the drives so waiting until I install my new motherboard. I do want access to Linux on my system as more of what I'm involving myself in is best done with Linux.