{"id":3117,"date":"2014-10-02T14:26:30","date_gmt":"2014-10-02T19:26:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/neosmart.net\/blog\/?p=3117"},"modified":"2014-10-02T18:35:14","modified_gmt":"2014-10-02T23:35:14","slug":"windows-10-technical-preview-a-first-look","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/blog\/windows-10-technical-preview-a-first-look\/","title":{"rendered":"Windows 10 Technical Preview: A first look at a Metro-free Windows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, Microsoft somewhat unexpectedly made available1<\/a><\/sup> a preview of the next version of Windows – official Windows 10 and codenamed Windows “Threshold” – on its website for immediate download to the general public<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today, we take a quick look at some of changes and new features that have made their way into Windows 10. As various “leaks” from within Microsoft had made clear, the biggest changes are going to be in the areas of UX and UI, as Windows is toned-down to become less alien for its long-term userbase that has clung on to Windows 7 for dear life, looking in utmost horror at the completely foreign landscape that is the Windows 8 metro desktop. Microsoft had previously made some steps to assuage these fears and boost adoption of Windows 8 with Windows 8.1, going so far as to make it possible to (finally!) disable the metro desktop on startup but refusing to bring back the start menu. Well, don’t let it be said that people can’t make a stand by boycotting with their wallet – the lackluster adoption of Windows 8 and then Windows 8.1 has thoroughly convinced Microsoft (and its new head,\u00a0Satya Nadella) to release a somewhat more-sane Windows.<\/p>\n

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Without any further ado, we’ll start with a gallery of screenshots taken from the new Tech Preview:<\/p>\n

\"Upgrade <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Setup <\/a> <\/div>
\"Getting <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"We're <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Windows <\/a>
Windows 10 supports two-factor authentication when adding a Live\/OneDrive\/Whatever-Microsoft-chooses-to-call-it-today account to the system. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Windows <\/a>
Windows 10 still uses the same boot screen as Windows 8… for now. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Thanks <\/a> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The start menu – a tad too crowded and busy, perhaps? <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Finally, <\/a>
Finally, a sane way of getting to the shutdown menu once more! <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Start <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Calculator <\/a>
Calculator launches in full screen, a la metro? <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Calculator <\/a>
Calculator app once the title-bar is double-clicked to minimize <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"You <\/a>
You can turn the start screen on from the start menu options, giving you this instead of the start menu. Don’t do it. <\/div> <\/div>
\"EasyBCD <\/a>
EasyBCD 2.2 running on Windows 10 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"EasyBCD <\/a>
EasyBCD 2.3 beta, running on Windows 10 with support for the Metro bootloader. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The Windows 10 explorer, with some minor changes. The ribbon UI is still as ghastly and crowded as ever. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The new Windows 10 command prompt, with some of the new promised features. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Windows <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Our <\/a>
Our embedded product key retrieval tool, running on Windows 10 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Seattle <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

There are a lot of mixed signals here, and some behavior we can only hope is left over from Windows 8 and will see its way out at some point during the remainder of the beta stage. It’s a little hard to summarize in text, so here are some bullet point ideas\/notes about the new build:<\/p>\n