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ThinkBoxly is the personal developer blog of Lucas Chasteen, author, programmer, artist, and always learning. Read more

Friday, October 10, 2014

Windows 10 Technical Preview Hands-On


It’s been well over a week since Microsoft first went public with the next version of the world’s most-used operating system, dubbed Windows 10 because apparently Microsoft feels the leap is so big as to warrant two integers and also because the release pattern will be changing from here on out to a quicker, incremental update system akin to Mac OSX or Linux. In fact there’s more than one thing about Windows 10 that is reminiscent of Linux distributions—a strange, but refreshing change for the Redmond-based company. While pre-release versions of Windows 8 were aimed squarely at developers, even the language in the name ‘Windows 10 Technical Preview’ demonstrates Microsoft’s shift to a consumer and business focus, and it shows in how they’ll be building the OS from now until release just one year from now. This time around they are genuinely open to feedback, and the Windows 10 preview is something of a playground for people of all types to explore and return their experiences on what worked, what didn’t work, and what could be better. As this is very early software, that leaves the door pretty wide open, so it will be interesting to see how the Technical Preview evolves over time on its path to become the Windows 10 that will one day hit PCs at the market.



If you’re curious to get a little peek on a bit of what Windows 10 currently has to offer, we’ve got you covered. The video above takes a detailed walk through all the main new features of the operating system in its present state and even explores a few hidden secrets Microsoft has placed in the software but isn’t quite ready to make available to the public, yet. And yes, the start menu is back.

What are your feelings about Windows 10? If you were holding out on Windows 8 because of the start screen, will Windows 10 finally draw you back in? We’ll have more on Windows 10 as it happens right here on ThinkBoxly.