Announcing Windows ... 10?

[VJ]

The 9888 would not be officially released this year, but no idea why. My 9879 is also a disaster, but I experience similar issues after I got updated before. I'm now trying a clean install of a 9879 iso... If that does not work well, it is also back to 9860 for me, but I worry that the 9879 would come even on a slow channel (I was on slow and got the update).

Any ways of blocking an update?

[VJ]

Ok, I can't find an iso of 9860 on microsoft... And I fear the 9879 will be pushed anyway (it is out on the slow channel). Not sure what to do now: I was using the preview on my htpc, but 9879 breaks the tuners. I'm a bit weary to try 9888, as it is not official and claimed to be buggy...

Perhaps I'll just go for a 90 day trial of 8.1... Late January should be the consumer preview of Windows 10, so for sure there will be better builds by then.

[UtwigMU]

Ok, I can't find an iso of 9860 on microsoft... And I fear the 9879 will be pushed anyway (it is out on the slow channel). Not sure what to do now: I was using the preview on my htpc, but 9879 breaks the tuners. I'm a bit weary to try 9888, as it is not official and claimed to be buggy...

Perhaps I'll just go for a 90 day trial of 8.1... Late January should be the consumer preview of Windows 10, so for sure there will be better builds by then.

You can find iso of 9860 on the piratebay and install works. There are also ESD images and utility to create iso from them but I've given up on ~3GB download from mega.

9879 is pushed to slow channel, so don't update to it.

[VJ]

You can find iso of 9860 on the piratebay and install works. There are also ESD images and utility to create iso from them but I've given up on ~3GB download from mega.

Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I prefer to download from MS.

9879 is pushed to slow channel, so don't update to it.

Is there a way of not updating? I thought you could only postpone it till the night...
Either way, I downloaded the 8.1 90 day evaluation and will go with that one for now. I had some software not working nicely, and running 8.1 for a while will allow me to check if it is Windows 10 related or not.

[UtwigMU]

VMware workstation 11 is out now and behaves better with Windows 10

[dZeus]

So Windows 10 has been announced as free upgrade for existing Windows 7 and 8.1 (+ Windows Phone 8.1) users, if they switch in the first year after its official release.

It's generous of Microsoft to offer this!

I've upgraded my (now 10 y.o.) Thinkpad to Windows 8 Pro with the € 35 promotion deal back when it was released. Then came the free upgrade to Windows 8.1 Pro, and now the free upgrade to 10. Pretty neat!

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for the Denim upgrade for my Lumia 630 dual-SIM to arrive... apparently mobile operators need to sign off on it before it's released in each country

[VJ]

So Windows 10 has been announced as free upgrade for existing Windows 7 and 8.1 (+ Windows Phone 8.1) users, if they switch in the first year after its official release.

It's generous of Microsoft to offer this!

It is a very nice offer. I would feel a bit cheated if I would have paid for an update from 7 to 8, as now it is equalized again, but it is the price of always having the latest thing. I wonder what the price of Windows 10 will be, but most likely it will be similar to 7 or 8. It does mean that the price of 7/8 will not go down in the first year, as you can freely get the upgrade.

Clearly, MS wants to avoid having the same situation with Windows 7 as they had with XP: users not switching for a long time. This is one way to try and force it. Just strange that they limit it to one year: don't they risk that people that will not upgrade in the first year will not do it later either? If they don't do it for free, why bother when you have to pay for it?

I do hope they still will launch a consumer preview: I want to use it on my PC until I'll be able to buy it directly (it makes reinstalling at a later stage easier).

I've upgraded my (now 10 y.o.) Thinkpad to Windows 8 Pro with the € 35 promotion deal back when it was released. Then came the free upgrade to Windows 8.1 Pro, and now the free upgrade to 10. Pretty neat!

I'm wondering if I should upgrade my 7 year old laptop... Intel Celeron 1.2 with 1 GB and 1024x600 resolution display. Would it be able to run Windows 10 nicely and would the low resolution display not cause issues...?

Jammrock: strange question... My father's laptop came with Vista preinstalled and later got an update to Windows 7. Everything is done using recovery CDs so easier would be to install directly from installation CDs. Is it legal to install Windows 7 directly and activate with the key of the laptop?

[Jammrock]

It is a very nice offer. I would feel a bit cheated if I would have paid for an update from 7 to 8, as now it is equalized again, but it is the price of always having the latest thing. I wonder what the price of Windows 10 will be, but most likely it will be similar to 7 or 8. It does mean that the price of 7/8 will not go down in the first year, as you can freely get the upgrade.

Clearly, MS wants to avoid having the same situation with Windows 7 as they had with XP: users not switching for a long time. This is one way to try and force it. Just strange that they limit it to one year: don't they risk that people that will not upgrade in the first year will not do it later either? If they don't do it for free, why bother when you have to pay for it?

I do hope they still will launch a consumer preview: I want to use it on my PC until I'll be able to buy it directly (it makes reinstalling at a later stage easier).

[Standard disclaimer: This is the world according to Jammrock. No official Microsoft stuff here. Just my interpretation.]

The difference between XP->7 and 7/8->10 is that MSFT was totally dominant then, in everything relevant. Then the smartphone and tablet craze exploded and suddenly MSFT didn't seem as dominant anymore.

Which was the purpose of Win8+. To bring Windows to the tablet world. But that didn't work well because people expected everything Windows to work on everything Windows. Which it didn't. And there was battery life on x86 issues. And let's face it, no one really liked the interface off of a tablet.

So now we have Win10...

The reason why MSFT wants everyone on Win10 really fast is to get developers making Universal apps really soon. If Win10 shares go from nearly nothing to tens of millions in a single year that gives devs and companies incentives to develop Windows apps. And with the new dev tools everything is super focused on ... Universal apps.

So now a flood of universal apps come in and they are sold on the unified Windows Store. So you buy Spy Mouse on your smartphone, you can play it on your tablet and your PC and your laptop and so on. The devs only need to make one app, works on everything, everyone happy.

And the interface works. Win10's interface is what Win8's should have been. It's familiar, it's program and app friendly, and Windows apps (aka modern or metro apps) run like any other program. In an adjustable window. It's also stable already, and full of cool new features.

Now everything Windows works on everything Windows, the UI is fixed, and the problem with RT is solved. You can push lower power ARM devices again because... Universal apps. The app store catches up to Andriod and iTunes. MSFT mobile market share goes up.

And MSFT becomes the only truly unified platform. No iOS/OSX division. No Linux/Andriod/FreeBSD/ChromeBook division. Just Windows. Make one app, works on everything.

And the key... get a lot of people on Windows 10 really fast. And how to do you do that? Build it in a way that will make the most people happy, and comfortable, and then give it away for free. You eat costs in the short term, but gain precious mobile market and get devs to build (hopefully) your app store to Play and iTune levels to level the playing field.

Because what does just about everyone say about Windows Phone and Windows tablets? I love them, but there just aren't a lot of apps. Take away the app problem and viola.

Or so the theory goes...

I'm wondering if I should upgrade my 7 year old laptop... Intel Celeron 1.2 with 1 GB and 1024x600 resolution display. Would it be able to run Windows 10 nicely and would the low resolution display not cause issues...?

If Win7 runs on a device, it will work with Win10. Assuming there are no device driver issues. With 1GB RAM you may have some slowness caused by paging to disk. It looks like ReadyBoost is still in Win10, so you can grab a low profile USB 2.0 thumb drive and use ReadyBoost to speed up paging.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadyBoost

Something like an 8GB Sandisk Cruzer Fit. Small enough to always leave plugged in without breaking off when putting your laptop in a bag. And fast enough to speed up the OS when physical RAM runs out.

http://www.sandisk.com/products/usb/drives/cruzer-fit/

Jammrock: strange question... My father's laptop came with Vista preinstalled and later got an update to Windows 7. Everything is done using recovery CDs so easier would be to install directly from installation CDs. Is it legal to install Windows 7 directly and activate with the key of the laptop?

The activation keys are linked to the media. So an OEM key needs an OEM image to work. Retail install discs need a retail key. And so on. You can try using your key with a clean install disc, and if it works, then it's legal as far as I know.

[VJ]

And the interface works. Win10's interface is what Win8's should have been. It's familiar, it's program and app friendly, and Windows apps (aka modern or metro apps) run like any other program. In an adjustable window. It's also stable already, and full of cool new features.
And MSFT becomes the only truly unified platform. No iOS/OSX division. No Linux/Andriod/FreeBSD/ChromeBook division. Just Windows. Make one app, works on everything.

Something that wasn't immediately clear to me: do developers need to rewrite much to make their application work on both Intel and Arm, or is it really just a matter of recompiling? Does the window manager take care of everything (touch interface, mouse interface, ...)?

And the key... get a lot of people on Windows 10 really fast. And how to do you do that? Build it in a way that will make the most people happy, and comfortable, and then give it away for free. You eat costs in the short term, but gain precious mobile market and get devs to build (hopefully) your app store to Play and iTune levels to level the playing field.
Because what does just about everyone say about Windows Phone and Windows tablets? I love them, but there just aren't a lot of apps. Take away the app problem and viola.

True... Even the Surface got good review on the hardware side...
I wonder if it is not too late... I have an iPad, and the interface is nice. My father has an Android, and while a bit more messy IMO, the interface is usable. But neither are really suited for work. They are more browsing devices. I always had the impression that a Windows tablet could be more of a work device, especially if it were to behave like a normal Windows when there is a keyboard and mouse attached... So perhaps they might still be on time to win over the workplace.

If Win7 runs on a device, it will work with Win10. Assuming there are no device driver issues. With 1GB RAM you may have some slowness caused by paging to disk. It looks like ReadyBoost is still in Win10, so you can grab a low profile USB 2.0 thumb drive and use ReadyBoost to speed up paging.

I should check the speed of the CF slot of the laptop. I'm changing cameras, and have some fast CF cards that I won't be able to use in a camera. It would sit completely flush in the laptop, but it may be that the CF part has a relatively slow interface.

The activation keys are linked to the media. So an OEM key needs an OEM image to work. Retail install discs need a retail key. And so on. You can try using your key with a clean install disc, and if it works, then it's legal as far as I know.

The worrying thing to me is that I had to make the retail disks from the laptop (a procudure that was available, to make rescue CDs). But I never tested if they work to rescue the system. It also puts the system back to Vista, after which I have to apply the upgrade CDs to upgrade it to Windows 7 (laptop came with free upgrade, it was bought just before 7 came out). And then the upgrade to Windows 10. So quite a lengthy procedure, where the start is untested... If the rescue CDs fail for whatever reason, I might not be able to install the system. It is my father's computer, so he is in Belgium and I am mainly in Poland: I need to be sure to be able to finish the procedure in 1-2 days AND explain him the Windows 10 changes. The installation is now 5 years old, so I would love to clean it out a bit. It is not too bad (my father does not install or download), but still....

[dZeus]

...

If Win7 runs on a device, it will work with Win10. Assuming there are no device driver issues. With 1GB RAM you may have some slowness caused by paging to disk. It looks like ReadyBoost is still in Win10, so you can grab a low profile USB 2.0 thumb drive and use ReadyBoost to speed up paging.

...

The activation keys are linked to the media. So an OEM key needs an OEM image to work. Retail install discs need a retail key. And so on. You can try using your key with a clean install disc, and if it works, then it's legal as far as I know.

two small notes:
- Windows 8 / 8.1 had some additional CPU requirements over Windows 7. For example, for the 32-bit version of Windows 8 you need a CPU with support for PAE, NX and SSE2 (on the Intel side, this translates to 533Mhz FSB Dothan Pentium M processors or newer for notebooks). For the 64-bit version there were some some specific instructions that are required (a quick google search shows CMPXCHG16b, PrefetchW and LAHF/SAHF).
Check this website for more details on some of these requirements.

- For doing a clean upgrade (while having a valid license of a previous version of Windows of course)... At least with Windows 8 (haven't tested this on 8.1 yet), if you chose the right installer media type i.e. OEM, retail, VLK, (or modify your image to match your license key), you can do a clean install with a temporary/eval registration key. When done installing, you change the registry key which says that you performed an upgrade, change the license key to match your upgrade key and activate your Windows installation.

It'd be nice if this keeps working in Windows 10 (as I don't like non-clean upgrades).

[Jammrock]

Yeah, there is some super old hardware that won't work. 5-7 year old stuff should work though.


Windows 10 build 9926 was released today. You can update the build by going to "Update and Recovery" under the PC Settings (search for recovery under the start menu). Then go to Preview Builds.

From there you can check, download and install the latest build. The drop-down triggers how quickly you want to get builds. Fast will install builds the night they are released. Slow will delay the install until it's certified more stable, or some patches come out to address specific issues.

That's still my favorite feature of Win10. The fact that you can update the core build in place and on-the-fly. Really deals with the static, aging issues that Windows has had.

[UtwigMU]

upgraded, so far looking OK.

[VJ]

- Windows 8 / 8.1 had some additional CPU requirements over Windows 7. For example, for the 32-bit version of Windows 8 you need a CPU with support for PAE, NX and SSE2 (on the Intel side, this translates to 533Mhz FSB Dothan Pentium M processors or newer for notebooks).

Thanks for the heads-up! It is a Pentium M 753 ULV, so from what I can find it should support it... Now just need to find out if the CF slot is fast enough to use for readyboost.

Windows 10 build 9926 was released today. You can update the build by going to "Update and Recovery" under the PC Settings (search for recovery under the start menu). Then go to Preview Builds.

I'll install it on Friday, but probably as a clean install from the ISO (currently running Windows 8.1 in trial, as the previous Windows 10 build gave too much issues).

That's still my favorite feature of Win10. The fact that you can update the core build in place and on-the-fly. Really deals with the static, aging issues that Windows has had.

Any thoughts on whether it will be possible to upgrade from preview to final? (so you just purchase it after it comes out, activate it and no need to reinstall)

[UtwigMU]

I think likely it will be possible to upgrade from preview to final (like it was with 7 - you just edited registry or config for build elligibility).

[Jammrock]

Thanks for the heads-up! It is a Pentium M 753 ULV, so from what I can find it should support it... Now just need to find out if the CF slot is fast enough to use for readyboost.


I'll install it on Friday, but probably as a clean install from the ISO (currently running Windows 8.1 in trial, as the previous Windows 10 build gave too much issues).


Any thoughts on whether it will be possible to upgrade from preview to final? (so you just purchase it after it comes out, activate it and no need to reinstall)

I don't know how that will work. It would be pretty easy to simply update to the RTM build, based on past build updates. The question is licensing. How they powers that be decide to handle licensing will determine how that plays out. Hopefully they keep it simple.