Windows 10 Technical Preview

[Ian.]

The IE 11, which I also have on a Windows 8 ultrabook, is a much better browser than the IE I abandoned many years ago for Opera. Now Opera has gone all weird, so I installed Vivaldi on the Windows 10 setup and it works fine, although it, too, is a "technical preview."

I think the weird Opera is the beta version. I'm on the classic 12 which says it is the latest released version.

 

[sammykhalifa]

I'm in the process of building a new system (too indecisive to pick a case). Can I just install 10 or do I have to put my Windows7 on it and then upgrade? I'm just thinking it might be easier if I have to start clean anyhow . . .

 

[MikeB]

I'm pretty sure you can grab a downloadable ISO and do a clean install using that. There's also ways to make a bootable flash drive given an ISO image, so use that.

 

[Lawrence A.]

Yes, you can download an iso file, burn it to disc or flash drive, and do a clean install. But Windows 10 is still in a testing phase and won't be released until later this year, so Microsoft recommends against making it your main system. I have not yet encountered any problems, but reading the "who should install this" blurb is worth doing. You need to be willing to participate in a test drive, which means that the system sends Microsoft information by default that you might not want to send from a default system. It's pre-release software that Microsoft is letting people use only, really, to find out what bugs it has. That's why I put it on a separate partition, away from my Windows 7 install. I have the option of booting into either at startup.

About Opera: "I think the weird Opera is the beta version. I'm on the classic 12 which says it is the latest released version."

I couldn't get Opera 12 to update plugins I needed anymore, so had to upgrade. It is certainly the last version I really loved. But the browsers has moved on, and Opera 27 is a stable release, though not one I like as much as the old version.

 

[sammykhalifa]

I see, got it. Might be something fun to do with my old computer then.

 

[PeeBee]

Generally, world + dog hates 8, which is why XP refuses to die, 7 rules and 8 languishes in the trenches. Microsoft even jumped a number so that 10 wasn't associated with just another upgrade of 8. Win 8.1 tried to address some of the painful aspects of 8, but it was too little, too late. And ironically, desktop ownership is once again on the rise, which is where the likes of 7 rules.

From what I've heard, the reason for the omission of 'Windows 9' is that software installers often check the Windows release number during execution and some legacy third party packages shortened Windows 95 and Windows 98 to Windows 9. Microsoft didn't want to break compatibility with such installers so they couldn't use the Windows 9 version code.

I've been using Windows 8 / 8,1 since release. At first there was a bit of a learning curve but now I much prefer it over W7 for personal use. I've a few customers that have rolled out 8.1 within a business environment and I've been surprised at how well end users took to it

I had a brief preview of Windows 10 a few months ago and it looks interesting, but I'll be waiting for feedback on the full release before I give it a go.

 

[OzRay]

From what I've heard, the reason for the omission of 'Windows 9' is that software installers often check the Windows release number during execution and some legacy third party packages shortened Windows 95 and Windows 98 to Windows 9. Microsoft didn't want to break compatibility with such installers so they couldn't use the Windows 9 version code.

I've been using Windows 8 / 8,1 since release. At first there was a bit of a learning curve but now I much prefer it over W7 for personal use. I've a few customers that have rolled out 8.1 within a business environment and I've been surprised at how well end users took to it

I had a brief preview of Windows 10 a few months ago and it looks interesting, but I'll be waiting for feedback on the full release before I give it a go.

I hadn't heard about the numbering thing, but not wishing to affect windows 95/98 users does sound a tad odd.

Windows 8 would have been much better received if it had allowed a traditional desktop environment, aka Win 7, as it does have more efficient code; but because some numb nut at Microsoft thought that everyone wanted/needed a tablet/mobile phone experience on their desktop (based on the fact that there are only a few desktop users in the world) they shot themselves in their feet, hands and head. Even with Windows 10, Windows 7 is going to be around for a very long time, especially the corporate environment that traditionally upgrades very slowly.

 

[PeeBee]

It's not about affecting Windows 95 / 98 users, its about the software installer package verifying a supported OS. 95/98 could flag as unsupported.

 

[OzRay]

It's not about affecting Windows 95 / 98 users, its about the software installer package verifying a supported OS. 95/98 could flag as unsupported.

But who would still be using Win 95/98? Should anyone care?

 

[PeeBee]

A legacy installer package is used within software that could be run under Windows 9. The installer would see Windows 9 at execution, assume its Windows 95 or 98 and abort. There are 2 workarounds. Recode all the legacy installer packages or use a different version code for the new windows release. Microsoft aren't able to recode third party products so they chose option 2

 

[OzRay]

I get what you mean now, but then would it be Microsoft's problem that legacy software aborts on install?

 

[PeeBee]

The haters would say it was :smile: