Hi Hubbers,
Everyone is talking about the new edition of Windows that's due for release soon on pretty much every platform known to man, Xbox is getting, laptops and PC's are getting it, windows phones running Windows 8 is getting it even the new Raspberry Pi 2 is getting it. With all the talk and hype over Windows 10 being free I felt like I wanted to do something different, I'm going to talk about my first initial experience of the new 'work in progress' Windows 10 and my first initial response is that this is sexy and smooth.
The technical preview of Windows 10(build 9926) has been out a while and having had a chance to get my eyes literally glued to the screen (like I needed much coercing anyway) I thought I'd give you my thoughts on a few of the nice little features they've added to this build and what I like and dislike.
For all of those who haven't had a chance to have ago then I will link you to the very same tutorial that I posted on Facebook right here on this CLICK HERE link. This will guide you to downloading and installing Windows 10 on to your machine without overwriting your existing OS. Have fun I did!
First off I need to get this off my chest, when I tried the previous build back from late last year, the Start menu was I think much better. It resembled what I think the start menu should be and although I do have the Start menu in my top 5 things I like on first impression, I do feel they may have removed the familiarity of it. In this build its more like scrolling an Android device than that of the earlier build where it did feel like a Start menu based around previous OS's like Windows 7.
1. Well this is going to be the desktop, this is the first thing you see when you boot up and log in. on my first impression it looks like Windows 8/8.1, this isn't a bad thing as I like the modern, clean solid colour look that Windows 10 has improved upon. Like Windows 7 and 8 we are presented with our standard recycle bin and a few pinned icons on the task bar. The search bar stands out a little but it's not a major issue.
2. The search bar, now for this build the search bar works fine for us English users you type, it searches using Microsofts very own......you guessed it Bing search, but were not privvy to the use of the newly installed Cortana. In this build they released a very basic version of Cortana, which you have to change some settings to get working(Click here), she also can't quite decide on her voice yet, it switches between text to speech sounding voice and a voice that slightly resembles the Cortana we love and know from the Halo series. The voice recognition works a treat though, needs tweaking but you say what you want and she hears you loud and clear. I've not been much of a fan of voice recognition because its never worked right, Microsoft have put a lot of time and effort into getting this to work right so I am impressed.
3. The Start menu is back, I was so pleased when they bought the start menu back, when all the rumours that it would be bought back in Windows 8.1 and it didn't I was glad I didn't decide to move to Windows 8 from the well established Windows 7. Windows 8's menu and subsequent menus were confusing at best without the the start menu I was literally lost. I never knew how much I relied on the start menu till I had a go with Windows 8 only to find out it was a tablet orientated menu along with what is known as the Charms Bar. Anyway Microsoft have done a great job of incorporating the two elements from both Windows 7 and Windows 8, the menu does still have the Tiled wall effect going on but it's not as in your face as it was in Windows 8, it has some useful apps on it as well. You can remove any of these or all if you want to customise the start menu to your liking. 
The other thing I really liked was that you can now expand the Start Menu to full screen making your Start Menu feel like a Window. The downside to this new menu though as previously mentioned is the all apps sub menu (where's all programs gone), where all the apps are alphabetically listed and you now have to scroll an eternity to get to for example the system tools folder.
4. 4 way split screen, this is probably my favourite yet most simple feature of windows, in Windows 7 I utilized the split screen ability on a daily basis being able to snap two windows to either side of the screen was great, it meant I could two things on the same screen. 
Now I can do 4 or a configuration of 2 one side and 1 the other or I could have the configuration of 2 one side 2 the other side but one page takes up half the screen and the 4th page can overlay the 3rd page its great. The nicest little touch has been added as well, you know when you have more than one window open and you have to click on the screen you want to use to engage it? well now it has mouse pointer recognition, you simply point you mouse over the window you say you want to scroll down on and it just does it no clicking involved.
5. Multiple desktops, the multiple desktops is going to be another one of those use and abuse features I think, set up two or three desktops on one computer, this feature definitely needs work though at the moment you can put icons on one desktop but the add desktop feature just creates a copy of the original and what ever you do on one corresponds on another. You also can't set individual backgrounds to help distinguish desktops. But this being a preview I'm sure this will get addressed, for now you can just open different windows on different desktops.
Overall I think that Microsoft has been able build and create a newer and more familiar Windows experience that were all used to, I think Windows 8 users will find comfort in knowing that there are features that were a staple of Windows 8 still in Windows 10 but at the same time have been able to take the staples from other OS's and incorporate them into this newer, sleeker, smoother OS that all Windows fans will be able to get on board with. I look forward to playing with future builds and getting my hands on the finished version, which the rumours are true will be for free for all Windows 7-8.1 users.
Milan Tomic
Hi. I’m Designer of Blog Magic. I’m CEO/Founder of ThemeXpose. I’m Creative Art Director, Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Interaction Designer, Industrial Designer, Web Developer, Business Enthusiast, StartUp Enthusiast, Speaker, Writer and Photographer. Inspired to make things looks better.
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