Windows 10 Tech Preview - Build 9879
So writing this post from Windows 10 Tech Preview newest build 9879. This is the second update to W10 since the initial release. From the standpoint of using a preview build of an OS, Windows 10 has proved itself to be stable and fast. But in my opinion not any more or less stable and fast than Windows 8.1 update 1 that I run on the same machine.
Versus running W10 in a VM - I decided to go ahead and dual boot my machine to get a more day-to-day feel. Here are my thoughts in terms of using W10..
It feels like Windows 7 with an updated UI and Start Menu. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. And here's why...
With the elimination of the Modern UI for desktop computers, the biggest thing I noticed is that I rarely run the modern apps. Since they are part of the Start Menu and Live Tile updated, when I want a quick glace of news, weather, finance, etc, you just click on Start and take a quick look.
It is slightly less effort than it was in W8 - where you pressed the start key and saw the Modern UI, then had to click Desktop to return. But at the same time I see the same challenge I mentioned in my earlier post regarding start menu real estate and sizing of the Modern Tiles. If you make the tile large enough to be "live" - then your Start Menu can get very large. If you don't have a large screen with HD graphics, then the menu can become a little unwieldy. If you then shrink the tiles to fit - then you loose Live updates and the value of those apps diminishes in my opinion.
So a couple of new changes in this build. First for Modern apps, the banner approach to notifications is now more of a dialog box that you can easily close - so yea for easy close - but basically reverting back to W7 days.
Next was the addition of native .mkv support. So for some this was a big deal. MKV is a form of video "container" that many folks used when ripping DVD content. I traditionally used the MP4 container - so never had the issue of it not running on Windows or Apple or anything for that matter. But obviously nice to see MS expanding it's support around native video decoding.
The final change appears to have caused some uproar in the tech community and that is the removal of the OneDrive app and the elimination of Smart Folders or Placeholders.
So I am not a huge user of OneDrive. The one capability I use it for extensively is for my Windows Phones Camera Roll. So every photo my wife or I take gets automatically copied up. I also have a small group of docs, shared folders, etc - but I've always been a fan of local storage. Today large capacity is extremely cheap and I don't have the need to have my entire catalog of everything available to me on the road.
Since Windows 8, MS has in my opinion complicated a cheese sandwich with their approach to File Explorer and the addition of OneDrive. When you look at Explorer today in Windows 8 - you have OneDrive, This PC, User, HomeGroup, Network, Libraries, Control Panel and Recycle Bin. In W10 they added "Home" - so yet another abstraction of your folder structure. Basically it's a hot mess. For the average user it can be extremely confusing and with some of defaults taken in Office for example - they default to One Drive.
In addition, for the enthusiast there is very limited control of what you actually want to see in the left pane of explorer. I don't use Home Group - so why show it unless I turn it on ? I like the Library approach - so why do I need This PC as well ? and so on..
Unfortunately this is typical MS and their fragmentation. You have competing groups adding in what they think you need and no ability to allow you to control what you want. But they do really need to clean this up.
MS also recently announced a partnership with DropBox as a cloud storage option for office. Okay cool, but then they should allow a customer to choose any 3rd party Cloud storage and integrate it in. For example I also use Box, but there is no integration with Office or Windows.
Bottom line is this. Build 9879, is stable and fast. I'm running it on a 5 year old HP Pavilion 9270 with Samsung SSD. All of the devices run fine, apps work fine, etc. From a user experience perspective, W10 is a combination of W7 and 8.1 with some new icons and a new start menu that supports Modern apps. Will I use some of the new features like Task View and Search - probably not.
Will I upgrade once W10 is final - sure - just to keep current. In terms of all of the under the covers stuff - as I've stated before Windows 8 and 10 are head and shoulders superior to W7. Especially if you have a relatively modern PC with SSD.
But if I look at where we were back in 2009 when Windows 7 was released and the progression through all the Service Packs, Windows 8 and now Windows 10 - I'm not 100% on the real benefit in terms of user experience. Yes MS added the Bing content and the Store. But as I've stated before many of the Modern apps aren't that good and in some use cases the overall experience has deteriorated.
I'm going to give MS the benefit of the doubt here and see how the builds progress, but I have the feeling that A) W10 final release will be delayed and B) I'm not 100% that the final product will really change attitudes that much about the Modern UI.
Versus running W10 in a VM - I decided to go ahead and dual boot my machine to get a more day-to-day feel. Here are my thoughts in terms of using W10..
It feels like Windows 7 with an updated UI and Start Menu. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. And here's why...
With the elimination of the Modern UI for desktop computers, the biggest thing I noticed is that I rarely run the modern apps. Since they are part of the Start Menu and Live Tile updated, when I want a quick glace of news, weather, finance, etc, you just click on Start and take a quick look.
It is slightly less effort than it was in W8 - where you pressed the start key and saw the Modern UI, then had to click Desktop to return. But at the same time I see the same challenge I mentioned in my earlier post regarding start menu real estate and sizing of the Modern Tiles. If you make the tile large enough to be "live" - then your Start Menu can get very large. If you don't have a large screen with HD graphics, then the menu can become a little unwieldy. If you then shrink the tiles to fit - then you loose Live updates and the value of those apps diminishes in my opinion.
So a couple of new changes in this build. First for Modern apps, the banner approach to notifications is now more of a dialog box that you can easily close - so yea for easy close - but basically reverting back to W7 days.
Next was the addition of native .mkv support. So for some this was a big deal. MKV is a form of video "container" that many folks used when ripping DVD content. I traditionally used the MP4 container - so never had the issue of it not running on Windows or Apple or anything for that matter. But obviously nice to see MS expanding it's support around native video decoding.
The final change appears to have caused some uproar in the tech community and that is the removal of the OneDrive app and the elimination of Smart Folders or Placeholders.
So I am not a huge user of OneDrive. The one capability I use it for extensively is for my Windows Phones Camera Roll. So every photo my wife or I take gets automatically copied up. I also have a small group of docs, shared folders, etc - but I've always been a fan of local storage. Today large capacity is extremely cheap and I don't have the need to have my entire catalog of everything available to me on the road.
Since Windows 8, MS has in my opinion complicated a cheese sandwich with their approach to File Explorer and the addition of OneDrive. When you look at Explorer today in Windows 8 - you have OneDrive, This PC, User, HomeGroup, Network, Libraries, Control Panel and Recycle Bin. In W10 they added "Home" - so yet another abstraction of your folder structure. Basically it's a hot mess. For the average user it can be extremely confusing and with some of defaults taken in Office for example - they default to One Drive.
In addition, for the enthusiast there is very limited control of what you actually want to see in the left pane of explorer. I don't use Home Group - so why show it unless I turn it on ? I like the Library approach - so why do I need This PC as well ? and so on..
Unfortunately this is typical MS and their fragmentation. You have competing groups adding in what they think you need and no ability to allow you to control what you want. But they do really need to clean this up.
MS also recently announced a partnership with DropBox as a cloud storage option for office. Okay cool, but then they should allow a customer to choose any 3rd party Cloud storage and integrate it in. For example I also use Box, but there is no integration with Office or Windows.
Bottom line is this. Build 9879, is stable and fast. I'm running it on a 5 year old HP Pavilion 9270 with Samsung SSD. All of the devices run fine, apps work fine, etc. From a user experience perspective, W10 is a combination of W7 and 8.1 with some new icons and a new start menu that supports Modern apps. Will I use some of the new features like Task View and Search - probably not.
Will I upgrade once W10 is final - sure - just to keep current. In terms of all of the under the covers stuff - as I've stated before Windows 8 and 10 are head and shoulders superior to W7. Especially if you have a relatively modern PC with SSD.
But if I look at where we were back in 2009 when Windows 7 was released and the progression through all the Service Packs, Windows 8 and now Windows 10 - I'm not 100% on the real benefit in terms of user experience. Yes MS added the Bing content and the Store. But as I've stated before many of the Modern apps aren't that good and in some use cases the overall experience has deteriorated.
I'm going to give MS the benefit of the doubt here and see how the builds progress, but I have the feeling that A) W10 final release will be delayed and B) I'm not 100% that the final product will really change attitudes that much about the Modern UI.
Comments
Post a Comment