[OFFICIAL] Windows 10 Insider Program

[PGHammer]

If you hated it, that's fine.

 

I would say a nested start menu very visually searchable, due to the fact that your eyes hardly have to move, and can take in more of the surrounding info, rather than jumping from tile to tile.

 

You do not know what object-oriented means.

 

Who has to use really descriptive file names for start menu shortcuts?

 

The length of a file name does not change the font DPI

 

Blah blahblah, something about screen resolution, DPI scaling and the strange use of the word 'taller'! Sounds like you need to figure this out and possibly get a better screen and/or glasses/contacts

 

You can't claim a resolution to be bad, without mentioning a given screen size.

 

I'd say 1920x1080 is not great for gaming, or for desktop use at 27" and above.

 

Seriously, stop calling it taller :/

Taller = higher.

 

And I WEAR glasses - and I'm both near-sighted AND astigmatic (meaning that in addition to having issues with focus on things far away, I have a condition called "lazy-eye" - the latter is why I'm not a candidate for any current form of keratotomy, including LASIK).  The latter two issues I have had my entire life.

 

Having to squint is a pain in the rear, and at above 1920x1080, reading such small default text (in any OS) means having to squint or nearly plant my nose in the display.

 

If you are increasing the DPI (font size) at the same screen resolution BECAUSE you are having legibility issues with text, doesn't it kind of undo the logic of having such a high resolution in the first place?

 

More often than not, even gaming at 1920x1080, I'm not concentrating on the text; however, in more "texty" games, I DO often bump the font pitch at least one level higher, if not two, simply to reduce squinting.

 

In addition to gaming, I also do plenty of writing and editing (thus I use a lot of Word, in addition to Adobe Reader for ODF/PDF proofing) - that means I work with plenty of text.  1920x1080 for ME is thus ideal because I can work with either single-page or two pages in side-by-side, depending on what the software supports, and without having to squint.

 

That is why I say that higher resolutions than 1920x1080 may be great for graphics - but they blow chunks for text.

 

It's a flip of what had been a common issue in previous versions of Windows - you wound up, all too often, gaming at a LOWER resolution than your desktop.

 

In my case, if I COULD (in terms of both dollars and mere space on the desk) get a display capable of a higher resolution, my desktop resolution would be lower - not higher - than my game resolution.

 

However, how many folks are used to being in that (until recently) uncommon position?

[PGHammer]

Installed the preview in a Virtualbox VM last night. Didn't play too much, as I've been fighting a migraine for 2 days.

 

One interesting item I noticed in the install - it gave me the option to import my settings from another machine. I tried it out and chose my primary system - the tower which was the host for the VM.

 

And what immediately appeared on the first boot? The Screen! With the same layout as on the host, minus the desktop programs of course. This is exactly the sort of thing I'd like to see in the final release! Retention of existing preferences, rather than the clusterf*ck we got in 8.1u1.

 

I switched to the Menu briefly to check it out, and may do so  again later when I have more time and energy to play. But I made it clear in the feedback app that I was very pleased at still having the choice of the Screen on my "desktop" machine.

This is something that 8 had, and 8.1 has today - it's not a new feature.  (There is a checkbox when setting up your account in 8, 8.1, and the Technical Preview to take advantage of this feature.)

[DConnell Member]

This is something that 8 had, and 8.1 has today - it's not a new feature.  (There is a checkbox when setting up your account in 8, 8.1, and the Technical Preview to take advantage of this feature.)

 

 

8 and 8.1 may have had it, but U1 dumped me into the desktop without asking, even on my Surface RT. It was easy enough to kill "Boot to Desktop" but it was nice to not have to do it in the Preview. Hopefully the full version will retain the preferences in the upgrade.

 

If the user has their system set up as primarily desktop-UI then that's what the upgrade should present, and if the user has a Modern/desktop mix, that should be retained as well. MS shouldn't have defaulted everyone to the desktop just because a keyboard was detected. U1 is why I'm against hardware-based defaults - it assumes everyone who uses a keyboard must prefer the desktop.

[Ian W]

The monitoring is not necessarily due to the operating system itself, but is because of the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP). The CEIP monitors the user's interaction with the software - such as the time it takes to open a program - which is why the user receives immediate requests for feedback during tasks such as rearranging tiles on the Start screen or Start menu.



It should be noted that CEIP is not a new technology and was introduced with the Windows Vista operating system as an opt-in feature; the program was also used during the development of both Windows 7 and Windows 8. However, the Windows Technical Preview makes participation in the CEIP mandatory. This is not unusual since the build is built specifically with feedback in mind. Here is the Windows Technical Preview privacy statement.

[Mugwump00]

Has anyone found a way to pin a 'Start Screen aware' site to the Start Menu without IE Modern?  I always had the Neowin site as a live tile with the Start Screen - now seems not possible to have the same on the Start Menu - ?

[+Warwagon MVC]

How do you rename folders put on the side of the start menu?

[HawkMan]

Taller = higher.

 

And I WEAR glasses - and I'm both near-sighted AND astigmatic (meaning that in addition to having issues with focus on things far away, I have a condition called "lazy-eye" - the latter is why I'm not a candidate for any current form of keratotomy, including LASIK).  The latter two issues I have had my entire life.

 

Having to squint is a pain in the rear, and at above 1920x1080, reading such small default text (in any OS) means having to squint or nearly plant my nose in the display.

 

If you are increasing the DPI (font size) at the same screen resolution BECAUSE you are having legibility issues with text, doesn't it kind of undo the logic of having such a high resolution in the first place?

 

More often than not, even gaming at 1920x1080, I'm not concentrating on the text; however, in more "texty" games, I DO often bump the font pitch at least one level higher, if not two, simply to reduce squinting.

 

In addition to gaming, I also do plenty of writing and editing (thus I use a lot of Word, in addition to Adobe Reader for ODF/PDF proofing) - that means I work with plenty of text.  1920x1080 for ME is thus ideal because I can work with either single-page or two pages in side-by-side, depending on what the software supports, and without having to squint.

 

That is why I say that higher resolutions than 1920x1080 may be great for graphics - but they blow chunks for text.

 

It's a flip of what had been a common issue in previous versions of Windows - you wound up, all too often, gaming at a LOWER resolution than your desktop.

 

In my case, if I COULD (in terms of both dollars and mere space on the desk) get a display capable of a higher resolution, my desktop resolution would be lower - not higher - than my game resolution.

 

However, how many folks are used to being in that (until recently) uncommon position?

 

I'm used to 1600p on 21 inch 4:3 monitors from CRT days, modern monitors have ridiculously low resolution for size.

 

Either way after Lasik, and even before with my horrible eyesight, I always wanted one of those IBM/Lenovo laptop with 1440p screens and those where like 15 inch.

 

As for them being pointless if you increase dpi. No, you get much clearer and nicer fonts without pixelation and bad font smoothing. Same applies to games, on my new 27inch 1440p screw(which i run at 100% dpi) I can get away with less anti aliasing and still have a better picture.

[George P Global Moderator]

Some keyboard shortcuts for those who like them.

 

Create new virtual desktop: WIN + CTRL + D

Close current virtual desktop: WIN + CTRL + F4

Switch virtual desktop: WIN + CTRL + LEFT or RIGHT

[PGHammer]

8 and 8.1 may have had it, but U1 dumped me into the desktop without asking, even on my Surface RT. It was easy enough to kill "Boot to Desktop" but it was nice to not have to do it in the Preview. Hopefully the full version will retain the preferences in the upgrade.

 

If the user has their system set up as primarily desktop-UI then that's what the upgrade should present, and if the user has a Modern/desktop mix, that should be retained as well. MS shouldn't have defaulted everyone to the desktop just because a keyboard was detected. U1 is why I'm against hardware-based defaults - it assumes everyone who uses a keyboard must prefer the desktop.

 

Agreed, DConnell.

 

One thing I have been at least TRYING to campaign for is the option of adding things that wouldn't normally be the default - not all users, even keyboard+mouse users, necessarily work the same way.  While the StartScreen/AppScreen may not necessarily be the default for the desktop, why couldn't it (or shouldn't it) be optional?  (Same applies to the Charm Bar, full-screen ModernUI, etc. - not the default is fine, but why chase it away altogether, even for keyboard+mouse users?)

 

It would be like taking away the option of a physical keyboard for tablets - a LOT of tablet users (not just Windows tablet users) would revolt!

[Active.]

Some keyboard shortcuts for those who like them.

 

Create new virtual desktop: WIN + CTRL + D

Close current virtual desktop: WIN + CTRL + F4

Switch virtual desktop: WIN + CTRL + LEFT or RIGHT

Thanks! Really needs some animations / visual acknowledgment

 

By the way... is the File Explorer fullscreen view new? (WIN + CTRL + UP)

[PGHammer]

Thanks! Really needs some animations / visual acknowledgment

 

By the way... is the File Explorer fullscreen view new? (WIN + CTRL + UP)

Yes - previously you HAD to mouse it to go full-screen in either Windows Explorer or File Explorer.  (Being able to full-screen via the keyboard is a nice option.)

Also, the virtual-desktop feature is a rather nice and slick touch; I have this in one VD, while adding games via Origin in a second.  And you don't need Hyper-V to use virtual desktops, either.  I also get the need for animations/alerts - Linux/UNIX only WISHES that the virtual-desktop feature THERE was this smooth; if anything, it's almost TOO smooth - the only clue that it is a new desktop is if you had something open in the previous one.

 

If it weren't for two games that have compatibility issues, I'd recommend this as a daily-beater OS alternative to Windows 7 or earlier - I may yet recommend this to Mom (she is very much an old-school Start menu user, which is why I never installed 8 or 8.1 on her tower).  As it is, if you are NOT a gamer, the Technical Preview deserves serious consideration - now.

Edited October 3, 2014 by PGHammer

[George P Global Moderator]

I don't know if it is new or not. I've never used it in anything close to full screen.

[Active.]

Being able to full-screen via the keyboard is a nice option.)

weirdly enough it doesn't work for Metro apps...maybe forthcoming?

[PGHammer]

I'm used to 1600p on 21 inch 4:3 monitors from CRT days, modern monitors have ridiculously low resolution for size.

 

Either way after Lasik, and even before with my horrible eyesight, I always wanted one of those IBM/Lenovo laptop with 1440p screens and those where like 15 inch.

 

As for them being pointless if you increase dpi. No, you get much clearer and nicer fonts without pixelation and bad font smoothing. Same applies to games, on my new 27inch 1440p screw(which i run at 100% dpi) I can get away with less anti aliasing and still have a better picture.

But you also have a PHYSICALLY larger display.  I have a twenty-three inch FP display - it's a compromise because I actually cannot put a display much larger in physical SIZE on my desk.  Twenty-seven inches is likely the largest display (in terms of size) I could get away with.

 

Budget IS a consideration in addition to physical display size - when I got this display, anything larger than twenty-four inches - even at the same 1920x1080 resolution I have today, was far from cheap.  While prices have dropped, quality 27-inch displays are still not exactly cheap.

weirdly enough it doesn't work for Metro apps...maybe forthcoming?

It only applies to File Explorer - it is NOT a system-wide default.  (It doesn't apply to IE, either.)

[HawkMan]

But you also have a PHYSICALLY larger display.  I have a twenty-three inch FP display - it's a compromise because I actually cannot put a display much larger in physical SIZE on my desk.  Twenty-seven inches is likely the largest display (in terms of size) I could get away with.

 

Budget IS a consideration in addition to physical display size - when I got this display, anything larger than twenty-four inches - even at the same 1920x1080 resolution I have today, was far from cheap.  While prices have dropped, quality 27-inch displays are still not exactly cheap.

It only applies to File Explorer - it is NOT a system-wide default.  (It doesn't apply to IE, either.)

 

The old 21 inch CRT's where smaller and the Lenovo laptops I referred where certainly smaller.

[PGHammer]

The old 21 inch CRT's where smaller and the Lenovo laptops I referred where certainly smaller.

My last CRT (1600x1200) was a 19" Panasonic aperture-grille - my current Acer is a TN flat-panel.

 

My current laptop DOES have a 15" display (Pavilion dv9700) with that 1440x900 display - almost certainly a better quality display than my desktop.  But then, that particular notebook was quite pricey for its day (and the sting in the tail was a paltry 150GB HDD).  Oddly enough, it runs the Technical Preview (which is what I have on it) swimmingly - still, that paltry HDD does sting a bit; it's why I'm looking at throwing a Crucial MX100 SSD (of the 512GB size - over 3x bigger than that HDD) in it.

[Sszecret Veteran]

Some keyboard shortcuts for those who like them.

 

Create new virtual desktop: WIN + CTRL + D

Close current virtual desktop: WIN + CTRL + F4

Switch virtual desktop: WIN + CTRL + LEFT or RIGHT

 

Thanks for the kb shortcuts. How on earth did you stumble upon them?

 

 

Thanks! Really needs some animations / visual acknowledgment

 

By the way... is the File Explorer fullscreen view new? (WIN + CTRL + UP)

 

AFAIK, you could go full-screen with File Explorer previously (I think it was in 7 if I'm not mistaken), but it had to be maximized. Then, you'd press F11 (just like you'd do in a browser) and it would go full screen. 

This shortcut is new, I think. Even so, when going back from full screen to normal view, the entire upper bit of the window (the ribbon and title bar) just doesn't show up. Pressing F11 solves the problem nicely. 

[HawkMan]

My last CRT (1600x1200) was a 19" Panasonic aperture-grille - my current Acer is a TN flat-panel.

 

My current laptop DOES have a 15" display (Pavilion dv9700) with that 1440x900 display - almost certainly a better quality display than my desktop.  But then, that particular notebook was quite pricey for its day (and the sting in the tail was a paltry 150GB HDD).  Oddly enough, it runs the Technical Preview (which is what I have on it) swimmingly - still, that paltry HDD does sting a bit; it's why I'm looking at throwing a Crucial MX100 SSD (of the 512GB size - over 3x bigger than that HDD) in it.

 

The CRT was 1600 vertical and the Lenovo laptops where 1440p again, 1440 vertical so a lot higher res than that HP

[PGHammer]

The CRT was 1600 vertical and the Lenovo laptops where 1440p again, 1440 vertical so a lot higher res than that HP

Still, such displays weren't cheap (I lucked out rescuing the Panny from the recycle bin - literally; it WOULD fail eventually - which led to the Acer).

 

And how much did your CURRENT display cost?

[JakeB]

I understand that it is not out yet :)

I was just hoping that somebody could point me, and maybe others, in the right direction of installing this in a VM

 

On my pc I have installed the Professional version of Windows 8.1 Update, I know you can install VM's, just never done it and thought this might be useful to know before this new windows is released 

 

I had a problem with VirtualBox. First when selecting OS's from the dropdown only 32 bit displayed. I downloaded 32 bit Preview and tried to install and VB crashed attempting to create the VM. I enabled Hyper-V and It began to create the VM but said no internet connection so i create a local account. That was worthless some I removed and googled setting Hyper-V to use wireless card. I had to create switch under networking then assign my Intel wireless care to it. Then last i had to go into security of wireless card and allow it to be shared. I recreated the VM and it prompted me to enter my MS Username & PW and then finished the install. The resolution was lower but i right clicked on the desktop and changed the resolution to 1080p. All is well.

[Studio384]

Thanks for the kb shortcuts. How on earth did you stumble upon them?

I'm gonna make a wild guess and say that he reads the Windows blog. http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2014/10/03/keyboard-shortcuts-in-the-windows-10-technical-preview/

[Ian W]

What a delightful surprise. The Previous Versions tab that was removed in Windows 8 has been reinstated.

[Stoffel]

I had a problem with VirtualBox. First when selecting OS's from the dropdown only 32 bit displayed. I downloaded 32 bit Preview and tried to install and VB crashed attempting to create the VM. I enabled Hyper-V and It began to create the VM but said no internet connection so i create a local account. That was worthless some I removed and googled setting Hyper-V to use wireless card. I had to create switch under networking then assign my Intel wireless care to it. Then last i had to go into security of wireless card and allow it to be shared. I recreated the VM and it prompted me to enter my MS Username & PW and then finished the install. The resolution was lower but i right clicked on the desktop and changed the resolution to 1080p. All is well.

 

Since my last post I figured all this out too. But thanks for the feedback

Just used Hyper-V on my Windows 8.1 PC and it worked like a charm.

Just had to figure out how to get internet access.

[wahoospa]

Hitman Pro deleted my 'user.exe' file in C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ and now I have to reinstall Windows 10. I have tried system restore about 5 times and it still will not do a restore. :( So now I will put the DVD back in and start all over.

[Intersect]

I expect the legacy calculator to go away, don't know why it hasn't already.

dont see any reason why they cant keep both, one is designed for touch and the other is classic, enterprise users who will proberly be using the start menu will naturally navigate to the classic calculator.