[OFFICIAL] Windows 10 Insider Program

[spaceelf]

what's point of starting these apps from scratch..again? They barely got the Xbox apps to usable levels and now have gone back to drawing board? Do they perform better or something?

Probably just to use the new APIs.  I doubt it's really 'from scratch' at all.

[Quillz]

Finally got my VM updated to 10049, but I find Spartan unusable. It's very slow and fails to load just about anything. Likely just my VM, since VMware Tools don't appear to be working.

[Ian S.]

Just in Microsoft announced the consumer preview, download tomorrow.

 

Key Features:

• It's now out of Technical Preview
• They changed all the icons back to 9926
• Permanently allowing an option to switch to the start screen
• Made all the live tiles better colors
• A poll dedicated to feedback just about the icons
• A poll asking users if they know they are using beta software

[BajiRav]

I am too. I think out of all the newly designed apps the Alarms & Clocks is the best one. The main menu functions being right at the top just seems like a good thing unilaterally across platforms. There is so much grey in every app though. The apps kind of look altogether in that pic. This is the same complaint I have about borderless Windows. I'm glad to see the caption buttons are part of the tab bar on Spartan. I hope they do that for a few more apps (Music,Outlook, Messaging, Calendar.) I still don't like the back button being in the top left corner though. Ever since they showed that on Continuum I've disliked it (or even further back with Windows 8.)

I think it would be better if they allowed two theme colors instead of light/dark and one accent color.

[+Zagadka Subscriber²]

Oh, this is going to be a painful April Fools Day

[Studio384]

what's point of starting these apps from scratch..again? They barely got the Xbox apps to usable levels and now have gone back to drawing board? Do they perform better or something?

The point is that Music and Video now are full Windows apps. They aren't tight to Windows or Windows Phone anymore, they are now universal.

[REM2000]

Finally got my VM updated to 10049, but I find Spartan unusable. It's very slow and fails to load just about anything. Likely just my VM, since VMware Tools don't appear to be working.

 

I have the same problem, i have found Windows 10 really slow in VirtualBox since the release of the public betas, which im quite surprised about as Win8 was a lot better, faster and more like the RTM than Beta. Windows 10 is constantly thrashing the hdd and i still can;t get the integration tools to install. 

[BajiRav]

The point is that Music and Video now are full Windows apps. They aren't tight to Windows or Windows Phone anymore, they are now universal.

So are the Xbox apps (or at least Microsoft said they were).

[PotatoAlchemist]

The point is that Music and Video now are full Windows apps. They aren't tight to Windows or Windows Phone anymore, they are now universal.

Indeed, they seem to be using the newer WinRT variant that's Windows 10 specific - the same one you can compile on your own with the Windows 10 SDK. Hence why it can be only be downloaded through the beta Store. Same with the Office apps.

[PotatoAlchemist]

Seems there were updates for Word, Excel, Powerpoint and OneNote (although it left OneNote broken). And there is an update for Alarms too, which can't be installed. Error code 0x803F8001.

[Dashel]

Ok i tried it, and I really don't like the way they butchered the full screen start screen... the start screen was great now it's... not... it's going to be annoying on my tablet unless they fix it. full screen version is also way to transparent, to the point of being nearly unusable on the left side if you have a webpage up on the desktop.

I agree on the transparency, but I'm torn if I liked seeing the apps through it as in the last build or the more Win8 approach now.  While I admittedly haven't installed it on my Surface yet, I don't see anything that puts me off with the new Start Screen in tablet mode - which I think is loads better on the Desktop.  I agree its probably not as optimal, but the tradeoffs seem reasonable.

 

Its the 'edge swipes' that made the UI fun for me, I'm not really concerned with sizing and much prefer the anchored apps list.  The thicker divider seems more resize friendly now too for snapped apps.

[Quillz]

I have the same problem, i have found Windows 10 really slow in VirtualBox since the release of the public betas, which im quite surprised about as Win8 was a lot better, faster and more like the RTM than Beta. Windows 10 is constantly thrashing the hdd and i still can;t get the integration tools to install. 

Build 9926 was very slow for me, I've found the actual Win10 build 10049 to have acceptable performance, it's just Spartan specifically that is slow.

 

I do have an old Dell laptop lying around, I might just put Win10 on it so I can have a native install instead of a VM.

[George Marshall]

For the past 2 days I tried to download /nstall Win 10 10049.

Yesterday after several hours it stated an error and restored 10041. Error: 0x80070057-0x2003.

Today it appeared to have the download and after a long installation, it failed again with error: 0x80248007.

[Eric Veteran]

For the past 2 days I tried to download /nstall Win 10 10049.

Yesterday after several hours it stated an error and restored 10041. Error: 0x80070057-0x2003.

Today it appeared to have the download and after a long installation, it failed again with error: 0x80248007.

 

Check here on how to fix the Windows Update system for that. You didn't mention what OS version you're installing from.

[George Marshall]

I am running win 10 preview under vmware on top of Win 7. All updates worked fine thru 10041. Only this update will not install properly. Fix-it did nothing except it stated 'service registration may be missing or corrupt".

[Eric Veteran]

I am running win 10 preview under vmware on top of Win 7. All updates worked fine thru 10041. Only this update will not install properly. Fix-it did nothing except it stated 'service registration may be missing or corrupt".

 

Try the steps listed under "Additional manual steps". You may end up having to reinstall from scratch.

[HawkMan]

Man I wish the full screen start menu had some settings. the color overlay in full screen is... ugly. either let me set a special start screen background or choose whether I want the transparent overlay or not.  it's just making the background seem grey and unsaturated. 

[George Marshall]

Hawkman you are in the wrong site.

[nosense]

Man I wish the full screen start menu had some settings. the color overlay in full screen is... ugly. either let me set a special start screen background or choose whether I want the transparent overlay or not.  it's just making the background seem grey and unsaturated. 

Those options will come later. The  personalization settings pretty much empty, besides some lock screen options. 

 

 

 

Just notice that the title bar shrinks when in maximize.  

 

[Ian S.]

Those options will come later. The  personalization settings pretty much empty, besides some lock screen options. 

 

 

 

Just notice that the title bar shrinks when in maximize.  

 

Maybe a bug? I notice it "cuts off" Chrome's tabs just a tiny bit.

[REM2000]

Build 9926 was very slow for me, I've found the actual Win10 build 10049 to have acceptable performance, it's just Spartan specifically that is slow.

 

I do have an old Dell laptop lying around, I might just put Win10 on it so I can have a native install instead of a VM.

Thats a good idea, i don't really have anything spare at the moment to do a native install, i agree the 9xxx series was particularly slow with the disk thrashing most of the time, the 10xxx seem to be quicker than the 9xxx but they are still a lot more slugish than win8 beta. 

[HawkMan]

I just had a toast that said "we're adding new features to windows, this an take a few minutes"

 

but there was nothing in windows updates that I could see since yesterday. what's that about. 

[Jackaluichi]

I just had a toast that said "we're adding new features to windows, this an take a few minutes"

but there was nothing in windows updates that I could see since yesterday. what's that about.

Don't worry, that's just NSA stuff being installed xDDD

[Ian W]

A bit old but this article is a nice read. The long road to a more unified Windows gaming platform.
 

For Microsoft, creating a unified code base for its game console, desktop computing and mobile activities has been a long time coming.

. . .
 

In a tech-heavy presentation to developers at GDC today, Box talked about the "nightmare" of dealing with separate systems for its different areas of activity. As recently as 2011, the firm was working with Windows NT-based PCs, Windows CE-based mobiles and, in Xbox 360, an OS based largely on Windows 2000.
 

"These are all wildly different code bases," he said. "If you wanted your code to work on all three, it was horrific. We hit a wall. We said, 'we have got to fix this.'"

. . .

"You have no idea what it took for us to get Silverlight working on Xbox 360," quipped Box, adding that the unified system is now "a business requirement" for a company like Microsoft.

[Ian S.]

Major Spartan news AMA on Twitter:
 
 
From windowscentral.com, twitter.com

Windows Phone
Q: Why would you put the address bar at the top on mobile? Terrible UX says my Lumia
A: The designs for the phone aren't final yet, but know that we see EVERY bit of feedback on this very hot topic. (Link)
Q: Will the Spartan browser will have Flash player for windows phone also?
A: No Flash on Windows Phone - Adobe is no longer developing Flash for mobile (Link)
Q: Will there be any kind of developer's tool on the mobile version?
A: Yes, in the works. Model will be similar to this one. (Link)
Q: Will Spartan enable us to download data on background in windows phone?
A: Not currently planned but we hear the feedback! We watch UserVoice closely, that's the best place to request (Link)
 

General Questions about Spartan

Q: Will we be able to pin sites to our taskbar like we could w/ IE?
A: You will be able to pin sites as Tiles in Windows Start (Link)
Q: Will #Spartan eventually be available for other operative systems such as iOS, Android...?
A: We don't have anything planned at the moment - we're completely focused on building a great browser for Windows 10. (Link)
Q: Will Spartan get a store like Chrome Store?!
A: Stay tuned for more details on extensions plans... (Link)
Q: Will you add a home button to Project Spartan?
A: A focus for the new UI is simplicity + reducing unnecessary controls. That said, feedback wanted! (Link)
Q: There will be only one version of Spartan or two browsers for desktop/touch just like on Windows 8.1?
A: Spartan will use Continuum to provide a tailored experience across mouse/touch and desktop/tablet/phone on Windows 10. (Link)
Q: Do you plan to implement bookmarks syncing in #ProjectSpartan like Chrome also with the web access?
A: Your favorites will stay in sync across all your Windows 10 devices. (Link)
Q: Will there be a way to force particular links to open in Spartan/IE or is that going to be up to the user?
A: Links will open in whatever your default browser is. (Link)
Q: Spartan will able to save the notes which I write directly to one drive?
A: That would be pretty natural wouldn't it? Right now we're working on it. Keep upvoting requests on uservoice! (Link)
Q: Will Spartan support website livetiles like IE currently does?
A: Yup, live tiles will be supported (Link)
Q: Will Spartan support RSS by RTW/RTM?
A: We don't currently plan to render RSS feeds in Spartan but it's a great suggestion for UserVoice! (Link)
Q: Any chance of Ctrl-Q quick tabs coming back, or similar thumbnail view of all open tabs? Hugely useful
A: No plans for Quick Tabs exactly (as IE8), but some similar concepts being considered. One shown during 1/21 Spartan video (Link)
Q: Will Spartan have support for multiple windows with the possibility to move tabs between windows, just like Chrome/IE can?
A: Yes! Spartan supports multiple windows today (Go to the ... menu and select "New window") We're working on making it possible to move tabs between windows. Meanwhile!! in Spartan you can right-click on any tab and select "Move to new window" (Link)
Q: Will you consider making the final name of #ProjectSpartan Microsoft Spartan?
A: Oh, *many* names are being considered... ;-) (Link)
Q: Something I love in Chrome but F12 tools doesn't seem to do: Ctrl + R to refresh the tab. Minimizes win switching.
A: O nice, we've added that shortcut recently and hopefully it'll be in a flight soon! (Link)
Q: I can't get any files on localhost to open in #ProjectSpartan. Is this a known bug?
A: It's a security feature! To enable localhost, add the Sp App Container SID to your localhost interface, but lowers security (Link)
Q: Will #ProjectSpartan support Silverlight in the near future? Needed for a company web app.
A: Stay tuned, finalizing plans. But IE will be definitely be available as fallback. (Link)
Q: Is there a particular reason for which Spartan's user Agent says "mozilla, gecko, chrome, safari" and every other browser?
A: There's some good history here