Last day I got a chance to install the latest of the Windows breed from the Microsoft stable. The Windows 10 Technical Preview. You can download the install files from here.
This is a touted as the successor of Windows 8, which did not make any impact in the market. Windows 8 was primarily intended for touch screens. The desktop integration was an afterthought. However for Windows 10, there is a clever attempt to marry the desktop with the modern touch friendly interface.
Installation
I dual booted the Windows 10 with the existing Windows 7 on my laptop. The installation was uneventful. It detected all the hardware correctly. NVIDIA drivers were installed separately.
First Look
Having used Windows 8 before, there were not much surprises. The desktop integration is a welcome addition. The choice of viewing an application in full screen now rests with the users (In Windows 8, all applications open in full screen mode). Users can cycle between full screen, windowed or minimized mode.
The Start menu now has a small button at the top right to make it either full screen (ideal for tablets) or in normal mode (ideal for desktops). The good part is that live tiles are enabled on the start menu in both modes.
Application Compatibility
Applications designed for the ARM architecture and applications developed for the x86 architecture worked side by side. There is no switching required between the modern UI and desktop UI anymore like in Windows 8.
I tried installing some of the legacy windows applications and all of them worked seamlessly. However, the applications I compiled for the Windows 8 machine failed to run. I don’t know the reason at this time, I’m investigating.
Universal Windows Apps
Universal Windows Apps is a great idea, the support of which started with Windows 8.1. It promises to provide the developers with a common windows platform which gives a consistent API with consistent UX design. The developers can have the same code base for multiple platforms like desktops, tablets & phones. As a developer, I love this! 🙂
Further Reading
1. A video by Windows VP Joe Belfiore explaining the features of Windows 10:
2. Read about all the new features:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/about
3. Download your copy of the Windows 10 Technical Preview: