So I thought I'd write up a brief review of my first impression of the Windows 10 Technical Preview Build 9879 which I just installed on my laptop for testing purposes.
So far there's been a lot of hype surrounding it and I figured why not test it on a system that I primarily only use to watch movies on and/or take with me when I'm traveling. I'm not going anywhere any time soon, so now is a good time to toy around with it, and have the time to install 7 if something comes up.
Background aside, let's get into the nitty gritty.
The install:
I had some issues getting my laptop to actually read the DVD. Not an issue with the disk or the OS, just my laptop being stupid. Cleaned the eye of the DVD/RW drive, and rebooted, and it booted with no issues.
Splash screen near identical to the windows 7/8/8.1 installer. No surprise there as Microsoft doesn't change their splash too much at a time.
The install itself took about 20 minutes from start to finish from a DVD/R to a SSD. During the install, I noticed something that really impressed me.
My laptop is an ASUS G75VW. During the windows install, the ASUS ROG splash screen was visible for most of it. This immediately let me know that the windows install detected the manufacturer of the laptop and was configuring itself for said system. I was blown away by this to be quite frank.
Post Install:
After a couple reboots, I was greeted by a screen asking me to connect to a WiFi network. Windows also took the liberty of installing the correct wifi drivers for my device. Another +1 for Windows 10. They've put some work into this version.
I connected to my WiFi, ran through a couple configuration settings, and the system booted. I was greeted by a message stating, "Hi. Please wait while we configure your system"
Navigating Desktop and Minor Testing:
A couple minutes went by and my desktop appeared. Windows 10 did away with the metro desktop for the most part, but not completely. The start bar contains a more streamlined version of windows 8/8.1's metro UI. Cleaner and easier to manage than 8/8.1. Another +1 from me as I absolutely despised the metro BS, especially for a Laptop/Desktop which does not utilize touch screen capabilities.
I ran windows updates and rebooted. After the reboot I discovered that my Nvidia drivers were installed (one version behind current, but god damn if Microsoft hasn't got their shit together for this OS build!)
I downloaded all of my runtimes and a bunch of everyday utilities/programs via ninite (www.ninite.com) and checked out a couple things (Runescape to test java, CS:GO to test steam, etc) - Everything ran without a hitch. The compatibility of windows 10 is pretty much perfect from the MINOR testing I did.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, I'm really eager to check out the final release of Windows 10. I'll likely even go to the extent of upgrading my PC a few months after the official release (give them time to iron out any release day bugs which are to be expected)
If anyone's interested in checking out Win 10 and has any questions, or has been thinking about it, I say test it out!
So far there's been a lot of hype surrounding it and I figured why not test it on a system that I primarily only use to watch movies on and/or take with me when I'm traveling. I'm not going anywhere any time soon, so now is a good time to toy around with it, and have the time to install 7 if something comes up.
Background aside, let's get into the nitty gritty.
The install:
I had some issues getting my laptop to actually read the DVD. Not an issue with the disk or the OS, just my laptop being stupid. Cleaned the eye of the DVD/RW drive, and rebooted, and it booted with no issues.
Splash screen near identical to the windows 7/8/8.1 installer. No surprise there as Microsoft doesn't change their splash too much at a time.
The install itself took about 20 minutes from start to finish from a DVD/R to a SSD. During the install, I noticed something that really impressed me.
My laptop is an ASUS G75VW. During the windows install, the ASUS ROG splash screen was visible for most of it. This immediately let me know that the windows install detected the manufacturer of the laptop and was configuring itself for said system. I was blown away by this to be quite frank.
Post Install:
After a couple reboots, I was greeted by a screen asking me to connect to a WiFi network. Windows also took the liberty of installing the correct wifi drivers for my device. Another +1 for Windows 10. They've put some work into this version.
I connected to my WiFi, ran through a couple configuration settings, and the system booted. I was greeted by a message stating, "Hi. Please wait while we configure your system"
Navigating Desktop and Minor Testing:
A couple minutes went by and my desktop appeared. Windows 10 did away with the metro desktop for the most part, but not completely. The start bar contains a more streamlined version of windows 8/8.1's metro UI. Cleaner and easier to manage than 8/8.1. Another +1 from me as I absolutely despised the metro BS, especially for a Laptop/Desktop which does not utilize touch screen capabilities.
I ran windows updates and rebooted. After the reboot I discovered that my Nvidia drivers were installed (one version behind current, but god damn if Microsoft hasn't got their shit together for this OS build!)
I downloaded all of my runtimes and a bunch of everyday utilities/programs via ninite (www.ninite.com) and checked out a couple things (Runescape to test java, CS:GO to test steam, etc) - Everything ran without a hitch. The compatibility of windows 10 is pretty much perfect from the MINOR testing I did.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, I'm really eager to check out the final release of Windows 10. I'll likely even go to the extent of upgrading my PC a few months after the official release (give them time to iron out any release day bugs which are to be expected)
If anyone's interested in checking out Win 10 and has any questions, or has been thinking about it, I say test it out!
