Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Windows 10 Linkpost - Almost Here Edition

udirai2f.ocw

“Number 10” CC by 2.0 attribution: by yoppy on flickr.

Confession. In my “to be blogged” pile I have two folders of shame. One is titled “Windows 8/8.1” and the other is titled “iOS7”. They are filled with applicable links I collected but didn’t post on the lead up-to and immediately after those OS releases.  I need to file them.

Likewise, it has been a while since my last significant Windows 10 post. I don’t want to make that same mistake so here you go. Full Win 10 post out of the primary hopper. I’ve still got some Windows 10 feature-specific items I want to get out on their own “standalone” posts, but for now, this should do.

Generally I have enjoyed the Windows 10 TP builds I have been using. The last release before you had to use a Microsoft account to continue to get the updates was very solid. I took a pass on extending the build updates as I still don’t much like the idea of tying Win 10 (consumer) usage to an online account -- a la Apple iCloud or Google Chromebook. The Valca ranch is keeping to local accounts only for our systems. Sorry Microsoft.

Lavie was generally impressed with her foray through the Win 10 VM I put on her laptop. It’s close enough to Windows 8 that while she noted the clear differences, it didn’t freak her out like Win 8 did. She also likes the native Win 10 Start menu and we may not need to load Start8 or Classic Shell.

The only “major” complaint I have is the silliness of having the Win 10 GUI design for features/settings/configs but also having the “classic” GUI elements scattered amongst them. The Win 10 GUI design is “modern” but there is just so much wasted space (white-space for you print layout geeks) that I feel like I’m reading out of the “Large Type” book section of the library (no offense Pop). I prefer the tight and compact views when we are addressing configuration and settings.

Which leads me to a critical thought. In the “"*Nix” world there are several different desktop environments one can pick from depending on your preference. Not all desktop environments are fully compatible with core build platforms, but many are. Wouldn’t it be CRAZY if MS released a core (non-GUI) OS base for desktops that one could then install your own preferred (alternative) desktop environment? Say something like Server Core for Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012 (Windows). Jerry Nixon had a brief talk about the “core” concept Windows Core is Windows 10 is Windows Core is Windows 10.  Then again, that might be too technical and challenging and the *Nix world already has that idea well matured. Still--it’s a thought. There are already a few “replacement” Window shells out there still: Five replacements for the Windows 7 desktop via TechRepublic.

I still plan on upgrading my Win 7 Professional laptop system “Alister” to Win 10. Probably in September or October. Then maybe in 2016 depending on how that went upgrade my primary laptop “Tatiana” to Win 10.

Lavie will probably get Win 10 placed on her laptop by the end of August.

I’ll let you know how things go…

Official Windows 10 Site - Microsoft

Now, on to the link dump…

Win 10 - First Considerations

Win 10 - Gut Checks & Getting Started Guides (Safe for All Audiences)

Win 10 Flavor Details

About that Win 10 Upgrade icon…

Win 10 How-To’s…

Win 10 Updates and Upgrades

Now what could go wrong with mandatory/forced updates?

Oh. Yeah. That could happen…so can you stop it? At least for now? Maybe…

So how long are we good for?

More for the Admins

Opinion and Analysis

Depreciated but maybe useful in reference

Note, these are mostly pre-release build update notices and feature pick-apart reviews. Or ponderings on things generally no longer being hotly discussed.

Good Luck!

--Claus Valca

Posted by Claus at
Labels: , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)