Windows 10 Preview stats: Two-thirds of testers live dange

Edwin · 16 Oct 2014

Yeah, that'd be a real bummer if you didn't make any backups!

Lee · 17 Oct 2014

Darn why didn't I think of that instead of using a VM. You know what is funny is a good deal of those who have installed it as their main OS are not doing to bad . . .any way from what I have read so far. . .

Trust_No1 · 17 Oct 2014

I created dual boots, one on my Windows 7 desktop and another on my Windows 8.1 laptop, makes it easy to wipe or re-install. I wanted to see the differences between the two. All I could tell is that the laptop allowed me to swipe in the Charms bar (but it's start just took me to desktop view).

I just don't see where Windows 10 offers anything over Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 as a real incentive to make people switch, maybe if I were running XP, and wanted an upgrade. Even if it were free, I doubt I would change my current systems.

Which makes me wonder, if Windows 10 were free, would that mean Microsoft would have to cover all the troubleshooting questions, or would OEM's still be the liable parties?

lparsons21 · 17 Oct 2014

It is hard to make a conclusion about how good/bad a new version of Windows is going to be based solely on where the new version is in the stage of development.

This is a very early beta, with much of what has been talked about missing.

jimbo45 · 17 Oct 2014

Hi there

That's the WHOLE POINT of testing !!! (but of course as you take backup). You WANT to find all possible defects and stress the system to maximum before letting it out of the door and into production.

Who'se ever heard of a TEST PILOT for example who didn't "Live Dangerously". If possible these people also have a "backup" -- a means of ejection if the plane goes catastrophically wrong -- probably more and more impossible these days though. !!

What's the point of some of this "Non Journalism". There must be better snippets of technical news surely. !!!!!

Now if people are using W10 as their RUNNING machines then that can't be construed (at least in the English I learned) as TESTING.

Using a system say in parallel running or comparisons with the original previous OS (whether W8.1 or earlier) is a perfectly valid means of testing too - but running it as a normal "everyday machine" IMO does not constitute "Testing" as such.

I believe in the I.T world that's called "Testing in Production" which I'm sure is heavily frowned on and only done as an ultimate last resort.

Cheers
jimbo

lehnerus2000 · 17 Oct 2014

How do they know people aren't using spare HDDs?

Petey7 · 17 Oct 2014

I'll be one to admit that I am now using Windows 10 TP as my main OS. I originally did it as a dual boot, but 1) I was having issues on my Windows 7 install and was thinking of doing a clean install again anyways, and 2) I have yet to find any major bugs in Windows 10 TP. All my important programs work flawlessly, all my hardware works, and everything about 10 just looks nicer in my opinion. So, my Windows 7 partition is now a data partition. I have other computers I can use if/when needed, and I have all my files backed up in 3 different places, so I am not really worried. If things go wrong, I can have Windows 7 running again in an hour tops.

As for the claim that this doesn't constitute "testing," a major part of experimentation is seeing how things work in the long term. Its one thing to say "It works fine when using auto-cad or MatLab for 30 minutes", but it is something else entirely to say "It works fine when its been left running for a week straight and using a wide variety of programs at various times."

Trust_No1 · 17 Oct 2014

jimbo45 said:

Hi there

That's the WHOLE POINT of testing !!! (but of course as you take backup). You WANT to find all possible defects and stress the system to maximum before letting it out of the door and into production.

Who'se ever heard of a TEST PILOT for example who didn't "Live Dangerously". If possible these people also have a "backup" -- a means of ejection if the plane goes catastrophically wrong -- probably more and more impossible these days though. !!

What's the point of some of this "Non Journalism". There must be better snippets of technical news surely. !!!!!

Now if people are using W10 as their RUNNING machines then that can't be construed (at least in the English I learned) as TESTING.

Using a system say in parallel running or comparisons with the original previous OS (whether W8.1 or earlier) is a perfectly valid means of testing too - but running it as a normal "everyday machine" IMO does not constitute "Testing" as such.

I believe in the I.T world that's called "Testing in Production" which I'm sure is heavily frowned on and only done as an ultimate last resort.

Cheers
jimbo

I agree completely with every word, especially the part about "Non-Journalism", some of these bloggers are not even credible. They remind me of someone who writes not because of a valid point, but to fill space on an empty page.

unifex · 17 Oct 2014

I agree with Jimbo here.

What are we testing, an OS or some GUI features? What is exactly the point of using a virtual machine? Well, if you're trying some shady piece of software downloaded from a dodgy site, then surely you should use a VM. But this is Microsoft OS we're taking about. Of course I installed it on a hard drive. And, no, it does not replace my main system, nor is there anything dangerous unless you're paranoid and think that the test version of the OS contains some sort of a worm that's crawling the rest of my hard drives and searches for I don't know what.