Your Build 9860 Evaluation

Tony K · 05 Nov 2014

paulsalter said:

It looks like the Start Screen is only available as default if you have a touch device, on my Laptop this is the default and I have to change it if I want the Start Menu

Been really busy, so just getting back to this. I know I can configure it to use the Start Screen vs The Start menu, but with a touch screen can you boot to the Start Screen? It's greyed out for me. Wondering if they'll turn it on in a future build.

Also, to clarify > Touch is enabled, correct?

The experience of using it is similar to all the complaints about 8 when it came out, where when closed an app you where returned to the Start Screen and not to the desktop.

So now in 10 when you run anything from the Start Screen, it runs on the desktop, when closing apps down you are just left on the desktop.

Yes, it's bass ackwards.

This is one of the reasons I have been trying out the Start Menu, in 10 currently this provides a much nicer way of working (as everything is desktop oriented), I find the Start Screen annoying with it taking me to the desktop for everything

Although not an expert by any means, but I'm beginning to think that by working on a farm at a very young age with all that machinery, working construction with hand & power tools/ladders/scaffolds for 44 years, mechanical tools, growing up on a river boating/skiing/swimming, playing a horn/marching in a few drum & bugle corps as a teener, snow skiing, bowling, table billiards, singing karaoke, using a computer for 20 years (mostly keyboard), and cell phones since bags (just to name a few) that I just may know more about ergonomics than most people here. There is a certain "rhythm" that a user gains interacting and performing with any one of those. One becomes part of the machine or instrument and it/they become a part of the user so to speak. Ask any musician.

There's no rhythm to be found in the Start Menu. It broke mine every time, so that's why I plastered icons on my Taskbar/desktop and knew exactly where they were all at, very similar to the Start Screen. WinKey/D with the left hand and mouse click with the right > Boom > Open. Now performed all with a keyboard on the Start Screen.

I will change and adapt to 10 when it comes out, but for me so far 8.1 provides a much nicer experience.

Ditto + ½ on 8.1! Not sure about 10 at this point.

With Office I am not to sure now If everything is running on the desktop, what advantage would there be to a modern office over the traditional layout

Getting rid of Win32 would be my guess.

Tony K · 05 Nov 2014

Indianatone said:

The version of 10 out right now 9841/9860 is aimed squarely at IT Pros, power users, enthusiast users and the plain techy geeks. The version is missing consumer tools and "toys" (for want of a better word). Media centre, the touch interface, Cortana etc.

"Consumer tools and "toys" (for want of a better word)"?

Business/Enterprises don't/won't use "Media centre, the touch interface, Cortana etc."?

You're absolutely correct on that I should have mentioned that they are porting more features over from Windows Phone 8.1. I see we have Notifications already in the, well, notifications area of the taskbar. DataSense in PC Settings, Disk Space which is somewhat similar to Storage Spaces. And that Cortana! What a beauty! Wait 'til you see her, especially after she grows up!

On the Modern side I'm hoping to see this introduced for the Start Screen: Windows Phone folders: A new way to organize Start screen This will make the Start Screen even more efficient than it already is.

When I first installed TTP I wondered why they would introduce multiple desktops?! Kind of haunted me since I thought they were heading backwards. Then it dawned on me today when using my Lumia > It's similar to Tabs on the Phone for multitasking as seen below. I bet they'll be grooming for multitasking, then eventually that all gets ported back to the Modern screen. Therefore one can have multiple screens (or tabs) with let's say 2 or 4 apps snapped on each tab/screen for suitable multitasking depending on screen size of course. That just may happen by 11 when most of the, ahem, desktoppers die off. This also buys time for Win32 apps to get ported/developed over to the Modern.

Did you notice that the feedback app is in the Modern? Wonder why they did that?

Argh, me maties! Shiver me timbers! Sounds like a good business plan to me!

Attachment 7918

lehnerus2000 · 05 Nov 2014

HippsieGypsie said:

Did you notice that the feedback app is in the Modern? Wonder why they did that?

To make it unnecessarily difficult to provide feedback, if you don't use a MS account to log in to your OS?

Coke Robot · 06 Nov 2014

I prefer the Start Screen versus the miniature version of it and will continue to do deployments in the same manner unless a user wishes otherwise. There's just no value or merit to it anymore. But at least there are options to keep it as a mini-Start Screen or a minimal file navigation tool.

Hippsie, do keep in mind this is in fact VERY beta software. Things like the quad snap not working with certain modern apps is something to be expected. The very same happened from Windows 8 to 8.1, the Windows Phone companion app a prime example, of how a change like 33/66 app snap to freely resizable requires the app developers to retweak the app so that can work. It's going to take a recode of all of those apps from Windows 8 and 8.1 and maybe even Win32 software to work correctly with that. By the way, love the green on your Windows devices, I'm rocking the same olive green too!

jimbo45 · 06 Nov 2014

Hi there

I don't know what sort of I.T Pros are working these days but when I hear of "Business has no use for Touch" - I immediately think of those old fashioned rooms with loads of coders in them working away like they did 20 years ago or more.

There's MANY excellent reasons why Touch would be used (sometimes) in businesses -- ever given presentations / demos for example.

While it is true the majority of people at work probably use the desktop exclusively there are an increasing number who find CERTAIN ASPECTS of touch very handy indeed - so don't dismiss it out of hand for business use.

To dismiss it out of hand just because it's used not all that often is like saying - OK you only use the brakes in a car about 5% of the time so why fit them !!!.

Cheers
jimbo

paulsalter · 06 Nov 2014

HippsieGypsie said:

Been really busy, so just getting back to this. I know I can configure it to use the Start Screen vs The Start menu, but with a touch screen can you boot to the Start Screen? It's greyed out for me. Wondering if they'll turn it on in a future build.

Also, to clarify > Touch is enabled, correct?

With touch it boots directly onto the Start Screen, this is the default settings and looks almost like 8/8.1, all store apps I have pinned are shown and in the same order/grouping I use in 8, the only things missing are desktop programs

I am using it via VM which I think causes touch to be limited (I get no edge swipes), so for me the start screen is as touch friendly as it gets

MilesAhead · 06 Nov 2014

groze said:

Do you know if Macrium can back up & restore GPT using the image backup & image restore feature?

It supports UEFI secure boot and GPT, at least for Windows 8.x. When you bring it up just select on the left where it says something like "back up all partitions needed to restore Windows." I uncheck the restore partition since it is like 10 gigs. The images are much bigger than Macrium used to make for MBR partitions. After a product update I noticed they got a lot larger.

The recovery maker will make a bootable USB but it has to be FAT32. If you back up the image to the USB then it breaks it up to 4 GB files. On an NTFS USB it makes one image file just like on HD.

This is all the Free version. You can check out the web page for the enhancements of the paid.

lehnerus2000 · 06 Nov 2014

I though that MS said that the touch stuff is coming in another preview.

They don't want to scare business customers.

groze · 06 Nov 2014

lehnerus2000 said:

I though that MS said that the touch stuff is coming in another preview.

They don't want to scare business customers.

I read that as well. It might be the consumer preview though.

Slartybart · 06 Nov 2014

HippsieGypsie said:

.....
That just may happen by 11 when most of the, ahem, desktoppers die off.
.....

Not dead yet !!