Complete Guide to the Windows Technical Preview

[allheart55 Cindy E]

 

Everything you need to know, all in one place

 

Oct 9, 2014 Paul Thurrott

 

I've been writing about Windows 10 since last year, but with the Windows Technical Preview now available, it's time to consolidate everything I've written—and will write—about this important milestone into a single location. This guide provides access to everything I've written about the Windows Technical Preview, and will be updated as I publish more articles in the days, weeks and months ahead.

 

More soon!

 

Note: I'm serious about Windows 10. So serious, in fact, that I'll also be writing the Windows 10 Field Guide over the next several months. Stay tuned for that, but enjoy what's unfolding here on the SuperSite in the meantime.

 

Windows 10 Tips (Pre-release)

Display Universal Apps in a Full Screen View

 

With the Windows Technical Preview focused largely on desktop PC use, anyone using Universal apps—formerly called Modern apps—will notice that they now run in windowed form on the desktop. But that's true whether you're using a traditional PC or a tablet or other touch-based device, and it may not always be ideal. Fortunately, you can switch in and out of a true full-screen view at any time.

 

Use Multiple Desktops

 

While Windows has long supported "virtual" desktops, Microsoft had declined to make this feature available to users until Windows 10. Now, in the Windows Technical Preview, you can easily create and manage multiple desktops, which you can use to separate related tasks into their own workspaces.

 

Customize the Start Menu

 

On traditional PCs, Microsoft will provide a new Start menu rather than the full-screen Start screen that debuted in Windows 8. This move will be welcomed by all kinds of users, but the new Start menu isn't exactly like the one you may remember from Windows 7. Here's quick guide to customizing it to work the way you want.

 

Master New Keyboard Shortcuts

 

With Window 10 and its renewed focus on the desktop, Microsoft is expanding the already-broad collection of keyboard shortcuts in Windows to address new features and functionality. Not surprisingly, many of them are related to multitasking.

 

Switch Between Open Apps and Desktops

 

In previous versions of Windows, ALT + TAB ("Windows Flip"), WINKEY + TAB ("Switcher," "Windows Flip 3D") and their touch-based equivalents were used to quickly switch between running apps. These shortcuts and actions are still available in Windows 10, though they've changed and improved yet again.

 

Move Apps Between Multiple Desktops

 

In Windows 10, Microsoft is finally providing access to multiple desktops so you can group apps as you see fit. But it's not immediately obvious whether you can move apps between these desktops. As it turns out, you can. Here's how.

 

Swap Between Start Menu and Start Screen

 

As I currently understand it, which Start experience you receive in Windows 10 will depend on a number of factors. Those with traditional PCs or 2-in-1s will get the Start menu by default. Those with tablets will get the Start screen by default. And those who upgrade should receive whichever Start experience they were previously using. But it doesn't really matter, since you can switch between the Start menu and the Start screen at any time.

 

Colorize the Start Menu

 

While many are heralding the return of the Start menu in Windows 10, the truth is that this interface is in many ways all-new, with functionality taken from both the Windows 7 Start menu and the Windows 8 Start screen. And here's one of the neat new things you can do with the Start menu: Change its color.

 

Windows 10 Feature Focus

Windows Technical Preview Feature Focus

 

As you might expect of a major new Windows version, Windows 10 provides a number of new features and improvements over previous releases such as Windows 7 and Windows 8. In this series, I am exploring these features as they appear in the Windows Technical Preview. I'll be updating this series regularly going forward.

 

Hands-on with the Windows Technical Preview

Here are the Top User Requests for Windows 10

 

A reader has sent along the results of his script-based analysis of the top feedback requests for Windows 10 in the Windows Technical Preview. And it won't surprise you to discover that the most popular requests are an interesting mix of common sense ideas and superficial changes.

 

Is Microsoft Offering the Windows Technical Preview to Windows 7 Users Via Windows Update?

 

I've received some incredulous emails from readers who claim that Microsoft is actually pushing the Windows Technical Preview—an early, pre-release version of Windows 10—to them via Windows Update. But that's not what's happening. Instead, you'll only see that update in Windows Update if you've already signed up for the Windows Insider Program and indicated you're interested in the Preview.

 

Next Steps for Windows 10

 

Most people seem pretty impressed by the Windows Technical Preview and the deft way in which Microsoft has combined two previously incompatible user experiences—desktop and Modern—into a single, cohesive desktop environment. And we're told that the next milestone in this journey to Windows 10 will be a consumer preview that will presumably offer a clearer view of the touch/tablet side of this product, and hopefully a peek at a combined Windows RT/Windows Phone. But I feel like there's still lots of work to be done on the desktop side. And here's what I'd like to see before Windows 10 is complete.

 

Windows Technical Preview is Microsoft's Alchemy Moment

 

Having now installed the Windows Technical Preview on several machines both physical and virtual and using both upgrades and clean installs, it's perhaps time to take stock of what's happening here. This first pre-release version of Windows 10 has the very specific goal of convincing Windows 7 users that there is a future for them that includes the best parts of Windows 8 with none of the tomfoolery. And on that note, it succeeds mightily.

 

Getting Started with the Windows Technical Preview

 

Exactly 20 years ago, I received my first beta version of Windows from Microsoft (Windows 4.0, which became Windows 95). And boy have things changed over that time. Microsoft moved from floppies to CDs to DVDs to ISOs and digital delivery, and the size, complexity and functionality of Windows has ballooned to match. But if there's one thing that hasn't changed in the slightest—for me, at least—it's the excitement I feel at the start of a new beta. It's time to mess up my PCs. And I couldn't be happier.