Windows 10 Review: A hybrid solution and a half step forward

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On September 30, 2014 Microsoft has officially released the Windows 10 Technical Preview along with a 39 minutes official video presentation.

Starting from October 1, you can sign up for the Windows Insider program and download the Preview.

After closely watching the official video presentation, I've downloaded and installed the new Windows version in a virtual machine by using Parallels Desktop (I was unsuccessful with Virtual Box).

I will test the new Windows for you and will try to understand what changes have been implemented, beyond the official marketing press release.

First impressions

The new Windows OS looks right away like a hybrid solution that Microsoft has been forced to rush in order to win back its core customers.

Joe Belfiore (project manager) repeatedly addressed Windows 7 users in its presentation.

Microsoft was forced to admit that most of its customers still use Windows 7, while Windows 8 users represent a much narrower customer base. Reading between the lines of Belfiore's presentation, Microsoft finally acknowledged that focusing on touchscreen, overlooking mouse and keyboard software environments, has been a strategic myopia error.

For this reason they decided to bring back the software environment Windows users have known for decades, along with some new fancy stuff Windows 8 users were more accustomed with.

In Redmond they couldn't say Windows 8/8.1 has been a total failure, or dump it totally. The bottom line of Belfiore's presentation was: "We listened to you, now we gave you back your toy but there are some additional fancy features here and there".

New interface

Microsoft brought back the old-styled Start Menu, embedding the infamous live tile interface in it.

I'm not big on this solution but it brings two improvements that will surely please most Windows users:

1. The Start Menu functions back the way it's always done: The Start Menu is such an important component of Windows OS that Microsoft had to bring it back, under an overwhelming user pressure. Taking out the Start Menu resulted to be one the dumbest moves the Redmond-based company has ever done in its history and raging customers have finally had their impact. The Start Menu functioning has been totally restored and developers added a power button on top of it, which is a smart idea.
2. The metro-styled application aren't full screen any more and they have a Close button: The most annoying feature of the Windows 8/8.1 new tile applications was they were displayed full-screen and there was no way to close them with a mouse. In fact the first thing I thought when I tested Windows 8.1 was: "Give me back the darn close button!". That's also what most users have complained about, so now tile applications don't go full-screen as a default and there's a Close button, supported by both mouse and touchscreen devices. Thanks for preserving our mental health!

New features

1. Task button: Going down the hybrid road, Microsoft introduces a new button on the taskbar (the third one starting from left), called Task button, that gives you an overview of all your open applications (Task View) and allows you to cycle between them. It's nothing but the Microsoft version of OS X's Mission Control but it's helpful. The Task View also supports multiple desktops and, when you switch to it, a Send to One Note window appears automatically.
2. Snap assist: If the user snaps a window and there are other open windows, an "intelligent" interface will present an overview of all of them to choose from, so you can reorganize your windows the way you want.  Good idea, but it probably works better with touch than with a mouse.
3. Application Switcher (ALT/TAB): now it also supports multiple desktops.
4. Command Prompt: Now it supports keyboard shortcuts CTRL/V and CTRL/C to copy/paste text. It's helpful and it surely speeds things up .
5. Intelligent GUI: Microsoft has moved away from the concept of two different interfaces (the Metro interface for "modern" users and the Desktop Mode for "old-styled" users) because users rejected it. Now there will be one single GUI, which will change depending on the device you're using (computer, tablet with detachable keyboard, touch device without keyboard, etc.). So, if you're using a desktop, or a tablet with an external keyboard, you'll be shown an interface that's more familiar to you and works better with your device. If you have a touch device (or you have a tablet and remove the external keyboard), you'll be shown a Windows 8-styled interface that supports touch better. Every time the OS requests to change the interface, the user will be prompted and can choose whether to authorize or deny the change. Though being a hybrid solution, it's by all means preferable to a generalized touch interface that works only for a limited number of customers.                    

Image: Windows 10 official video presentation (YouTube, Microsoft)

                 

Wrap-up

Windows 10 is still a work in progress and, expressing my final considerations about it, I can't overlook I've tested it in a Virtual Machine, which significantly slows down performance.

The new Microsoft OS is, in my opinion, a half step forward that doesn't completely satisfy either Windows 7 customers or Windows 8 users.

It seems Microsoft is attempting to win back its old core of home and corporate users without repudiating the choices taken with Windows 8/8.1, which is a difficult sleight of hand.

Belfiore deserves credit for officially admitting Microsoft has made a series of mistakes with Windows 8, and I think Windows 10 has introduced several improvements.

Pros:

• Start menu works the way it always did.
• Touch apps don't go full screen as a default and have a Close button.
• Task View allows to quickly switch between open windows.
• You can now copy (CTRL/C) and paste (CTRL/V) with keyboard shortcuts in a Command Prompt window.
• GUI changes, depending on what type of devices you're using (keyboard/mouse or touch environment).

Cons:

• Windows 10 runs pretty slow and it'll surely require a further hardware upgrade.
• Snap Assist is a good idea but it could have been done better and works more naturally with a touchscreen.

Though pros overall outweigh cons, I expected a little more from Microsoft.

I think this is only a half step forward on the right track because, though some helpful new options have been introduced, Microsoft is still falling short and more needs to be done.

The official video presentation, for the most part, stresses "new" functionalities that simply revamp existing features.This is the case for the possibility of using keyboard shortcuts in Command Prompt to copy and paste. You could already copy a command from a text file and paste it in Command Prompt by right-clicking and selecting Paste from the Edit menu; you could, as well, drag and drop a folder or a file to a Command Prompt window well before Windows 10 was released. So this "new" feature is useful, but Microsoft is selling you hot air and I could cite more examples to this effect.

However, Task View and the new "intelligent" GUI are two steps in the right direction and they can add value to customers, even though Belfiore pointed out that this interface is still being developed.

We'll see what the coming months will bring, but the Technical Preview shows for sure encouraging progress, even though there's still much to get done.