Everything about Windows 10 –from an Insider

By Csaba TothCentral California . NET User Group

Date: 07/16/2015Venue: American Ambulance

Agenda

• What we know, main principles• Editions and major projects (building blocks)• Personal experience• What we’ll loose, and substitutions• System requirements and upgrade• Install, Pricing• Development

Windows 10

• Announced in 2014 September– https://youtu.be/84NI5fjTfpQ Introducing Windows 10 - the

best Windows yet– Why not Windows 9? – rumors: some software search for 9

prefix to identify Win 95 and Win 98• Windows Insider program: – https://insider.windows.com/– Slow and Fast track

• Official release date: July 29– Condolences for all Win developers & QA, it probably means

no summer for them

Windows 10 Flight Ops Meeting

source: @GabeAul Twitter (on the right with a HP Spectre X360)

Windows 10

• Start menu returns– We can find the equivalent of the menu list– And we can see tiles at the same time

• The Windows 8 search function is available– Can search on the internet too– My experience: works really well

Windows 10

• Patch Tuesday will be ditched (Ignite conference in Chicago, Executive VP Terry Myerson), updates will be propagated ASAP– Decreases the time window of public exploitability of a vulnerability– Tradeoff:

• MS13-036 on Tuesday, April 9, root certificate issue fixes, caused troubles on Win 7

• MS14-045 kernel-mode driver update sent Win 7 machines to endless BSOD loop last summer

• http://www.infoworld.com/article/2608238/microsoft-windows/microsoft-posts-tips-for-overcoming-windows-8-1-update-kb-2919355-errors.html

• Won’t allow unsigned applications to run

One OS for all

• Reinvigorating of the Windows desktop• One OS for a universe of device types• Universal Windows App Platform (Desktop,

Mobile, Xbox, IoT, Holographic, Surface Hub)– IoT: All the way to Raspberry Pi for example!– Tablet and Desktop UI/Start Menu mode

Editions

• https://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/05/13/introducing-windows-10-editions/

• Home > 8”, Edge (project Spartan), Cortana, Continuum Desktop, Windows Hello biometric authentication, free universal windows apps: Mail, Calendar, Edge, Maps, Music Video, Photos– Universal Office apps (Office for Windows 10) will

be free and pre installed on < 10.1” devices

Editions – cont.

• Mobile < 8”, replaces Windows Phone and RT at the same time, doesn’t support Win32 apps though– So you won’t be able to make a desktop w/ a

keyboard + monitor)– MS tries to provide this with mobile version of

Continuum (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2482299,00.asp )

– Will support both x86 and ARM hardware platforms

Editions – cont.

• Pro: Home + Active Directory and Domain connectivity, Windows Update for Business cloud based update system support– All Win 7 or 8.x Pro user can upgrade for free

• Enterprise: for volume licenses– Long Term Service Branch update branch– Manageable installations

Editions – cont.

• Education: competing with Chrome OS?• IoT Core and embedded: for bank ATMs,

industrial use, retail terminals, etc.– Replaces Windows Embedded

• Installable on Raspberry Pi

On Raspberry Pi 2

• GitHub page!– http://

ms-iot.github.io/content/en-US/GetStarted.htm• http://techcrunch.com/2015/04/30/how-to-in

stall-windows-10-iot-on-your-raspberry-pi-2/#.vptfzi:AKC6

Project Spartan

• http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/03/30/introducing-project-spartan-the-new-browser-built-for-windows-10/

• EdgeHTML engine, based on Blink, Google’s WebKit fork

• replaces Trident engine (since IE4, IE11 is still based on a cleansed Trident engine, not WebKit or Blink

• New user string• Gone: VBScript, IE8 layout emulation layer,

attachEvent, currentStyle, X-UA-Compatible…

Project Spartan

• Trident will be still there if needed• IE still stays around for enterprises and

corporations• Chakra JavaScript engine stays and evolves

further• http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/01

/26/inside-microsofts-new-rendering-engine-project-spartan/

• https://status.modern.ie/

Edge

• Microsoft Edge: the final product name• Features– Cortana integration– Reading View– Web Notes

• Very early tests shows it’s faster than old IE and Firefox

Notable features and projects

• Hello: http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/03/17/making-windows-10-more-personal-and-more-secure-with-windows-hello/

• Microsoft Passport:– Leverages asynchronous cryptography– Uses experiences learned from Kinect 1 (IR for

example)!– Joined FIDO alliance, so it can be used for other

• Surface Hub: https://youtu.be/FRLDRQePY1o • HoloLens: https://youtu.be/aThCr0PsyuA

Personal experience

Personal experience

• Problems– Unknown devices: Intel X79 chipset, Realtek multi-card

reader– DisplayLink monitor, a whole saga: depends on the Win

10 preview version AND the DisplayLink driver version AND the type of your GPU and version of the driver.• nVidia Geforce driver update can break the constellation• I got into an endless BSOD loops (BSOD after boot, before login)• Many Surface Pro users mobile workplace has AOC or ASUS USB

monitors!!!

– Taskbar auto hide didn’t work well

Personal experience – cont.

• Problems– PyCharm incompatibilities– Mic noise cancellation turned off, 5.1 mode didn’t work for

a while, only stereo – Realtek driver issue, getting better. Mic still doesn’t have good quality

– Update can be unexpected and problematic– Lately storage driver issues (disk 1 is surprise removed

after every wake-up – a “little” problem that it’s a part of a RAID0 volume. One time the volume completely fell apart – probably vendor related too). Lately it cannot even wake up form deep sleep. – this maybe not Windows 10 specific

Personal experience – cont.

• Great– Programmers calculator is awesome– I like the Task View button– Multi desktops– New start menu• Configurable• search accessible from start menu

What we’ll loose

• Window Media Center– Deprecated since 2012 (Win 8)– MS had decades of lead ahead of Apple TV,

ChromeCast, …– Designated WMC to Xbox only first, then

deprecation– Substitutes: Kodi, Plex, MediaPortal

What we’ll loose – cont.

• DVD playback– Will require separate playback software– Actually it’s a problem for me even on Win 8.1– Alternatives: VLC Media Player, CyberLink

PowerDVD, Corel WinDVD• Desktop Gadgets– Successors are the Win 8 tiles, now even in Start

Menu– Substitute: 8GadgetPack

What we’ll loose – cont.

• Solitaire, Minesweeper, and Hearts – Already non-standard on Win8– Microsoft's App Store: Microsoft Solitaire

Collection and Microsoft Minesweeper apps• Floppy is gone by default– You can still get drivers from Microsoft Update

• OneDrive app part of Windows Live Essentials disappears– Windows 10’s new OneDrive app will substitute it

What we’ll loose - 4

• Delay-able updates for Windows 10 Home– Pro and Enterprise users can delay

Windows 10 – anti virus

• If there’s an anti-virus installed, it’ll reinstall the latest version of it upon upgrade

• If there’s no valid subscription, Windows Defender will be turned on automatically

Windows 10 – system requirements

• 1GHz CPU• 1 GB RAM (32 bit) / 2 GB RAM for 64 bit• 16 / 20 GB free space for 32 / 64 bit• GPU / VGA should support DirectX 9 and has to have WDDM

1.0 compatible driver• These requirements haven’t changed since Win 7 / Vista• A 12+ year old configuration would be totally eligible but can

fall on drivers unfortunately• Check for compatibility: http://

www.computershopper.com/windows-10/can-my-pc-run-windows-10-how-to-check

Windows 10 – system requirements

• Windows Hello startup requires WBF (Windows Biometric Framework) compatible fingerprint scanner driver

• Better have a HI-FI microphone for best results with Cortana

• More: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-specifications

Windows 10 – upgrade paths

Windows 10 - upgrades

• Free upgrade for Windows 7 and 8.1 users• Will be rolled out in waves

– Slower roll out to ensure better compatibility– Guinea pigs like me will help you have a more stable system

• Get first in line: http://www.computershopper.com/windows-10/windows-10-how-to-be-first-in-line-for-the-upgrade-and-future-updates – Also http://

www.computershopper.com/windows-10/how-to-get-windows-10-for-free-and-reserve-your-copy

Breaking news

Windows 10 Flight Ops Meeting – source: @GabeAul Twitter

Breaking news

• Build TH1 10240 is out – the “final”?• Build watermark disappears• Build is pushed through the same

infrastructure which’ll serve the final release• There are lot of new drivers available at the

same time (manufacturers follow: Lenovo System Update also server new drivers now)

• Localized packages are available too

More details about Roll-out

• Seems like there won’t be traditional RTM• http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/07

/02/windows-10-preparing-to-upgrade-one-billion-devices/– Home and Pro versions start to roll out in waves starting

July 29th

– Enterprise, Education, Volume License VSLC – Aug 1st

– No ground breaking driver format changes, so Win 7/8 drivers should basically work, but if they happen to have Win 10 specific bug, you can only rely on the manufacturer

– Since there will be frequent updates, Insider program will remain alive

Windows 10 – install

• Clean install is possible, old content will be copied into Windows.old (happened to me with Win 8 upgrade too)

• Install from DVD or pen drive is possible too• Latest info from //Build/: the Preview version

probably won’t have to be reinstalled and could be transitioned to a full fledged Windows 10

Windows 10 – pricing

• Free upgrade for Windows 7 and 8.1 users• Home: $119• Pro: $199• Win 10 Home -> Win 10 Pro: Win 10 Pro Pack

$99• If upgrading from Win 8.1 license may not tied

to the original machine (as opposed to some rumors)

Windows 10 - development

• Main goal: be as transparent as possible with the operating system

• MVA, preliminary: http://aka.ms/w10dev.p2.us– Focus: Building Universal Windows Apps using

XAML and C#– Windows Application Model– Not focus: Game development, Surface Hub, Xbox,

Hololens, IOT

Universal Windows App• Design:

– Adapt / Tailor– One design language, one control set– Adaptive triggers, example: calendar, XAML

• Develop:– One API. One package. Core + Extension SDK (2500+ new platform features)

• Debug– VS 2015: XAML design surface can be flipped, far more realistic, visual tree

• Distribute– One single submission mechanism– Single binary– We don’t target version any more, we target a platform

• http://aka.ms/template10

Get Windows 10 AppIf you don’t like it

Reserving or Removing

• Nagging “Get Windows 10 App” on Win 8– KB3035583 https://

support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3035583 – You can mute the task bar icon– I’ve heard it’s not easy to get rid of the KB– http://

www.windowscentral.com/how-remove-get-windows-10-app-pc - also shows how to reserve one (or cancel reservation)

Thank you!

• Overall: sometimes it was a rocky road, but it’s a snappy OS

• Questions?