I started working with the Windows 10 preview last weekend. My interest was piqued after watching three videos from PCWizKids Tech Talk.
Windows 10 Technical Preview – First Look Part 1
Windows 10 Technical Preview – First Look Part 2
Windows 10 Technical Preview Part 3 – Performance Tests
I downloaded Build 9841 and installed it in Virtual Box on an Lenovo W530 laptop. The installation went well and most things worked right out of the box. I ran into network performance issues where YouTube videos were choppy. I was also frustrated by the fact that the screen resolution defaulted at 680x420.
My next test was to install it natively on the same Lenovo W530 laptop. Installation was very straight-forward. I used my Microsoft ID and chose express settings. Out of the box it supported both the wired and wireless network adapter. I was very impressed with this. Windows 7 did not support out of the box and it was always frustrating to go download the drivers and install them from a USB drive. What was more impressive is that all the drivers, including video, updated automatically! At the end of this process there were only 2 device drivers that it could not find. For anyone who has worked with a Lenovo W530, you’ll have to agree this is very impressive.
On the native test, I started loading standard applications – KeePass, Chrome, Firefox, Adobe Reader, Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote, OpenOffice, and Office 2010. For the most part I didn’t have any issues installing any of these applications. I did see some minor issues with Firefox and Flash player. The one application that did not work for me was BoxCryptor Classic. It was not able to load it’s configuration file.
I ran across this video on YouTube that accurately portrays the issues with Build 9841.
Now that Build 9860 was released, I plan to run the same tests that I did on Build 9841.
