First Impressions of Windows 10
In my last post, I promised to write about my experience with Ubuntu. I plan to follow-up on that – but on my mind right now is Windows 10.
I’ve dabbled with Windows before (I own a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate and the Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade Edition). I never really cared about either of them. Truthfully, I thought Windows was ugly… and clunky. But I had been seeing some really neat things about Windows 10. I was curious. Have things really changed at Redmond? It was time to find out.
To prep for Windows 10, I had to first install Windows 7 on my PC’s solid state drive.
The process was straight forward until I tried to activate my copy of Windows. For some reason, my program key wouldn’t take. Through Microsoft’s excellent support (I contacted them via their Live Chat), I was hand-held through the “double install” procedure in order to successfully activate my copy of Windows 7.
The “double install” essentially boils down to re-installing Windows 7 atop the existing installation. Getting Windows 7 up to date took a considerable amount of time, thanks to the sheer number of updates needed and the constant reboots. After a few hours installing patches and Service Pack 1, I was fully expecting to see the “Update to Windows 10” icon in the task bar.
I didn’t.
So I visited Microsoft’s website and downloaded the Windows 10 ISO. After a 20 minute download, and a few reboots, I was staring square in the face of Windows 10. The full install of Windows 10 took up 40.2GB of space, with 7.73GB for System, 16GB for virtual memory, and an 11.9GB Hibernation file.
There were absolutely no driver issues or other bizarreness. Surprising, given that I have a custom PC build. The install just worked, and daresay, was almost Mac-like. So… how does it look?
In a word: gorgeous.
I absolutely love the modern flat-design aesthetic and the dark theme settings. The Windows Explorer icons simply look terrific – a big step up from Windows 7.
Windows 10 is the first version of Windows that truly looks modern – so much so that OS X’s aesthetics look a bit staid in comparison.
Microsoft’s Edge browser has a clean, minimalistic look that fits in with the rest of the OS. It’s also very fast. I plan on using Edge exclusively in Windows to get a better sense of what I like and dislike about it.
Opening apps and windows was fast and smooth off the SSD – and this is with a PC that only has integrated graphics on the motherboard. Pretty impressive.
Windows 10 recognized my printer, network, and even my SnowBall Blue microphone without issue. Cortana worked in the few audio tests I ran. I’m not used to talking to my computer, so I don’t know how much I’ll actually use this feature.
I’m not a fan of the tiles on the Start Menu. I haven’t completely deleted them yet, only because I want to spend more time understanding their functionality a bit better. One of the first things I did was resize all the tiles to the same size (I prefer symmetry.)
One of the first programs I installed on Windows 10 was Synergy, a program that lets me share one keyboard between multiple computers. With this tool, I can use my Apple keyboard and trackball between my Mac Pro and my custom PC. Synergy worked flawlessly between both computers.
The Settings panel is easy to find and sports a very clean, airy layout. While the clean aesthetic is easy on the eyes, I feel that Windows 10 could benefit from a more consistent look throughout the OS.
All is not beer and skittles with Windows 10. Using Windows Mail, I was unable to see any of my G-mail emails – despite adding three separate G-mail accounts to test it with. Update: This bug appears to have been fixed in the first Windows 10 update, released today. Mail works as it should.
Outside of pinning apps to the Task Bar or Start Menu, I find myself needing a quick app launcher (something like Alfred or Launchbar on the Mac).
My initial impressions of Windows 10 are a good one. Windows 10 feels different and works better. For the first time ever, I’m actually looking forward to working with Windows. And as a dyed-in-the-wool Mac user, that’s kind of a big deal.
-Krishna
Matt
July 31, 2015 at 11:37 amA big admission from a “dyed-in-the-wool” Mac user, indeed! I updated to Windows 10 immediately on my laptop, to test it out. It will be a bit before I try it on my big graphics machine. First off, I need to clear some space on my SSD. Thanks for letting us know the footprint of the OS- I was looking for just that information!
As a Windows user for the past 15 years, I have to say that my first impressions of 10 are optimistic. Everything seems much more intuitive than 8/8.1. The clean, modern look you describe is a much-improved take on the look of Windows 8. Not sure about Cortana. It works fine, but I don’t like being greeted in a folksy way every time I do a search: Hi Matt! What can I help you with this evening!. One time it even said, “Hey there, Matt!” Unless it’s Lt. Cmdr. Data, I’m not sure I’m comfortable being addressed so familiarly by a machine.
Krishna
August 3, 2015 at 6:28 amCortona is pretty cool, Matt – its voice recognition is much better than I thought it would be. I really like Windows 10 – much more than I thought I would. That being said, I’m hoping MS will address some of the noticeable UI inconsistencies in future updates.
Matt Strieby
August 4, 2015 at 6:40 pmI’ve noticed with every build of Windows, there are UI and graphical inconsistencies, unfortunately. With Windows 8 and especially 10, there is the noticeable difference in feel between the “facade” of Windows (that lovely, ultra-modern interface) and some of the carryovers from older versions of…there are still some clunky looking dialog boxes and–for love of everything human–Microsoft, would you please finally give the fonts MS Sans and Tahoma the burial they so richly deserve?!?
Michel
August 7, 2015 at 10:26 amIf you are still looking for an Application Launcher, I have one that I use that works really well for my needs.
It is called Launchy, and can be found here: http://www.launchy.net/
Give it a shot and let me know what you think. (I am in no way affiliated with this Application, I just really like how it works.)
Krishna
August 7, 2015 at 11:04 amThanks Mike:
I’ll take a look at Launchy.