Microsoft Windows 10 Technical Preview

I decided to take the plunge and install Windows 10 Technical Preview on the computer I use daily. Three reasons:

• Microsoft said Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for a year after release from Windows 7 and Windows 8 and 8.1.
• It will not be necessary to do a clean install from the Technical Preview to the RTM version ( Released to Manufacturer)
• I wanted to specifically see how well the upgrade worked from one operating system to another as it’s not a good idea to do an upgrade install as you usually just transfer all the issues to the new operating system.

I have been playing with the Technical Preview on a separate machine since it was made available last year to download. I found it to be very stable and snappy. When Microsoft released the Build 9926 I upgraded it on the machine. As I have not experienced any major problems and after reading What can I keep? there wasn’t anything I could not live with. When I discovered the upgrade can  be done from Windows Update it was a done thing. The article can be found here.

After making a backup image (clone) of my existing Windows 8.1 install and verification of the backup thereof I thus went and click the Start Upgrade now button. It downloads a file which you install and when done with it’s magic it asks you to restart your computer. When the computer booted back up I checked Windows Updates and the Windows 10 Technical Preview was offered as an upgrade. As it’s early in the month and a short one at 28 days with lots of ADSL data available I clicked the Install button to download about 2.8GB….

Naturally the download took it own sweet time – even on my 10Mbps ADSL line – when the download finished Windows Update started the install which again took a while and then ask for a restart.

After multiple reboots, and lots of message like installing hardware, settings things up, applying settings and then setting up some more eventually it booted to a screen where installing apps.

A few minutes later it booted to the desktop with everything seemingly intact. From clicking the Install button to a booted desktop it took approximately 4 hours – don’t be in a hurry ….

I found two problems – which was not unexpected:

• The calculator was removed – fixed by downloading Old Calculator for Windows – the article can be found here.
• I had to install my HP OfficeJet 4500 wireless printer and software – not an issue as the drivers I previously used for Windows 8 worked perfectly.

All in all it went smooth and better than I expected. I was over the moon when I found that I did not have to reinstall or mess with my bookkeeping program nor TeamViewer installation. It’s a lot less effort than a clean install, reinstall of all programs and the customizing of settings to one’s liking.

Please don’t do this at home nor work as you may not have such a smooth experience AND one don’t know yet what may go wrong in the future…