Windows 10 build with Cortana is now available to Windows Insiders

Shawn Knight

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Microsoft has made its latest pre-release build of Windows 10 available for installation to members of its Windows Insider program. The build includes much of what Microsoft showcased earlier this week including the new Start Menu with the ability to expand to a full-screen experience.

The January Technical Preview build – 9926 – also includes Cortana integration. Cortana sits on the taskbar and can help search for apps, settings and files as well as search the web on your behalf. There’s also a revised Settings menu which has been reorganized to be more reminiscent of the Control Panel.

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Installers will also find the new Photos, Maps and Xbox apps as well as the Windows Store Beta.

Microsoft also implemented some minor changes based on feedback from Insiders. For example, a bug in which keyboard lights weren’t working to indicate Caps lock / Num lock / Scroll lock has now been fixed. What’s more, the team added an option to select the default folder when opening File Explorer and modified the aesthetics of ALT+TAB.

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Notably absent from the update is Spartan, Microsoft’s brand new web browser, as well as support for Music Locker which is based on OneDrive.

What are your thoughts on Windows 10 thus far? Do you like the direction Microsoft is going or are we looking at another lackluster OS in the making?

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I was mulling over installing W10 preview and dual booting it with Fedora earlier today. I decided better of it. Welp, guess it's time download it again because I'll take this update as a sign from the reformat gods.
 
Something is off with this dude.

On topic I won't use Cortana probably because I'm used to typing and I think it's easier to find what I want manually. We'll have to see.
 
With all the positive things I've heard and read about the experiences users have had with W10 , it would be near impossible, even for M$, for it to fail.

Anything M$ releases that can help put an end to the people STILL whining about the W8 Metro UI is a good thing. That ish got old real quick. I can understand moms and dads not liking it, but techies? Oy vey!
 
Something is off with this dude.

On topic I won't use Cortana probably because I'm used to typing and I think it's easier to find what I want manually. We'll have to see.

Cortana is as gimmicky as touching your computer screen. It's another method of input that, at the end of the day, I just don't really care to use. Speaking in a loud distinct manner just to find something on my computer? No thanks. Windows 10 with Cortana in a classroom full of students? Oh, my god. I would pay money to see that video.

Cortana would probably be very useful as a tool for the handicapped. Someone who can't use a mouse and keyboard very well. So, I am thinking that hahanoobs is gonna really excel when he installs Windows 10.
I'll file Cortana under "another gimmicky move Microsoft is trying to become hip and cool with teens so that they can sell lots of cellphones and tablets" ploys.

And yes, I think it's "pretty obvious" what's going on with the guy in the video. Some things are just better off left unsaid.

The keyboard and the mouse are the answer to the riddle of life. Why do they keep looking for another answer? It is finished.
 
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Cortana is as gimmicky as touching your computer screen. It's another method of input that, at the end of the day, I just don't really care to use. Speaking in a loud distinct manner just to find something on my computer? No thanks.
I can understand why you wouldn't want the entire interface built around speech and touch. But they can be interesting additions, if the traditional input methods are not completely done away with.
 
As long as one drive is not removable I'm not interested. Too small to be of use to me and is just annoying. * is just too damn buggy for me. It locks up freezes and crashes at least every other day. Your system has encountered a problem and needs to restart? Never had that with XP or 7. Now it happens regular once or twice a month at least. Especially if I have more then one web page open at a time! I have a quad core processor and 4 GB of ram this should not happen so easily! try and run two things and it can't handle it! Junk is Junk no matter what you name it and this OS is just that. One Drive is a joke what 10 GB of storage? I have 6 TB in external HDDS Just for Photos for my business and they want to put all my stuff on the cloud? They must think I'm a fool to trust them with my stuff if I lose it ti's my fault but if they lose it, it's still my fault? I don't think so.
 
Your misconception arises from the fact that you believe Cortana to be just a voice recognition system. It is not. It is not a search engine either. It is a personal assistant. I use Cortana on my WP8, and I have only used voice once or twice when I am driving.

Just using typing: open Cortana and type "Dinner with Jen at Paddy's downtown 6pm". Cortana automatically creates an appointment for you in Outlook, and at 5:27 you will get a pop up that says "Time to leave. You have an appointment for Dinner with Jen at Paddy's Bar and Grill, 37 West 3rd Ave at 6:00pm and according to the current traffic conditions it will take you 28 minutes to reach your destination."

That's just one example of how I will use Cortana on my desktop - just like how I use it on my WP8.
 
Is it possible to upgrade from the previous build?
No they are upgrading previous Windows license. There are no license for Windows 10 builds. And if you get one you wouldn't need to upgrade now would you? With that said you might be able to upgrade from previous Windows 10 build (however I doubt it), but you would still need to buy a license for Windows 10.
 
No they are upgrading previous Windows license. There are no license for Windows 10 builds. And if you get one you wouldn't need to upgrade now would you? With that said you might be able to upgrade from previous Windows 10 build (however I doubt it), but you would still need to buy a license for Windows 10.

Thanks, but I've been asking about upgrading from previous w10 build to this w10 build.
 
I have become a hard core OS X user since about 2008-9 because I got frustrated with the design and usability of Windows. But now I am tempted to switchback when I purchase a new notebook later this year. Windows 10 looks fantastic and has lots of potential.
 
I can understand why you wouldn't want the entire interface built around speech and touch. But they can be interesting additions, if the traditional input methods are not completely done away with.

But I see this more as a crossover from the mobile world. It makes sense on a cellphone when you are driving your car to work. You can't be typing on the tiny keyboard as easily as you could speak what you want into the phone. But who is gonna wanna use Cortana at a desktop? Handicapped people who have carpel tunnel, arthritis maybe, all well and good. Again, I really don't have any interest in it at all. I guess I'm just too damn lazy a person to care. It takes more energy to talk than to type in my opinion. And I don't feel like repeating myself a 100 times anyway. "Sorry, I don't understand what you said. Can you say that again please". No, I can't say it again.

As long as it remains exclusively an additional type of functionality. But it doesn't sound like that's the case at all. Very tightly integrated into Windows 10(LOL, love that name) from all that I am hearing so far. Hope I can shut it off. But then again Microsoft probably knows what I need in life better than I do, just like they did when they released Windows 8, right Microsoft?
 
They haven't given details yet. but they gave out so much information in the last press conference it made me forget they omitted price and version details.
 
As a stubborn Windows 7 user, is there anything here in W10 that would make me want to upgrade - even if it is free?

I've heard rumours that Office 2010 is not supported on W10, but rather Office 365 is used instead. Is there any truth in this?
 
As a stubborn Windows 7 user, is there anything here in W10 that would make me want to upgrade - even if it is free?

I've heard rumours that Office 2010 is not supported on W10, but rather Office 365 is used instead. Is there any truth in this?
I'm using Office 2007 on it. I don't know what you mean by supported. Do you mean intergrated?
 
Cortana is a blast! I use it on my prior AT&T smartphone with Windows 8.1 and now on the new AT&T smartphone with 8.1 she seems to offer more features. I am downloading this Windows 10 with her on there I'll have to headset to talk to her though. I should put her on my Frankenstein dual core 320 GB HDD /2 GB DDR3 RAM Windows 8.1 tablet but the preview lacks Media Center, I need that.

As for the browser they really need to replace what they have not, and see that they have. Chrome takes over too much but is fast under 64-bit DEV seems still in beta but that's what I use daily.
 
Something is off with this dude.

On topic I won't use Cortana probably because I'm used to typing and I think it's easier to find what I want manually. We'll have to see.

Cortana is as gimmicky as touching your computer screen. It's another method of input that, at the end of the day, I just don't really care to use. Speaking in a loud distinct manner just to find something on my computer? No thanks. Windows 10 with Cortana in a classroom full of students? Oh, my god. I would pay money to see that video.

Cortana would probably be very useful as a tool for the handicapped. Someone who can't use a mouse and keyboard very well. So, I am thinking that hahanoobs is gonna really excel when he installs Windows 10.
I'll file Cortana under "another gimmicky move Microsoft is trying to become hip and cool with teens so that they can sell lots of cellphones and tablets" ploys.

And yes, I think it's "pretty obvious" what's going on with the guy in the video. Some things are just better off left unsaid.

The keyboard and the mouse are the answer to the riddle of life. Why do they keep looking for another answer? It is finished.

Cortana is Microsoft's "personal assistant", powered by Bing. It your search destination for Windows, be it about the files stored on your pc, phone and skydrive, or for finding a specific answer. Cortana is NOT the input method. You can interact with hey by voice or by text.
 
I see Microsoft won't allow you to use Cortana without logging into your Microsoft Account. So I would have to log out and then log back in with Microsoft Account as the main Profile. Can't use my home network profile with Cortana. They have her locked down like in the Microsoft Windows 8.1 Smartphone I can see that policy but on your own network?

Don't force us to drop our own network to log into Cortana, do like a bank does online login for that feature only but don't makes have to log the entire system into Microsoft account.
 
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