Windows 10 Technical Preview Install Experience

Updated (2/2/2015): Included 6 more pictures of doing the upgrade through the Windows Insider site and going through the Windows Update process.  I had to rebuild my ASUS this past weekend, so grabbed a few more pictures to complete the process.  I had to rebuild because I tried into install the Chrome browser and it installed some malware on my device:S

This past weekend I decided to take the leap and install the latest Windows 10 Technical Preview after the big Windows 10 Online Streaming event last week.  You can check out the news and the recording is available on-demand to watch here – Windows 10 Story.  Before I get started the highlights that I saw in the event coming were the following:

• Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for Windows 8.1, Windows 7, and Windows Phone 8.1 users within the first year of release
• Ability to stream Xbox One games to Windows 10 devices
• New browser coming to Windows 10, project Spartan – Cortana coming to browser, ability to annotate web pages, save pages to offline reading list, and reading mode
• Tablet mode for better touch experience and new revamped start menu (integration of start screen into start menu)
• Cortana is now on the desktop (hello personal assistant!)
• Windows HoloLens and Windows Holographic and Studio – augmented reality, holograms in your everyday life

If you want to check out a couple of quick videos to get an overview of some of the new features check out these:

Okay, now on to my install experience.  I decided I would test out the new OS on an actual device instead of setting it up on a virtual machine.  I wanted to get the full experience.  Before I took the plunge though I did a couple of things with my ASUS Transformer Book (64GB model) – created a USB recovery drive and also created a backup image (done with PowerShell).  Once I felt confident I had some recovery options if things went terribly wrong I proceeded forward with the upgrade.

First thing I decided to do was download the latest ISO image and try performing the upgrade by mounting that and installing Windows 10.  I took a few pictures of that process (sorry for the quality, was trying to do with my phone as the process was going on):

As you can possibly see I went through the process and it tried to setup my ASUS device with the upgrade, but it did not succeed.  The very cool thing about this process though was that upon the blue screens (it did this twice and rebooted each time) the process then went ahead and recovered my device with my previous version of Windows, very cool, thanks!

Since that process did not work I thought I was pretty much out of luck and needed to find a different test device, but then I thought, well maybe I will simply go to the Windows Insider site and try the upgrade from the web site directly.  Sounds like a logical next step, and maybe I should have gone that direction to start with, I have typically done my upgrades (with the exception of going from Windows 8 to 8.1 through the Windows Store) from an ISO image file.

So after going back to the Windows Insider site and starting the upgrade through this process it had me download an executable that I ran that then proceeded me through the Windows Update process to download and install the Windows 10 Technical Preview.  Here is a walkthrough of this process:

 

 

 

 

The process did take a bit to do the complete configuration and setting up my device, quite a longer process than my first attempt, so I had a pretty good feeling this time it was going to work and it did!

For the first time I am sharing a picture of my family, that is my lock screen and my picture password screen is of Butterball and Buddy our pet sugar gliders (father and son)!

After testing out the new merger of the start menu and start screen (okay, still could use a little work) I then kicked the tires on Cortana (really no different than having her on my phone, just now we can continue our chats on the tablet / laptop and she has a few new moves with being able to send emails).

First thing Cortana wanted to know was what to call me

  

Then I asked her a few questions such as “what’s the weather”, “tell me a joke”, “do an impression”, “what was the score of the Timberwolves game”, and “who’s going to win the Super Bowl”.

   

Not bad weather here in MN this time of the year, practically t-shirt and shorts temperatures!  Poor MN Timberwolves, very young team.

I was a tad surprised that Microsoft didn’t have Cortana pick the Seahawks, but maybe I will ask her again as we get closer to game time and see if there is a new answer.

That is it for now, Windows 10, I like it so far, looking forward to checking out new features and providing feedback as this journey continues this year until the official release!

PASS Business Analytics Virtual Chapter January Meeting – Data Analytics Explained for Business Leaders

The next PASS Business Analytics Virtual Chapter meeting is coming up this week on Thursday, January 15.  This month we welcome Predictive Analytics Architect Alex Jones.

January 15 – Data Analytics Explained for Business Leaders

Abstract – The world is becoming more efficient. Today, seventy percent of the companies that graced the Fortune 1000 list a mere decade ago have vanished. Agility and survival are function of innovation, culture, and the ability to predict the future. To that end, data analytics offers a lifeline, a means of survival that will drive productivity and continue to disrupt and redefine business. However, the resources available to today’s business leaders sit on two vastly different ends of the spectrum. On the one hand, highly technical academic resources and on the other largely fluffy overviews of value propositions and potentials. The state of the industry shouldn’t be surprising. The same dynamics played out in early years of the internet. Software providers, technical leaders, and consulting firms greatly benefit from mystifying the world of data analytics into something that is incomprehensible. That lack of conceptual understanding is incredibly risky and propels the cost of analytics initiatives upwards. This webcast aims to bridge that gap between the technical data scientists and business leaders. Ultimately, this understanding will help to: – Connect the strategic goals of business leaders with the capabilities of technical advisers – Focus investments and initiatives within analytics and technology – Distill immensely complex subject matter into comprehensible examples – Accelerate the path to value and increase the ROI of analytics initiatives

Bio – Alex Jones is a Predictive Analytics Architect in the Oil and Gas industry with a passion for distilling complexity into insights and evangelizing data science. His work has been featured on KDNuggets and he was recognized by DataScienceCentral as a top 180 blogger in 2014.

–> REGISTER NOW <–

Just a reminder if you want to stay in touch with the PASS BA Virtual Chapter here are some ways:

If you are interested in speaking we are always looking for speakers, please leave a comment or send me an email at denglishbi@gmail.com