Windows 10 Review

As everyone begins to get on board the Windows 10 train, we asked some of our Engineers to take it for a test spin and let us know the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Start Menu and Live Tiles

One of the most notable features of Windows 10 is that the Start Menu has made its long awaited return. When it was nixed from the Windows 8 build the general public wept and the reaction to its successor – Live Tiles – wasn’t overly positive (okay, it was downright negative). However, as people adjusted to Live Tiles they began changing their tune – though the adjustment period probably took a bit longer than Microsoft would have liked.

With this iteration of the operating system, the Start Menu has returned, and has combined with Live Tiles to give users the best of both worlds; the Start Menu we’ve all relied on for the past 20 years (it debuted in 1995 on the aptly named Windows 95), and the convenience of Live Tiles.

That said, there are people who are decidedly not on board with the “Start Thing” (as The Register’s Andrew Orlowski called it) as they feel it’s “clunky” and “an incredibly complicated beast.”

Multiple Desktops

Anyone who is familiar with Apple’s Mac OS will be happy to see this addition to the Windows family. Users are now able to create multiple (and unlimited) virtual desktops, which allows them to keep work organized by project or client (or any other system), as opposed to having all of your windows open on one screen with everything minimized to keep it clear.

Switching between desktops is easy, and you’re able to view miniature versions of all of them so that you can select the appropriate one to continue working in.

Tablet Mode

This feature is great for those users that are working on one of the new hybrid tablet + laptop machines, such as the Lenovo Yoga series. Interestingly, this feature will also – in theory – allow users with a Windows Mobile phone to hook the phone up to a keyboard and monitor and have the appearance of working at a desktop. With this feature, Windows has done away with the need for a completely separate mobile operating system, and allows users to quickly transition from one view to another.

Scheduled Reboots

This feature is an IT professionals dream – and quite convenient to the average user as well. Now, users will no longer suffer the inconvenience of forced restarts after a Windows update. With Windows 10, updates and reboots can be scheduled for a time that doesn’t interrupt work flow or leisure time.

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