An overview of the Windows 10 Technical Preview

Through the years, IT professionals have approached each new release of Microsoft Windows with mixed emotions. The first reaction is, of course, eager anticipation. Most IT pros are in their line of work because they love technology, and a new version of Windows holds the promise of exciting new features and capabilities. There’s also a bit of trepidation. Historically, migrating an enterprise to a new version of Windows is a slow, cautious operation, with careful planning and staged deployments that can take years. As a result of that conservatism, many enterprises provide their workers with PCs that lag far behind the devices those workers use at home. Windows 10 brings a long list of important changes that any IT pro should look forward to, including major improvements in the user experience, significant security enhancements, and a new web browser. But the most significant change is designed to remove the anxiety that accompanies enterprise upgrades. The goal of Windows 10 is to deliver new features when they’re ready, rather than saving them for the next major release. In fact, the very concept of a major release goes away—or at least recedes into the distant background—with Windows 10. Terry Myerson, the Microsoft executive in charge of the operating systems division, calls it “Windows as a Service.” In fact, he argues, “One could reasonably think of Windows in the next couple of years as one of the largest Internet services on the planet. And just like any Internet service, the idea of asking ‘What version are you on?’ will cease to make sense . . . ” That process has already begun, with the launch in late 2014 of a Windows 10 Technical Preview aimed at IT pros and consumers. Those who have opted into the Windows 10 preview program are receiving major new features, bug fixes, and security updates through the tried-and-true Windows Update channel, with new updates arriving, on average, monthly.  In this chapter, I provide an overview of the Windows 10 Technical Preview, with a special emphasis on features and capabilities of interest to IT pros