back to article ONE MILLION people already running Windows 10

Microsoft has revealed that a million people have signed up for the Windows Insider Program it is using to offer early access to Windows 10 for those willing to test the operating system's early iterations. Of those crash test dummies, Redmond says 36 per cent are running the OS in a virtual machine. That leaves about 650,000 …

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  1. corestore

    Oh good...

    Maybe one day MS will catch up with TOPS-10...

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: Oh good...

      I seriously doubt it. (Yes, I grok the irony ... ex-DEC dude here.)

  2. LarsG

    1 Million hey,

    Population of the world 7.1 billion

    1. AndyS

      What a stupid statement.

      I'd be quite happy with an beta-test group of 1 million.

      It's not like this is production software, available at any bricks-and-mortar store. They're hardly targetting wide-spread adoption.

      1. pirithous

        How do you know it's really 1 million using it? For all you know that figure is a lie.

        1. SteveCarr

          1 million less 1...

          I tried it for a week, and have gone back to Win 7 - too half baked for me, with poorly implemented and totally not thought out functionality, and zero response to feedback, there was no way I'd waste any more time on it at this point at least.

          1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

            Re: 1 million less 1...

            "I tried it for a week, and have gone back to Win 7 - too half baked for me, with poorly implemented and totally not thought out functionality, and zero response to feedback, there was no way I'd waste any more time on it at this point at least."

            Really? I've found a few issues - most notably notifications - but overall it's a solid OS. If they get the UI issues sorted, it would be a worthy successor to Windows 7.

          2. Only me!

            Re: 1 million less 1...

            Do you understand what they are trying to do with Technical Preview????

            Crap ...mmm ok not the best, but they never said it was...

            I am willing to give them a break on this......for the mo

        2. dogged

          What possible reason (other than that you don't like Microsoft) could there be for it to be a lie? Seriously, what possible reason?

          1. pirithous

            "What possible reason (other than that you don't like Microsoft) could there be for it to be a lie? Seriously, what possible reason?"

            Are you really that dense? Wow. Do you not think that many of the people that down vote comments like mine are MS employees and people who's bread and butter is made off Microsoft software? I don't expect to be the most popular person here, and it goes with the territory!

            I make lots of money, all because of Microsoft's shitty-ass crap software, but that doesn't mean I have to shut up and not talk about reality.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              There are a lot of people (on here especially) who have a vested interest (personal and professional) in Microsoft remaining relevant.

            2. dogged

              > Are you really that dense? Wow.

              My potential density is not a reason.

              1. pirithous

                "My potential density is not a reason."

                Your destiny has already been fulfilled: A troll that writes stupid comments nobody really cares about.

            3. Phoenix50

              If you're happy to accept your popularity will suffer with inane comments (MY opinion) then you have to accept challenges to your position.

              Suck it up.

            4. Mpeler
              Paris Hilton

              You are my density...

  3. pirithous

    I wonder if Windows 10 will include the universal back door (which exists in 8.x) as part of the Windows store, which has unknown functionality. It's not known if it's only limited to removing somebody's applications from the store or can be used to do other things. Microsoft should go ahead and release the source code to the NT kernel, and the rest of the bits of Windows. Obviously it doesn't have to be under the GPL.

    1. hplasm
      Devil

      Or a side door?

      “Insiders” have delivered “over 200,000” pieces of feedback.

      A lot of keystrokes, there.

      1. pirithous

        Re: Or a side door?

        How can anyone be sure the Windows backdoor in the app store doesn't have functionality that you don't know about? Most people don't even know that Windows by default has the backdoor included, and it cannot be turned off.

        Please, I would like to see proof that a Windows machine is safe from tampering by Microsoft or NSA. I'm waiting to see the source code.

    2. dogged
      FAIL

      > I wonder if Windows 10 will include the universal back door (which exists in 8.x)

      [citation needed]

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        > I wonder if Windows 10 will include the universal back door (which exists in 8.x)

        [citation needed]

        Here you go: windows 8 back door

        1. dogged

          Heavily Snoped already.

          I'd need something that hasn't been disproven by damn nearly every security researcher.

  4. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

    Yeah But

    How many downloaded it, installed it into a VM and then realised that:-

    1) It is more of the same crap

    2) MS are logging everything you do

    so deleted it right away?

    Perhaps this is perfect subject for a Poll?

    I got the Server version and installed it into a VM. didn't delete it though but moved the VM to a system that has zero connectivity to the outside world. How many have done something similar?

    1. AndyS

      Re: Yeah But

      That, alone, will be quite valuable feedback for MS - you can be sure they will have linked the installs which are immediatelly turned off, and the main reasons that accounts linked to those installs complain and the feedback they give. They will also be corrolating that feedback with the feedback given by accounts linked to more persistant installs, to see how similar/different the feedback is from users who've spent time getting to know the system.

      1,000,000 users is a very large pool of feedback for a beta-trial, especially when the software reports so much feedback even without the user's interaction.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Yeah But

        You mean Microsoft Actually Gives a Rats Arse?

        1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

          Re: Yeah But

          "You mean Microsoft Actually Gives a Rats Arse?"

          I rather doubt it, but they Must Be Seen To Be Doing Something. Which is just as important, honestly, as the current issue is as much perception as product.

    2. JDX Gold badge

      Re: Yeah But

      I bet ANY beta of this type has a very large proportion of people who register but never install, or install but never use, or install and use for 5min and then get bored. That's nothing unusual at all.

      Even if only 5% of people give it a proper test, 50,000 active beta testers is huge at this early stage.

  5. dan1980

    The feedback will change almost nothing, save fixing some bugs that are huge, easy to fix and they feel like fixing.

    The kind of shit that comes out of Redmond in terms of poorly-thought-out ideas is amazing. Take Windows 7/2008 R2, where they removed the overlay for shared folders. Numerous people complained. Microsoft's response was to say that this information had been moved to the 'details' pane, explaining that:

    "This approach is an improvement over the overlay model as it helps provide more relevant data related to sharing."

    As Raymond Chen elaborated:

    "Given the changes in how people use computers, sharing information is becoming more and more of the default state. When you set up a HomeGroup, pretty much everything is going to be shared. To remove the visual clutter, the information was moved to the Details pane."

    In other words, here's how we think you do and should use your computer - share everything! - and so we made it the way we think it should be.

    Right, so we're talking about home PCs here, so we can assume that the overlay is still there on the server editions, right? Right? No.

    There are numerous examples of this and far worse.

    Server 2012 gets released and people look to make use of the new RDP 8 protocol to realise the extra performance of Windows 8 + RDP 8 + 2012 RDS. A new deployment and management method and interface - takes a bit of learning but, okay, we can deal with this. THEN, you realise you can't monitor and shadow session the way you have been able to since terminal server was first released, in NT TSE!!

    MS just don't listen to their customers. They have an idea of what it SHOULD be and treat any dissenting views as incorrect.

    I think the adoption numbers of Windows 8 has shown that to be in error and, hopefully, they have learned. But I won't count on it.

    1. Sampler

      Sounds familiar

      When I beta'd Windows 7 (or was it Vista, slept since) and all the talk of the improved taskbar (must be Vista then) I griped about the lack of multi monitor support and having to use third party applications to give me a taskbar on each screen and I was told I'm doing it wrong and muscle memory for where applications should be would speed people up...I guess, if that's how that person thinks and uses a computer, and we know everyone thinks and uses a computer the same..

      Iterations later and...still using third party apps for multiple monitor taskbar support..

      They don't claim 1 million [i]installs[/i], just 1 million [i]sign-ups[/i] to the program. I've signed up and downloaded and ISO but haven't found the time to tinker with it as yet, wonder how many out of the mil haven't actually installed it..

      1. Vince

        Re: Sounds familiar

        Yeah, but Windows 8 does have multiple taskbars for multiple monitors. Something I turn off immediately but my colleague loves. Do keep up...

    2. Rallicat

      Right, because the fact that the leadership of those teams have changed is something we can all conveniently ignore.

      Come on, the fact that Microsoft went to the trouble of putting a feedback mechanism in here /does/ mean something. Oh sure, it'll just get ignored right? Why bother. I mean, why bother going to the trouble of making a feedback app at all if all you're going to do is ignore it. Give people a warm fuzzy feeling that they matter?! If Microsoft don't care about your feedback, then they certainly wouldn't care about making you feel good. It just doesn't add up.

      Or, alternatively, new people in charge are making a difference .. maybe, just maybe that's the explanation. Time will tell. But hey, feel free to pre-judge.

      1. Anonymous Bullard

        There was a feedback mechanism on Windows 8 previews. They'll twist and spin this data into however they'd like.

        "Only a few people use more than 4 pinned apps on the start-menu... so we've made the fucker full screen"

        They removed macros from Visual Studio, for god's sake - because apparently only 1% of us used them. They're now putting them back in (or so they've said - I haven't checked).

        They just cherry-pick the items off their User-voice sites, and ignore anything that they don't want (or fob off, if you're lucky)

        1. dan1980

          @Anonymous Bullard

          Correct.

          If feedback matches their vision they may take it on-board. If it doesn't then it will be discarded any criticism rationalised.

          It's always only "a small, vocal minority", remember.

    3. Mpeler
      Flame

      @Dan1980

      The feedback will change almost nothing, save fixing some bugs that are huge, easy to fix and they feel like fixing.

      Agreed. Take them away and tie them up with that bl00dy ribbon....

      How far can you dumb something down?

  6. MikeyD85

    Daily driver

    I've been using it as my daily driver since it came out. I quite like it tbh. It's been stable and fast enough and I like some of the UI improvements over Windows 7 (I haven't used 8 in any great length so things like the resizable snapping are new to me).

    I'm quite looking forward to seeing how it develops.

    1. Hellcat

      Re: Daily driver

      Same here minus 1 day - couldn't get my PC to boot from USB (Thanks Gigabyte).

      So far it has faired well. Installed without issue on UEFI. Performance is slightly improved over Win8 according to my Novabench rating (Win8 was slightly higher than Win7). The UI does seem a little split personality still with the 2 calculators being an example of this - hope they improve that as they go on. Compatability mode worked for apps that wouldn't run above Win8. I'm left wondering what has become of the big green button since Media Centre became an add-on for Win8, and isn't available in the BWin 10 Beta.

  7. Truffle
    Meh

    Figure doesnt mean 1 million users

    To say 1 million people have signed up to the insider program means little.

    I have signed up to it, downloaded the UK version, and still haven't managed to install it after about 4 attempts.

    On my test machine it gets to 3% before telling me that it couldn't install. Lets be honest, MS will have figures for :

    Sign-ups (as shown)

    Downloads Started

    Downloads Completed

    Installs started

    Installs completed

    User uptime.

    It is interesting that they have only released the figure at the very top of the funnel.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Figure doesnt mean 1 million users

      I went all the way. Uptime was about 15 minutes - I removed the spam icons from the start menu, downloaded chrome, tested virtual desktops, opened calculator *slap* - closed vm + and deleted all evidence of it.

    2. James O'Shea

      Re: Figure doesnt mean 1 million users

      I registered. I downloaded. I tried to install in a VM (Virtual Box). It wouldn't install. Three times. I must be Holding It Wrong. Sometime over the weekend I might/might not try again. Or I might repartition that 2TB disk I've got in one of the spare desktops and install there. Or I might just toss the ISO and the disc I burned from it out and ignore the whole thing.

  8. Pardus

    I wish they would make the OS in 2 different boot modes. 1 for everyone and 1 just for playing games.

  9. Maventi

    An improvement over 8 but still a long way to go

    I've been using the Windows 10 preview since a few days after its release and it really doesn't do much for me. My main gripe is the inconsistent UI feel; there is an enormous mismatch of UI elements and icons. Some are shaded, some are flat. Window borders and other elements are also inconsistent between apps. The flat look makes it hard to tell things like tabs apart and there are still plenty of remnants of the old classic UI (before Luna or Aero) mixed in there too.

    It's still a vast UI improvement over Windows 8 but that's a pretty low bar to start with.

    Admittedly a lot of Linux distros suffer from similar inconsistent UI elements too due to all the various UI toolkits in use, but at least they don't charge a small fortune for the privilege.

    I compare all this with the OS X Yosemite beta and there's simply no comparison. Despite being a prerelease and sharing the same ugly flat look, at least it's stable by comparison and visually consistent.

    On the plus side Windows 10 is reasonably fast and for those who use it as a primary OS it's certainly showing some promise since 8. It think it has a long way to go before it would really appeal to the Windows 7 faithful, but it's early days yet so I will wait to see what appears.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: An improvement over 8 but still a long way to go

      My main gripe is the inconsistent UI feel

      Me too. It reminded me of when I tried Linux 15+ years ago, where you had apps all using different toolkits... some had flat buttons, others were grey bevels, and some where themed. But you expect that in a "home made" desktop environment (which it was at the time - it looks nicer than Windows now-a-days) - but not in a well established and professionally made desktop like Windows.

      Windows has peaked, for me.. it's all down hill from here. I honestly have no need for it now, let alone desire.

      1. Phoenix50

        Re: An improvement over 8 but still a long way to go

        And yet you still very much desire to tell anyone who'll listen about how much you don't desire it anymore.

        Crack on mate.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: An improvement over 8 but still a long way to go

          Please don't attempt to suppress people from expressing their opinions by mocking them.

    2. POSitality

      Re: An improvement over 8 but still a long way to go

      Yeah, "inconsistent" that's the word I was looking for, thanx :) Other than that I took one look at the new Start Menu and thought "doh! so simple, they coulda done that any time on Windows 8" definitely makes more sense on a desktop.

      However, I've been loading Win8(.1) on a few recent device just for kicks (bit perverse I know) and the tiles idea does seem to lend itself better to both big screen devices (TVs, media PCs) and touch screens (EPOS terminals) a conventional Start Menu is a bit "fiddly."

      Bit odd though: you can switch back to the old Start Screen if you like but you need to log out/in to see the change. Classic Shell let you have the best of both worlds, bunch of slackers at M$ :)

  10. Zog_but_not_the_first
    Windows

    Be afraid...

    I suspect MS's dilemma will be like that of Jeff Goldblum in "The Fly". Having spliced some unpleasant DNA (TIFKAM) into a perfectly functional system it's going to be hard/impossible to eradicate it.

  11. CAPS LOCK

    Frippery you say...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elTuRy7OhgQ

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Great with all those people already using it, has someone figured out a way to remove all the metro crap from the start button/bar.

    Yes 10 is a step in the right direction, but i dont want some crappy tonker toy interface, live tiles or what ever, if you can turn them off fine i might be tempted, if not im still sticking with windows 7.

    As someone else pointed out its poor i have to run third party tools to support secondary task bars on multiple screens, i dont want to be running additional software just to have the start bar that i want as well..

    This is one of the main reasons i refused to switch to 8.

  13. Jay 2
    Linux

    I didn't register, but did download and throw onto a VM for a look. To be honest I've only spent a few minutes having a look round (ooh look, a start menu!) but not done anything in anger. Must get round to firing up the XP/7/8 VMs for latest updates sometime too. Actually, probably need to update all the Linux VMs too. All that lot running under Parallels on the Mac, as I like to keep my eye in on what's going on in the world of desktops, more so when I get hit up for support.

  14. FredBloggs61

    Pedantic point!

    Of those crash test dummies, Redmond says 36 per cent are running the OS in a virtual machine. That leaves about 650,000 people running Windows 10 on bare metal.

    1m - 36% = 640,000

    FTFY

  15. DerekCurrie
    Angel

    What A Comment About Windows 9...

    ... Which literally NO ONE is running. ;-) (o_0)

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