Build 10049

[Dipsy]

Downloading as I post this.

 

[Dipsy]

It includes Project Spartan. I'll be checking it out now.

 

[Dipsy]

Looks like formatting may be a problem with Spartan. Things are kind of washed out and dividing lines between posts are hard to find. Don't know if it's a forum issue or Spartan problem. As I type this using Spartan the bottom part of the post window keeps dropping down till it's at the bottom of the screen. Trying to find out how to import favorites now. My "My Way" home page loaded quickly and correctly.


Edit: What the heck? Windows just did it again. I just hit the refresh icon and suddenly the page reloaded and looks as it always has. Nothing wrong with formatting or colors.

 

[Keith Brooks]

It also changes where the settings are in Windows Defender. Now when you click on Settings, it opens up in PC Settings. Also, the Mail, Calendar & People bug from Build 10041 is still in Build 10049. The same instructions for PowerShell as administrator and redownloading Mail, Calendars & People from the Store again still has to be done. That bug should've never existed, as Microsoft tests the builds internally before releasing them.

 

[Trouble]

WOW..... so far, pretty underwhelming.
If you figure out how to import favorites / bookmarks, at least from IE please let us know.
Mail, People, Calendar a real PITA.
I've completed my upgrade, now to create the ISO and perform a clean install on my other machine for comparison.

 

[davehc]

I think MS are under too much pressure to satisfy the whiners. This latest release seems a little slower all round, so I can only assume it is weighted down with Spartan, If you run a search for Spartan, you will find a multitude of different paths, so it is really taking up a bit of real estate. Now I have had a whirl with the browser, I think it has been shown to us with a little too much haste. In its present state it is not very good publicity.

One curious thing which happened to me. As with most of us, I allowed the update to proceed, which did seem to be a complete ISO, watching its progress. When complete, I discovered that all Spartan had was my favourite links, and not the whole lot.
I made the ISO, and then a fresh install. Spartan then had nothing in the favourites bar, and , apparently, nothing to allow an import. Copying and pasting addresses was also faulty.
Anyway, we were warned of the dangers of the "fast" ring - bit disappointed with the OS build itself, though.

 

[davehc]

Defender seems to have passed its customisation over entirely to the new "settings" It is more limited in customising function and, at this stage, I am not certain exactly how much it is, indeed, defending.

 

[Trouble]

In its present state it is not very good publicity.

Couldn't agree more.
I'm not sure why the rush. It just gives the would be haters ammunition to lambast it.
It currently looks a bit like the metro / modern version of IE. If they want, would be users, to adopt a new browser (their new browser), I think a bit more spit and polish on the product might have been helpful.

 

[Dipsy]

I also think MS was a little too quick on the Spartan trigger. It will open web pages but that's about all you can do with it. Actually looks pretty ugly in my opinion and being able to do some customizing would have been nice.

Have y'all read through the privacy statements? Microsoft seems to be pretty intrusive and collects and stores a lot of information that I would see no use to keep. When the final version of Windows 10 is released there is no doubt that I'll upgrade but I will only set up a local account. Bing, Cortana and other apps are watching over our shoulder and recording every move we make. While I have nothing to hide from anyone I'm still not comfortable with all the stuff they will collect and share with partners to "make my internet experience more enjoyable".

 

[Trouble]

"make my internet experience more enjoyable".

They could start, by actually making a browser to make mine more enjoyable.
The debut of Spartan was way, way too premature in my opinion. I think it would have been nice for it to have had at least a small fighting chance at being generally accepted as an alternative browser but.....
I think that ship has sailed.
I can only hope that there is some broader strategy at play here and I'm not witnessing another train wreck.
You can't tell me that a "software" company like Microsoft can't actually make a decent browser.
AND
Why does an internet browser even have to be included in an OS tech preview in the first place.
Dazed and confused.

 

[clifford_cooley]

You can't tell me that a "software" company like Microsoft can't actually make a decent browser.
AND
Why does an internet browser even have to be included in an OS tech preview in the first place.
Dazed and confused.

Bravo!

I have wondered and asked the very same thing.

What really confuses me is how arrogant they are in thinking, they can fine tune Spartan to a point in its first release enough to bury IE. Microsoft is revealing this mentality with each and every new OS release. And with each release they are getting bolder and bolder.

 

[Keith Brooks]

As far as Favorites, I use Xmarks on my pc's. It more than likely won't work in Spartan. Spartan, so far other than reportedly using less memory than all other browser's, kind of reminds me of the modern IE in Windows 8/8.1, where password manager's, etc. won't and never will be able to be installed in it or work. Xmarks work's with saving your favorites from IE/Firefox/Chrome to a free account you create online and keeps all your favorites in sync between all 3.I haven't messed with Spartan more than once, but I did while in it, open up it's settings and enabled the favorites bar. I'd kind of think Microsoft would be smart enough to sync IE & Spartans favorites in each. Then again, maybe not. As far as Windows Defender goes, as far as I know it & MSE have failed every virus test done for at least the past 1 1/2 years. I'm running it in 10, but I'm dual-booting with 8.1 Pro.I have Bitdefender Internet Security 2015 & SUPERAntiSpyware Professional (Real-Time - Off) installed in Windows 8.1 and both are scheduled to scan all my drive's/ssd's during their daily full scan's. So far, at this stage, I really, really haven't seen a true reason to upgrade from 8.1 to 10. I already have a start menu and can run modern app's windowed on my desktop. Cortana is nice. I've used it on both the Windows Phone's I had, but I've also noticed bug's in it. Speech recognition isn't worth using in it 3/4 of the time.

 

[Keith Brooks]

Spartan does show the favorites from IE. There's a unnecessary trick to get to them and use them however. Once the Favorites Bar is enabled in Spartan's settings, if you click the star (favorites icon) you're only allowed to add to favorites. You need to click the icon to the right of it that has a star on paper icon, that's the Reading View icon to be able to open them. P.S. I'm BRKKAB123 on the other WindowsForum.

 

[davehc]

Hi Keith.

You info on the "favourites" is essentially accurate. However, the path does not (for me) show my IE favourites as was. As I said earlier,. there does not seem to be any way to import them at the moment, but I am sure it will e given priority.

 

[Keith Brooks]

I think tht's another bug in 10. I've noticed a similar issue in both 10041 & 10049. 10041 would mess up my favorites in IE. Now in 10049 Spartan is miisng a few of the folders, I have in my favorites. I keep my favorites all in sub-folders organized inside of favorites (I/e: Computer Hardware, Computer Magazines, Microsoft Websites, etc.). Spartan isn't picking up all of them and the order isn't alphabetical, like I keep them.It's really beginning to appear that Microsoft isn't actually testing all these build's internally, before they release them, like they state to various tech website's. Bug's I've personally noticed in this build is that it doesn't list any of my modern app's, that I haven't downloaded yet. That's kind of a biggie to me, as I just did a clean re-install of 10041 on Friday, as that previous install didn't turn on/enable SecureBoot. I don't mess with 10, but maybe 1 hour daily, so I didn't get around to getting the modern app's, I wanted to see if they worked in 10. I've also found out that the Store beta app is worthless at downloading Microsoft's own app's. They always fail with various error codes. The regular Store app will download them, except the new Xbox app isn't findable in the non-beta Store app.Add these issue's up on Microsoft's own various app's and 10 isn't looking so good anymore.We shouldn't have to use a PowerShell command to get one of Microsoft's own pre-installed app's to work, out the gate. Mail, Calendar & People have been the same in the last 2 build's. Then add in the fact that when they do release Windows 10, it's actually going to be Windows 10 1.0 theoretically, as they're making it now work on phones, laptops, tablets and smartphones for the 1st time and also, now want everyone to roll out universal/Windows Apps. Then also add in the fact that now the Windows kernel has jumped from kernel 6*** to kernel 10*** in Windows 10. I'm sure that one is going to make a lot of the various desktop app's, no longer work in Windows 10, out the gate. I don't see all these various software companies changing how they code their software overnight. It will take year's. It's just like 32 bit vs. 64 bit. Why does 32 bit, still exisr. 64 bit has been around since Windows XP 64 bit was released and has worked fine now since 2007 when Windows Vista was released. Why because the software companies aren't changing they're coding, still.

 

[davehc]

Good report, Keith.

10 kernel. What's in a name .. a name... name. MS can change that to something in Chinese, if they wish.

I have said from the start, and nothing has convinced me otherwise, this is Windows 8.1 (SP2, if you like). I run both, like most of us, and Windows 8 does everything which, so far, windows 10 can do, and as fast. I will allow that things may improve though.

 

[Trust_No1]

I think MS are under too much pressure to satisfy the whiners. This latest release seems a little slower all round, so I can only assume it is weighted down with Spartan, If you run a search for Spartan, you will find a multitude of different paths, so it is really taking up a bit of real estate. Now I have had a whirl with the browser, I think it has been shown to us with a little too much haste. In its present state it is not very good publicity.

One curious thing which happened to me. As with most of us, I allowed the update to proceed, which did seem to be a complete ISO, watching its progress. When complete, I discovered that all Spartan had was my favourite links, and not the whole lot.
I made the ISO, and then a fresh install. Spartan then had nothing in the favourites bar, and , apparently, nothing to allow an import. Copying and pasting addresses was also faulty.
Anyway, we were warned of the dangers of the "fast" ring - bit disappointed with the OS build itself, though.

No, they are under no pressure....they simply have to produce something people like and want. Windows 8 would have been great if they had kept a Windows 7 style menu.

IMO Windows 10, is a mess, it is simply not fun to use, nor navigate. Cortana & Search I feel are in the way. I don't like how search does the whole internet thing, that is what Bing is for. Settings is stripped down and hard to use, Windows 8.1 was much nicer. The menu is NOT user friendly, and honestly I can not see how anyone would consider this an improvement.

Spartan, is only available for Windows 10+, what is with that?

Windows might go Open Source? LOL, what a joke, why? What would be the point, Linux is already open source, and to lose that Windows revenue, it is highly unlikely.

Lawsuits from it's share holders, Microsoft's pressure is all of their own doing.