Windows 10: You've got questions, I've got answers
Summary: [Updated] There's more to Windows 10 than just the revamped Start menu. I've been fielding questions from readers about the new release. Why is it called Windows 10? Does it really contain a keylogger? What happened to Internet Explorer? And where are the updates?
[Most recent updates: October 23, 2014]
Note: If you used the native boot feature to install the Windows 10 Technical Preview on a VHD, you will be unable to install newer builds. For details, scroll down to "How do I install new builds if the Windows 10 Technical Preview is running on a VHD using native boot?"
On October 1, Microsoft officially unveiled a preview version of the next Windows release, due in mid-2015. Less than three weeks later they released the first significant update, build 9860.
I've been fielding questions from readers about the new release and how to deal with it. Here are some answers, with updates to include details about build 9860.
Why is it called Windows 10 instead of Windows 9?
Might as well get this question out of the way early.
Microsoft’s official responses to this question have been almost comically vague. It’s reminiscent of the decision to abandon the Metro name, which was also never explained in a satisfactory way.
So we’re left to speculate, and my best guess is that choosing the number 9 would imply that Windows 10 is just around the corner, followed by 11, 12, and so on. That's a recipe for delay, as customers play a "watch and wait" game.
One (unlikely) theory speculates that assigning 9 as a version number could wreak havoc with old versions hard-coded to search for Windows 95 or 98 version strings.
It’s more likely, though, that the name is about branding. This really is the last big release of Windows, with future updates coming in incremental form. As a brand name to stick with for the long term, Windows 10 is numerologically satisfying, almost ... perfect.
Or, alternatively, there’s the “dad humor” explanation: Seven ate nine.
What options are available for installing the Windows 10 Technical Preview?
You can sign up for the Windows Insider program and download the installer directly from a public Microsoft web page. If you have an MSDN subscription, the installer files are available on the MSDN download page.
For more detailed instructions, see "Hands-on with Windows 10: Installing the Windows Technical Preview."
What's the most recent version?
Microsoft released build 9860 on October 21, 2014, as an automatic update for anyone running the Windows Technical Preview.
The update, which occupies as much as 2.58 GB of disk space, appears in the Update & Recovery section of PC Settings.

After the update is installed, the watermark on the desktop changes to reflect the new build number, 9860.
What's new in the build 9860?
See Microsoft delivers first update to its Windows 10 Technical Preview for Mary Jo Foley's report. I've put together a gallery here: What's in the latest Windows 10 Technical Preview update (build 9860)? It includes new features like the Notification Center, shown here.

Microsoft has also announced some important new security features for Windows 10 that are not yet available in the preview releases. (More details a little later in this post.)
Where’s the Enterprise edition?
The Technical Preview version available to the public via the Windows Insider program contains the same features as Windows 8.1 Professional and can be used as an upgrade for that edition. If you want the Windows 10 Technical Preview for Enterprise, go to this download page and register. You'll find a FAQ for IT Pros here.
The Enterprise edition is also available to anyone with a current MSDN subscription.

The MSDN Subscriptions download page is also where you'll find checked and debug versions for use by developers.
Why does the Windows 10 download include a product key?
The Windows 10 Technical Preview shouldn’t require activation, but it is a preview release, so not everything goes as planned. In my testing, upgrading an installation of Windows 8.1 Enterprise resulted in this prompt:

The solution was to look in the MSDN download area, where a product key is included in the product description (not in the product key field), with the text revealing that it's “for mitigation purposes.” If you’ve installed the Technical Preview from the Windows Insider site, go back to the ISO download page to see the product key.
Enter the new product key on the activation screen and you should be back in business.
Does Windows 10 really include a keylogger?
Here we go again.
With Windows 10, Microsoft has adopted a rapid-update development cycle. Maybe that faster pace is affecting the tech press too, because it took less than a week for the first Windows 10-driven conspiracy theory to burst onto the scene.
It started with a Friday-afternoon article in The Inquirer, a tech tabloid known for its breathless headlines and factually challenged prose. In true Inky fashion, the headline declared that Windows 10 "has permission to watch your every move," adding, ominously: "Its 'privacy' policy includes permission to use a keylogger."
From a legalistic point of view, this headline is cleverly constructed. It doesn’t actually say that Windows 10 contains surveillance software that monitors your keystrokes and sends a log of those keystrokes to Redmond. In fact, the implication that there is an actual keylogger embedded in the Windows 10 code is contradicted by this key graf, buried near the end of the story:
In other words, in effect, you are giving permission for Microsoft to screen your files, and in effect keylog your keyboard input. [emphasis added]
“In effect.” Not in actuality. And in fact there’s little evidence that the author has enough background in computer science or security to tell a keylogger from a key lime pie.
But the story was picked up by a few other sources and fits neatly into conspiracy theories, so here’s a bucket of cold water to pour on the rumors.
If there were really anything resembling a keylogger in the Windows 10 Technical Preview, it would be very easy to discover and document exactly what information it's transmitting. I've done a cursory check and can't find anything that matches that description. And I'm certain that researchers in the security and privacy communities would immediately publish details of their findings if they found something through a more thorough search.
I'll update this post immediately if any such evidence turns up. So far, there's nothing.
Look, the Windows 10 Technical Preview is an instrumented version. It collects information about your use of the product, including some text and voice input, and returns some of that data to Microsoft for use in tuning performance and improving voice recognition and spell-checking.
That’s a far cry from a keylogger, which is a surveillance tool that indiscriminately collects every keystroke on a PC and transmits it (usually surreptitiously) to a remote location.
The data collected by the Windows 10 telemetry tools is limited, but the process of collecting this information can result in inadvertent information disclosure. This isn’t a new problem: there are similar concerns that enterprise customers have to be careful when configuring Windows Error Reporting using released versions of Windows on production machines.
If you’re concerned that files you’re working with contain confidential information, you probably shouldn’t be using the Windows 10 Technical Preview to open them.
For the record, Microsoft’s response to these allegations is as follows:
With Windows 10, we’re kicking off the largest ever open collaborative development effort that will change the way we build and deliver Windows. Users who join the Windows Insider Program and opt-in to the Windows 10 Technical Preview are choosing to provide data and feedback that will help shape the best Windows experience for our customers. As always, we remain committed to helping protect our customers’ personal information and ensuring safeguards are in place for the collection and storing of that data. As we get closer to a final product, we will continue to share information through our terms of service and privacy statement about how customer data is collected and used, as well as what choices and controls are available.
What happened to the touch-first, plugin-free Internet Explorer?
In the Windows 10 Technical Preview, there’s only one Internet Explorer, and the alternate, Metro-style Internet Explorer version is still missing in action in build 9860.
That code is still buried in the Technical Preview, and if you’re comfortable with PowerShell you can download a script that re-enables it. That’s a stopgap, though, and definitely not a supported scenario.
It’s likely that there will be significant changes to Internet Explorer in later updates to these preview builds. Patience is probably the best strategy.
What are the keyboard shortcuts for working with Windows 10 virtual desktops?
Try these:
- Create a new desktop: Windows key + Ctrl + D
- Switch to previous desktop: Windows key + Ctrl + Left arrow
- Switch to next desktop: Windows key + Ctrl + Right arrow
For this release, there's no way to save virtual desktop configurations.
How do I install new builds if the Windows 10 Technical Preview is running on a VHD using native boot?
A quick explainer for those wondering what that question even means. Native boot is a feature that was introduced with Windows 7 and is documented in this Knowledge Base article. With native boot, you can install a business edition of Windows 7 or later in a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) file. The setup instructions in this article appear to be valid with the Windows 10 Technical Preview, in my testing.
The advantage of installing on a VHD is that you don't have to mess with disk partitions. Windows mounts the VHD file when it starts and treats it as though it were a physical disk. Your main OS remains on the disk itself, allowing you to easily set up a dual-boot system to see how Windows 10 will run on your hardware without creating a mess.
Although it's not well documented, this type of installation has a significant limitation. As this TechNet article notes, "If you boot from a VHD, you cannot upgrade the Windows version in the VHD to a newer version."
The only alternative is cumbersome. The short version is this:
- Create a new Hyper-V virtual machine using the VHD file (make a copy, if possible).
- Boot the VM from the Windows 10 ISO (attached as a virtual DVD).
- Run startup repair on the virtual machine.
- Start the VM and upgrade to the new build.
- After the upgrade is complete, shut down the VM, copy the updated VHD file to the location specified in the boot menu.
- Restart the PC, choosing the VHD option from the boot menu.
Those instructions are obviously incomplete and assume you are familiar with some very advanced Windows tools and techniques: Hyper-V, the Windows multi-boot process, and mounting VHD files. If you're unsure about any of those topics, I suggest that you steer clear of native boot for now, or use it only in test environments where you're not concerned about the possibility of data loss.
The modern (Metro) Skype app doesn't work in the latest build. Is there a fix?
On some systems, Skype hangs at startup after upgrading to build 9860. Follow the instructions in this forum thread to fix the problem.
What's still missing from Windows 10?
This is a very early release of Windows 10, and many of what should be its eventual signature features are still not enabled. In particular, you can expect Cortana to make an appearance at some point in the future, allowing voice interaction just as with Windows Phone. A notification center, also similar in appearance to Windows Phone, is also likely in future builds.
The most intriguing new feature, though, is one called Next Generation Credentials, which appears in the list of available local services but does not yet have a matching user interface.

One day after releasing build 9860, Microsoft began talking publicly about the new security features. The most significant, which will apply to consumer and enterprise devices alike, is the new capability to build two-factor authentication into Windows 10 devices. Details here: Microsoft reveals audacious plans to tighten security with Windows 10.
More questions? Ask away in the Talkback section, or use the comment form to send me a note.
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