Windows Store Apps Just Work on Windows 10 (Preview)

Windows 10 Technical Preview is available for download now. (Windows Server Technical Preview available here.) After downloading the 4GB 64-bit version iso file, I unpacked it to a bootable USB drive and installed the new OS to an old Acer laptop (Intel Celeron SU2300 1.2 GHz with 2 GB RAM with Two Points Touch support). The installation process was very smooth, and the computer was up and running and I have to say the old laptop seemed very responsive. Clicking on the Start button, I received a popup message, “How hard was it to use the Start button?”

After playing a bit with the new OS, I installed a few traditional desktop apps (Microsoft Live Essentials) and Windows Store apps (two top free apps, GymGuide and U.S. Constitution). They all ran well on Windows 10. The snap view was cool.

I then created a Microsoft Azure Mobile Services app, downloaded the sample app to my work PC and complied it in Visual Studio 2013. I created a deployment package for the Windows Store app for local installation, put the package on a USB drive, and installed it on the new OS by running the PowerShell script within the package and acquiring a developer license (as required for local installation). 

Note the Preview version is only valid until 4/15/2015 4:59PM.