Windows 10 Preview Tops 1M Users

Almost two weeks after its release, Microsoft's Windows 10 preview has topped 1 million users.

"Over the weekend, we hit 1 million registrants for the Windows Insider Program," Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Operating Systems group, wrote in a blog post Monday. "That equates to a lot of people using the Windows 10 Technical Preview and sending us feedback."

Already, Redmond has received more than 200,000 pieces of feedback about Windows 10 from users. Most are running the forthcoming OS on an actual PC, rather than just trying it out for a few minutes on a virtual machine. Just 36 percent of Windows 10 preview installations are on VMs, while the remaining 64 percent are on actual PCs.

"This makes us confident that a lot of the feedback is based on 'medium-term' use and not just a few minutes of experimentation," Belfiore wrote.

The company is also seeing signs of some pretty solid usage, he added. Sixty-eight percent of Windows 10 users are launching more than seven apps per day, while about 25 percent are firing up 26 apps a day. Some 5 percent are launching 68 apps every day.

"People on the team are hard at work poring through all the feedback, categorizing and processing it, and cycling it back into our development," Belfiore wrote. "Make sure you look at the feedback others are reporting and use the 'me too' button!"

Unveiled on Sept. 30, Windows 10 is expected to officially launch in mid-2015, bringing back the much-missed Start Menu. The new OS will be Microsoft's most comprehensive platform ever, and work across all devices, Terry Myerson, executive vice president for operating systems, said at the unveiling.

Microsoft is making a big push for enterprise users with this release. After the somewhat lackluster response to Windows 8, Microsoft wants to make sure it gets it right with Windows 10 - hence the feedback request on this early preview.

For more, check out PCMag's Hands On With Windows 10. Also check out How to Get and Install Windows 10, but note that this release is only intended for seasoned PC users and developers. Everyone else should wait until next year's official launch.

Until then, you can check out some of the features coming to Windows 10 in the slideshow above and the video below.