Microsoft is letting the world beta test Windows 10

Tom Warren from The Verge:

Microsoft released its first Windows 10 Technical Preview at the beginning of October, and the company is now revealing that 1 million people are helping test the upcoming operating system through the Windows Insider Program. “That equates to a lot of people using the Windows 10 Technical Preview and sending us feedback,” says Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore. The software maker has received more than 200,000 pieces of feedback on the early version of Windows 10, with top requests that include options to remove the new search and task view buttons, as well as requests for a Start Menu animation or transition.

According to Belfiore, 64 percent of all Windows 10 Technical preview installs are on actual PCs rather than virtual machines. “This makes us confident that a lot of the feedback is based on ‘medium-term’ use and not just a few minutes of experimentation,” explains Belfiore. 68 percent of all Windows 10 users are launching more than 7 apps per day, and 25 percent of all users are launching more than 26 apps per day so it’s clear people are using this Technical Preview on their regular devices.

Compare this to Apple’s latest operating system releases, iOS 8 and the very nearly upcoming OS X Yosemite. While Apple’s closed approach to software development has resulted resulted in an incredible amount of bugs and issues, Microsoft is taking the polar opposite approach - and is already getting amazing results.