Short Takes Daily: What went on in the world of Microsoft on Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Today in the news: We run down multiple ways to install Windows 10, give the inside scoop on the Insider Program post-Windows 10 release, and round up all our Windows 10 how-tos and tips in one place.

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On our sites ...

Your crash course in Windows 10, from installation to personalization — Make your Windows 10 upgrade process and subsequent use smoother by keeping this page bookmarked; we'll be including all our Windows 10-related help here.

Windows 10 Clean Install using the Media Creation Tool —  One of the big questions over the last few months about the release of Windows 10 was clean installing onto a former Windows 7 or 8.1 system and retaining proper activation of the subsequent Windows 10 install. Here's how Richard Hay answered that question. This is a step-by-step guide with screengrabs

Windows 10 - Create install media or download ISO from Microsoft — If you understand the terms USB, ISO and installation media then you can jump the reservation line and begin your Windows 10 installation right now. This is a step-by-step guide with screengrabs.

Enrolling in the Windows Insider Program post Windows 10 release — Why would you want to? Because Windows Insiders who have upgraded Windows 7 or 8.1 systems will have valid activated installations of Windows 10 with an option to enroll in the post release Insider program.

How To: Fix the 80240020 Windows 10 Installation Error — There's not much additional information given if you receive an 80240020 error, but it’s a notice that the Windows 10 download was either interrupted (unfinished) or corrupted. So here's how to fix that.

How To: Email Management for Touchscreens in the Windows 10 Mail App — The new Mail app that comes with Windows 10 utilizes some of the Windows 8.1 swipe capabilities but also adds a few new ones. Here's how to manage your mail in the app.

Meet Eric Hutchinson, the man behind the music of the Windows 10 Future Starts Now commercial — The singer/songwriter talks about the story behind the song, and what kind of relationship he's got with Microsoft.

How To: Require Ctrl-Alt-Del Logon for Windows 10 — "If you're one of those that just really loved the way Windows used to require the 3-finger salute (Ctrl-Alt-Del) to logon, you can re-enable that in Windows 10 to add an extra level of logon security."

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And on other sites ...

The best Windows 10 keyboard shortcuts — "Microsoft has introduced a variety of keyboard shortcuts to navigate between new features, like virtual desktops, and even activate the new Cortana digital assistant. All the new important additions use the Windows key, so they're easy to activate."

How to get Windows 10 on your Mac — Virtualization or drive partitioning, your call.

Why Microsoft is giving away Windows 10 for free — "Microsoft hopes it can use a freemium model, giving away more of its core software but monetizing in other ways."

Bing queries expected to go up, thanks to Windows 10 — Microsoft estimates a 10-15% rise in queries, "not only from new users, but from existing Bing users who will now use Bing more frequently."

How To Disable Cortana And Bing Search In Windows 10 Start Menu — Just in case you don't want to contribute to the rise in Bing queries.

Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 can play floating YouTube videos — Seriously, try this out: open up a YouTube video in full-screen, mouse over to the top right corner, and then you're able to resize the video.

IT hears the siren call of free Windows 10 upgrades — Prepare for Windows 10 to hit the office: A majority of IT professionals surveyed say they're  "much more likely" to upgrade company PCs to Windows 10 because of the free one-year deal. The start menu's a nice bonus too.

High-resolution displays reveal Windows 10 blind spot — "With high-DPI displays on the rise, apps for Windows 10 must scale well on those displays -- but many don't."

The challenge of tracking Microsoft’s new Edge browser in Google Analytics — The search giant's analytics suite does not support tracking for the new browser yet.