Home Cookin is ready for Windows 10!
Oct 15, 2014:
Microsoft is preparing for the release of Windows 10, curiously
skipping over version 9. The official statement said it was essentially
part of the Windows 8 upgrades. Other rumors suggested Windows 9 might
be confused with Win98 or Win95. Whatever the reason behind the version
numbers, I got a chance to try the new operating system and see how
Home Cookin recipe software will work with it.
As with my earlier
Windows 8 and
Windows 7 testing, I am running
the
Windows 10 Release Preview on a virtual machine using the
VirtualBox software. I had a few difficulties getting my BIOS settings
set properly so VirtualBox would work correctly. Once that was done
Windows 10 installed quickly and easily. I started up the new OS and
was happy to see Microsoft returned to the standard desktop. The
"Metro" apps are still available in the Start menu, but it's nice to
see a real desktop operating system.
I opened the Internet Explorer web browser (included with Windows), and
visited the
Home Cookin Recipe Software web
site. I went to the download page, then downloaded the 8.59 trial
version. The program downloaded quickly and installed with no issues. I
clicked the new gingerbread man icon on the desktop which opened Home
Cookin at the main index screen.
I performed most of the typical operations, adding recipes, moving
recipes, selecting grocery items, and adding meals to the meal
calendar. I did not encounter any problems or see any visual
differences from earlier versions of Windows.
As with any new OS release, I had to set up a few things before I could
print. I had to change a few settings in VirtualBox to get access to my
local network, then I tried installing a driver for my printer (Brother
HL5250DN) in Windows. My printer did not show up in the list, but
clicking the "Update" button downloaded the latest printer drivers. I
selected my printer from the list and successfully printed a test page.
Once the printer was working in Windows, I had no problems printing
recipes or grocery shopping lists from Home Cookin.
As with Windows 7 and 8, the new version 10 does not install a local
email client. So I was unable to send email from Home Cookin, though it
did fail gracefully. Like most Windows applications, Home Cookin sends
mail through the MAPI interface. So, you won't be able to send email
unless you install a local MAPI compliant email program such as the
free
Thunderbird
program from Mozilla.
Overall Home Cookin performed very well with the new Windows 10. My
testing was limited, but I did not have any problems or see anything
that looked out of place. Of course, this is a preview version of
Windows so things could change later on, but this first look is
promising.
Windows 10 is a big improvement over Windows 8. I'm glad Microsoft went
back to the standard desktop and brought back the Start menu. It is a
worthy upgrade from Windows 8, but I did not see anything that would
make me want to switch from Windows 7. I did not care for many of the
changes like the "ribbon" style user interface in the file explorer, or
the increased isolation from the hardware (you can still get there,
it's just harder to find). Of course, it's always difficult to compare
an out-of-the-box OS with an old version that is tweaked to your
liking.
In any case, things are always changing but
Home Cookin continues to work great with the new
OS.
