I haven't been keeping up with my back-end, or power usage knowledge regarding windows since XP. I was wondering where I can find a comprehensive training program for learning windows 10 from the ground up, certification grade if possible. Typing control panel in Cortana while it tries to connect to the internet is driving me nuts. I need to relearn the OS. I would also like to learn the package manager as well.
Lastly I upgraded from windows 7 but I don't know how to get the windows 10 key so I can clean install from scratch. I've been told this can be done but youtube or google keep linking me to crap that doesn't help. Maybe I'm just using the wrong search terms.
Yes I know I could switch to Linux, I game, and my work requires software that only works on windows so I wont be doing that until I can get different work.
There is a program that will tell you the product key. It's called ProduKey, here is a link to a page that has a download link, click here. Just scroll down until you see "Windows 10 retail product key and activation:" and there will be the link to download it. The product key may not even be needed as my copy of Windows 10 activated itself after I did the upgrade then did a clean install. Yours should do the same as Microsoft has information on your hardware paired with your copy of Windows 10, at least that's how I think it works. Either way it should activate itself.
Thanks for the help guys, I was worried that the auto activate based on hardware wouldn't always work. Hopefully that cnet guide is comprehensive enough, I'll take a look.
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows10.aspx
Explore-Plan-Deploy-Manage-Support each have their own web page of technical reference material. I just linked the first one. They are all important. Plan to spend a week or so on each tab-page.
A lot of things have changed. UAC, driver models and deployment strategies, especially relating to booting/recovery. Management is the same (AD) but deployment automation is trivial now.
You can't learn anything about operating systems without being able to trash them, and fix them repeatedly so download and install virtual box/vmware workstation on a windows/linux version you're comfortable working in and start working through the tutorials. Ignore stuff about modern apps. That's user level/mobile platform junk that doesn't matter.
MS offers special enterprise evaluation versions of windows and server platforms (10 and 2012 in this case) that don't activate and self destruct (basically) after 90 days. Perfect for VMs.
I've spent just a few too many hours reading this, Windows Technet root:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc498727.aspx
Excellent, hopefully this covers the package manager. I took a Linux course and dropped out half way through. College gave me a C for some god awful reason. Guess everyone else quit too. Now I have the time and motivation to at least learn the windows version of a package manager. If valve makes Linux a viable gaming platform I'll switch. I still need windows for my work as a network admin. Thank god I work for the government and its only windows 7. I should be up to speed on 10 before everyone else with this stuff though. Thanks a lot. Been a long time since I had to use VMware. This will take me back.
Windows (for desktops) has no package manager corollary. The closest thing is this 'windows store' thing that has no applications anyone cares about introduced in windows 8. I have never used it. Ever.
For linux a package manager is a central feature since you're essentially dealing with software repositories directly and the os software must be centrally maintained to keep things coordinated in a fully distributed development environment. People's work has to build on one another and not conflict for anything to get done. App developers then write and repackage their apps into the already centralized package managers to distribute their software for them (which is awesome btw).
Windows is a different beast. It's centrally maintained by MS and closed source so developing stuff at the os layer is "off limits" so to speak, (besides drivers). The only thing worth coding are apps which do not need to be centralized or coordinated. If you want an application in windows go to whatever software vendor made it. Adobe, Google, Microsoft, Sony, Apache, the guy across the street, EA, Mozilla, wherever.
Software development in the linux world sorta makes sense in a somewhat masochistic sort of way, but it does make sense. Windows has always been ad-hoc ever since MS released the SDK for free early on with no distribution platform or plans for one.
So I shouldn't worry about learning powershell then?