Windows 10: Does it Pass the Wife Test?

Cord-cutters, or those who would like to cut the cord, often talk about streaming services needing to pass the “wife test.” In other words, this admittedly fairly sexist notion means that truly ditching cable requires that all the content one’s spouse needs to be able to watch all the shows he or she watches on cable with a minimum of complication. Most streaming services aren’t there yet. (And this doesn’t even take into account that legal ad hoc solutions are likely going to end up costing just as much as your cable setup.)

This morning, I’m doing a slightly different form of the wife test. I’m putting the Windows 10 Technical Preview because my wife’s Windows 7 laptop is driving her nuts. It’s almost the exact same laptop I have that I put the TP on, except hers is a Core i3 model, and has a larger screen and a full keyboard.

The idea is to let her try it out and see if the interface mess created by Windows 8.x has been remedied for people who aren’t particularly immersed in technology and are willing to put up with some irritation for the sake of tinkering. My wife isn’t a technological noob by any stretch, but she also doesn’t have a lot of time to fiddle with inefficiencies. If the TP works for her, I think it’s safe to say it’ll work for the majority of people using Windows-based machines.

We’ll play with it later today, and we’ll see how it goes!