Preparing for Installation

Welcome to Windows 10! This chapter is designed to provide you with an introduction to Windows 10. As you might know, Windows 10 is the newest operating system for PCs developed by Microsoft as part of the Windows NT family. As such, it is necessary for your computer to meet the minimum system requirements to install Windows 10. Therefore, this chapter will explain the system's minimum requirements as well as the recommended ones. Also, you will get familiar with installation options, such as upgrade and clean install. Then, you will be able to get to know the Windows 10 editions and their unique features. Definitions such as clients, servers, hosts, and nodes are also covered in this chapter. Last but not least, after getting acquainted with the installation media concept, you will have the option to download Windows 10 and create installation media, depending on the format your computer supports.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

• Understanding hardware requirements
• Understanding clean install
• Understanding upgrade
• Understanding Windows 10 editions
• Understanding Windows 10 features
• Understanding installation media
• Understanding client, server, host, and node
• Chapter lab—downloading Windows 10