Your Experience with Windows 10

[gangrel]

You know, we can be pretty stupid sometimes. I do include myself. Most of us should know: NEVER do express installs. If any software gives you the chance to review settings, TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY. And pay attention to them! How many programs...even from big publishers...want to throw in a McAfee thingie, or an Ask! toolbar. Now, mind, I did do custom settings with Win 10, but not always. Lazy is bad here.

I saw somewhere that Cortana is actually linked into things a bit more than that, but yeah, even if it allows voice-activated commands...it's still linked to voice. I have at times toyed with using Dragon Naturally Speaking, but for one reason or another decided against it. Cortana interests me rather less. You can't remove it, but you can disable it quite easily. In this case, you bring Cortana up, then tweak its settings.

As USAF has noted, we're still learning.

BUT...GObonzo, keeping individual records on everyone is, I think, much less impractical than you make it. Sifting through it is less practical, unless your search keys are fairly restricted. (IIRC, this was the case with the NSA.) But once you start aggregating, you lose the ability to make new connections and uncover new relations, so there is value in keeping it.

 

[Failmora]

So far Windows 10 has given me a great experience. I did not encounter any problem, everything went smoothly from my Windows 7 upgrade. I would definitely recommend the upgrade to others. The only thing that bugs me is that the Windows Update is not like Windows 7, they did not give you the option to decide on the updates, after all this is my personal computer and I'm the administrator. I should be able to configure the settings on my own.

 

[boju]

My experience endedup pretty good, loving Win10 more and more since I can get my games I wanted working (jDoom, Freelancer, L4D2, GTA5, FC4) all of which worked without too much hasle besides Freelancer which required Win7 compatibility otherwise saving a game would crash it.

Other than my games, when I first upgraded from Win7, I noticed the web browser (Firefox or Edge) would be quite slow at times loading pages. I put it down to my router at first with ADSL2 since it does that every so often and needs a reboot to resync. I did that and the browsing delay that would happen still happened.

Did a clean install of Win10 and that problem went away, and everything seems to be running better actually.

The only weird changes in Win10 for me that didn't make sense was Realtek's audio codec software for Win10 switched rear's for side pairs in 5.1 channel config. Didn't know what the hell was going on at first, 5.1 was working in Win7, the plug colours match motherboard input colours so wtf. I seen the picture of the jacks under Windows audio playback and it reminded me my mobo does 8 channels and I tried the supposedly side panel grey jack for the rears (black) and they worked as normal. Don't think Realtek meant to switch the jacks but hope they rectify it coz its gonna confuse a lot of people.

 

[Ghost in the Machine]

I hear you, and as far as I am concerned government sanctioned mass eavesdropping is a major concern. I don't know why governments have become so terrified of their citizens. But it's a separate issue, and I personally can do very little in the face of state paranoia. And please, don't tell me "it's for my security."

What I am concerned about, in this particular instance, are companies like Microsoft that I pay good money to, (you will pay for Win 10 sooner or later) seem to think it's alright to access my PERSONAL private data.
It's NOT OK.

I don't care if they are using it for advertising or relaying it to a state department. If I'm going to pay for a product I EXPECT to have my privacy respected. If Microsoft (or any other business) can't or won't do so, then I will take my business elsewhere.

Violation of privacy has become the new normal for institutions and companies, and I for one, am not happy about that. People have become very blasé about data collection and privacy, but arguably they are at greater risk of identity theft and fraud than at any other time in history.

I'll step off my soap box now, but let me finish by saying this: The right to privacy is supposedly enshrined it law in most civilized parts of the world, and is essential to free and fair democracy. I won't give up the right to privacy without protest.

And people are worried about a new OS 'spying' on you?

AT&T Helped N.S.A. Spy on an Array of Internet Traffic
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/us/politics/att-helped-nsa-spy-on-an-array-of-internet-traffic.html

(we already knew this, but just for further validation)

 

[nukemaster]

Just wanted to note, for those who might be interested, that despite a lot of statements and indications to the contrary, I WAS able to successfully update my HP Stream 7 with Windows 8.1 RT to Windows 10. So apparently, using the same ISO method, but a 32bit version (Since it came with a 32 bit version of Windows 8.1 RT), as we've used for other installs, I had no problems and the system activated without incident.

I thought RT was for ARM only while the steam 7 uses x86(and is so cheap I almost wanted to get one for random tasks).

I also read the audio(from the headphone jack) was not great, any comments on this?

 

[pjwilliamson]

It's free if you purchase within the first year after release.

I also read that and decided because I don't know how much it is and cannot find the cost and all the issues others have been having I decided to get rid of it, took me all day but seems to be gone now.

 

[GObonzo]

BUT...GObonzo, keeping individual records on everyone is, I think, much less impractical than you make it. Sifting through it is less practical, unless your search keys are fairly restricted. (IIRC, this was the case with the NSA.) But once you start aggregating, you lose the ability to make new connections and uncover new relations, so there is value in keeping it.

just say, "I am in ISIS and am going to kill George Bush senior today" to Cortana and see if they come busting your door.

 

[GObonzo]

I hear you, and as far as I am concerned government sanctioned mass eavesdropping is a major concern. I don't know why governments have become so terrified of their citizens. But it's a separate issue, and I personally can do very little in the face of state paranoia. And please, don't tell me "it's for my security."
What I am concerned about, in this particular instance, are companies like Microsoft that I pay good money to, (you will pay for Win 10 sooner or later) seem to think it's alright to access my PERSONAL private data.
It's NOT OK.
I don't care if they are using it for advertising or relaying it to a state department. If I'm going to pay for a product I EXPECT to have my privacy respected. If Microsoft (or any other business) can't or won't do so, then I will take my business elsewhere.
Violation of privacy has become the new normal for institutions and companies, and I for one, am not happy about that. People have become very blasé about data collection and privacy, but arguably they are at greater risk of identity theft and fraud than at any other time in history.
I'll step off my soap box now, but let me finish by saying this: The right to privacy is supposedly enshrined it law in most civilized parts of the world, and is essential to free and fair democracy. I won't give up the right to privacy without protest.

And people are worried about a new OS 'spying' on you?
AT&T Helped N.S.A. Spy on an Array of Internet Traffic
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/us/politics/att-helped-nsa-spy-on-an-array-of-internet-traffic.html
(we already knew this, but just for further validation)

be giving up a lot of free time reading every word of every paragraph of every EULA from MS and every other product you buy from now on. it's the only way to get an idea of what is actually going on with software and other contracts. damn sure can't just go by what the tin-foil hat club preaches.

 

[gangrel]

You'll love this, GOb:
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/09/tin-foil-hats-actually-make-it-easier-for-the-government-to-track-your-thoughts/262998/

On the conspiracy theorists, a couple of things. #1, a Heinlein quote: Never try to teach a pig to sing- it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

#2: their beliefs are fundamentally a faith.

For many of us, another Heinlein quote (Be your actions legal or illegal, nosy neighbors are noxious) is apropos. It IS reasonable to be leery of the government, and hey, how many of us have led such a clean online life ALL the time? Or just don't want to reveal stuff that MIGHT be sensitive, like medical stuff? I found out I have type 2 diabetes in February. My blood sugar meter has software available to connect it to a PC...but it requires a special cable. NOT something you'll find locally, at least in my area. Found it online. Now, ok, this in itself isn't embarassing, for me anyway...but that's a personal decision. It is reasonable to say that someone would want to keep this private. Or something that MIGHT be an issue...type 2 diabetes doesn't usually involve injecting insulin; that's type 1, most of the time. Well, injecting yourself with insulin means buying syringes...AKA drug paraphernalia. "Let's find all the dealers...show me all buyers of needles, syringes, etc."

For some, tho, it goes way beyond this. Their belief passes beyond the rational, and becomes a core part of their worldview. They're not open to rational argument...can't teach that pig to sing. Ergo, essentially, it is a faith to them. I treat them the same way I handle any similar belief or idea...I ignore it. ANY extreme position, be it flat earth, man never reached the moon, no-carb or extreme paleo diets, or Illuminati, is almost certainly wrong.

 

[GObonzo]

My blood sugar meter has software available to connect it to a PC...but it requires a special cable. Well, injecting yourself with insulin means buying syringes...AKA drug paraphernalia. "Let's find all the dealers...show me all buyers of needles, syringes, etc."

(FYI & ~off-topic)
i actually have one of those meters(type 1) and it does have the option to connect via special USB cable and store results for comparison and for noticing trends in blood-sugar spikes\drops. the program involved has never tried to connect to the internet though. it's just for personal use. but i don't buy syringes, i have pen-tips for insulin injector pens so the DEA shouldn't come searching for me.
(more on-topic)
this would be an example of the information the conspiracy theorists are trying to advocate: MS seeing that this software is installed would lead their tracking of it to me and then them or some 3rd party would be sending me ads for diabetic products.
this has and never will happen because they're full of shit.

over and over i have asked for these MS conspiracy theorists to show one example of how this tracking and spying has effected them, to post one example of an add inside the OS or in any abnormal pop-up or influx of junk emails. never has one had an example to post.
as i've stated repeatedly on these 10-hate threads: i have never seen 1 advertisement inside of Windows 10, not in Start Screen, not in taskbar, not in pop-ups. have not gotten any influx in junk-mail with the msn account i use to sign-in to Windows, and haven't had any advertisements in Firefox or Edge other than normal page ads(and those are mostly blocked with Ad-Blocker Plus).

 

[Darkbreeze]

Just wanted to note, for those who might be interested, that despite a lot of statements and indications to the contrary, I WAS able to successfully update my HP Stream 7 with Windows 8.1 RT to Windows 10. So apparently, using the same ISO method, but a 32bit version (Since it came with a 32 bit version of Windows 8.1 RT), as we've used for other installs, I had no problems and the system activated without incident.

I thought RT was for ARM only while the steam 7 uses x86(and is so cheap I almost wanted to get one for random tasks).

I also read the audio(from the headphone jack) was not great, any comments on this?

You know, you MIGHT be right. I could swear it was RT but some Google results seem to indicate it's OEM 8.1. I can't comment as to the audio, I really only use this device as an E-reader and to run some OBDII diagnostic applications for auto repair.


Actually, looking at the HP website specs, it IS 8.1 32 bit. I don't know why I assumed it was RT. My bad.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

How many of you have actually had the government knock on your front door because of the software you all use? I bet none of you.

 

[Darkbreeze]

If they had, they probably wouldn't be here. They'd be in a federal institution somewhere.

 

[gangrel]

Another thing about monitoring.

My #1 source of junk surface and e-mail, historically, is from web sites that sell customer lists. I also strongly suspect that, at least in the past, email mass marketers have been incautious about those lists, so at least *some* of the transparently fraudulent email might be a result of this. It is more common nowadays...but not, I think, universal...that companies don't do this by default, but that hasn't been the case for all that long. I will grant, this has almost never seemed to include any detailed or personal info, but it's still a privacy violation.

Next up will be PHONE privacy. Fat chance there, tho, it seems. Too damn many loopholes, seemingly too damn hard to enforce the Do Not Call laws.

 

[USAFRet]

Next up will be PHONE privacy.

That ship sailed long ago.

 

[gangrel]

Next up will be PHONE privacy.

That ship sailed long ago.

Then the U-boats spotted it.

 

[pjwilliamson]

It's free if you purchase within the first year after release.

I hear you, and as far as I am concerned government sanctioned mass eavesdropping is a major concern. I don't know why governments have become so terrified of their citizens. But it's a separate issue, and I personally can do very little in the face of state paranoia. And please, don't tell me "it's for my security."
What I am concerned about, in this particular instance, are companies like Microsoft that I pay good money to, (you will pay for Win 10 sooner or later) seem to think it's alright to access my PERSONAL private data.
It's NOT OK.
I don't care if they are using it for advertising or relaying it to a state department. If I'm going to pay for a product I EXPECT to have my privacy respected. If Microsoft (or any other business) can't or won't do so, then I will take my business elsewhere.
Violation of privacy has become the new normal for institutions and companies, and I for one, am not happy about that. People have become very blasé about data collection and privacy, but arguably they are at greater risk of identity theft and fraud than at any other time in history.
I'll step off my soap box now, but let me finish by saying this: The right to privacy is supposedly enshrined it law in most civilized parts of the world, and is essential to free and fair democracy. I won't give up the right to privacy without protest.

And people are worried about a new OS 'spying' on you?
AT&T Helped N.S.A. Spy on an Array of Internet Traffic
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/us/politics/att-helped-nsa-spy-on-an-array-of-internet-traffic.html
(we already knew this, but just for further validation)

be giving up a lot of free time reading every word of every paragraph of every EULA from MS and every other product you buy from now on. it's the only way to get an idea of what is actually going on with software and other contracts. damn sure can't just go by what the tin-foil hat club preaches.

I totally agree

 

[Joseph DeGarmo]

Since Adblock Plus is not compatible with the Edge browser, I've been using Adguard. The strange thing is each time I have reinstalled it after resetting Windows, the trial period reset itself. So I guess I could uninstall and reinstall it every two weeks and the trial period will start over each time.

 

[gangrel]

I hear you, and as far as I am concerned government sanctioned mass eavesdropping is a major concern. I don't know why governments have become so terrified of their citizens. But it's a separate issue, and I personally can do very little in the face of state paranoia. And please, don't tell me "it's for my security."

What I am concerned about, in this particular instance, are companies like Microsoft that I pay good money to, (you will pay for Win 10 sooner or later) seem to think it's alright to access my PERSONAL private data.
It's NOT OK.

I don't care if they are using it for advertising or relaying it to a state department. If I'm going to pay for a product I EXPECT to have my privacy respected. If Microsoft (or any other business) can't or won't do so, then I will take my business elsewhere.

Violation of privacy has become the new normal for institutions and companies, and I for one, am not happy about that. People have become very blasé about data collection and privacy, but arguably they are at greater risk of identity theft and fraud than at any other time in history.

I'll step off my soap box now, but let me finish by saying this: The right to privacy is supposedly enshrined it law in most civilized parts of the world, and is essential to free and fair democracy. I won't give up the right to privacy without protest.

I would agree that mass eavesdropping BY the government is a concern. The government is not sanctioning the data collection done to us by Amazon, Google, or Microsoft. They're not STOPPING it, but I'm not sure there is legal ground to do so.

If you don't like what Cortana does, DON'T USE IT. Or Google Voice, or Siri.

The argument about privacy has mixed legal standing. It is NOT a right enumerated in the Bill of Rights, for example, and the state need only show probable cause to get a warrant that will, of course, throw 'privacy' out the window. Further, there's a specific exclusion in the Do Not Call law that relates: companies with whom you have already established a commercial relationship can call you. The situation is very similar to Amazon feeding you tailored ads and emails.

Where you stand a much stronger case would be in the selling of information to an outside agency. There is such a thing as an advertising ID that's used for this online. Windows 10 lets you turn this off...so does Chrome. More companies are explicitly stating they won't do this; the information will only be shared in-house, or sometimes with certain key business partners, or of course with law enforcement, if that matters. But there is no *law* that requires them to do this in general. Medically related stuff...yes. That has explicit privacy coverage. I'm sure there are other areas that don't spring to mind offhand. But standard commercial transactions? They're not protected.

As for identity theft: make no mistake, it has existed forever. Impersonation and forgery were the only ways before computers, and those took considerable work, making it impractical to target most people. Do you remember the days when checks took several *days* to clear? When you looked in your mailbox...not your Inbox...for your bills? Last time I wrote a check was to my periodontist...because he offered a 5% discount for paying in full, NOT on plastic (ergo saving him the transaction fee). The bill was *easily* large enough to justify it. Overall, I seriously doubt I write 10 checks a year...bills are done electronically, or with an auto-pay arrangement, and most shopping gets done on plastic.

An *inevitable* consequence of this is increased risk of identity theft. Every site where you pay a bill has a login. And a password. I had about 10 such sites to check every month...phone and internet, wireless, satellite TV, satellite radio, and so on and so on. Password managers weren't all that common...certainly not well publicized...until recently. You might have seen Dashlane's recent ad..."they kept their passwords in with their emails, and someone stole them." That DID happen; malware targeted address books and other such areas. And of course, there were the major data breaches, such as those at Target and Home Depot. The actual *damage* from these probably wasn't terribly high; the credit card companies watch for these things. (I've had this happen. One time, it was some computer gear, ordered off my card, to be sent to Russia. Uhhh...no, it wasn't me. The transaction was blocked, the card shut down, and I had a new card and account number in a day or two. And, no, it probably *wasn't* anything I did...it was just as likely to be information from a vendor I use.)

The vendors have to maintain your card information for at least some time, to properly handle returns if nothing else. Most offer to save card numbers for convenience...but more are NOT saving it by default, or do so on your side with a cookie, to reduce this risk. You can also arrange things with some credit card issuers, to set up single-use card numbers, or single-use validation codes, for a transaction. Fine, steal THIS number.

Identity theft is NOT a problem linked to questionable (and yes, I'll go that far) data collection. The notion of what is, or is not, private is ambiguous. I compare many privacy rights advocates to free-speech advocates...they really don't understand the issues involved, or the limitations.

 

[pcdude234]

i love it

 

[GObonzo]

i love it

i wonder how many of these people are also stockpiling against the pending zombie invasion

 

[gangrel]

i wonder how many of these people are also stockpiling against the pending zombie invasion

I wonder how many of them are the advance scouts for it.

 

[gangrel]

OK, now here is something to scream about.

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/212160-windows-10-still-phones-home-even-when-ordered-not-to-do-so

To me, this also IS a back door...going into a discussion on a different thread. It's a way for MS to drive the machine's execution mode *contrary to* your explicitly stated desires. Microsoft's argument that "this is necessary to give an optimal Windows 10 experience" is the content of bedpans in a diarrhea ward. For THEIR 'experience'...but not for MINE. I honestly don't care if personal identification is NEVER sent back to MS by this route; it's not that a potential privacy breach isn't there, it's that before that becomes an issue, the software behavior itself is grossly wrong.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! There, I screamed. For all the good it did. Heh.

 

[Barty1884]

My experience has been pretty good so far (a week or so in) - so much so I removed my former W7 files and have removed any possibility of rolling back (now, admittedly that's primarily because my SSD was pretty full but still!).

Migration was smooth - used the download tool rather than the option to upgrade that'd be kicking around my desktop for a while.

Comments:
1. Moving from W7 HP to 10 doesn't feel too much different. I removed all live tiles etc and I now only have tiles for programs that I used to have pinned to my task bar
2. Not sure if I'm using the correct terminology, but the 'border' for windows explorer (documents, "this pc" etc) feels dated. More like Windows 2000 to me. Preferred XP, Vista, 7's layout - but I understand this was the same in 8? Never used it, so was a surprise to me.
3. "This PC" annoys me. Keep looking for "My Computer", but I'll get used to that.
4. Edge really is much faster than IE......but then who was still using IE??
5. Driver support now recognises my GPU correctly (R9 280, not HD 7950. I guess it was only a rebrand, but still annoying when it showed the 'wrong' GPU.

Only hiccups I've experienced:
1. Chrome felt pretty sluggish after the upgrade - uninstalled/reinstalled & all is good
2. Wifi seems to drop a few times upon first log-in (ie not from locked/sleep), but that seems to be improving over time - besides I don't really shut down too often anyway.

I still think I'm going to do a clean install at some point regardless, but otherwise the upgrade/first week impressions are pretty good.