Your Experience with Windows 10

[yetti1963]

I upgraded from 7 on an ASUS 55 laptop as follows USBs stopped working Picasa would not work. Nero did not work properly Sound stopped working Open Office did not work properly & My Printer disconnected..after a week on the printer I gave up & paid £6 for 2 recovery disc's..never going near Windows 10 again

That us a pretty rough transition. THIS is the reason they NEED to check compatibility before offering upgrades.
I use OpenOffice so maybe you just needed a Java update. I am not surprised about Nero as new operating systems nearly always killed it in the past. I remember getting a new version when using Vista(but I think it also worked on 7). Since I no longer need to burn anything other than occasional data I do not even need it any more.

They have an uninstall option for Windows 10 to allow you do go back within the first 30 days.

Or they just need to do a clean install and not offer upgrades. This is why I hate upgrades. I did two in my home. One was a clean 8.1 install so no big deal. The other was my HTPC but short of PowerDVD and KLite it has nothing on it to mess up. But people with their entire lives on a system will run into multiple issues that even Microsoft cannot account for.

I will say that 10 has had the smoothest upgrade so far compared to previous versions of Windows but it still is having issues because some people are running old hardware or software that is not designed for the changes made to the core of the OS.

 

[yetti1963]

well here in Leeds UK..I am back running windows 7 it is an absolute joy. Printer/Picasa/nero all work smoothly..never going near 10 again..Ubunctu if i have to...another 5 years of W7 support..good my next lap top will be W7...I hate 8/8.1...loved XP thats why 7 works for me... Firefox works well with 7 too

 

[jimmysmitty]

well here in Leeds UK..I am back running windows 7 it is an absolute joy. Printer/Picasa/nero all work smoothly..never going near 10 again..Ubunctu if i have to...another 5 years of W7 support..good my next lap top will be W7...I hate 8/8.1...loved XP thats why 7 works for me... Firefox works well with 7 too

These were all programs that were installed on 7 and then made to try to run on 10. 8.1 to 10 is not that bad since it is still similar in a lot of ways at the kernel level, although 10 still has some big changes. But 7 to 10 is like going from 2K to 7. The underlying changes are just massive. Even 7 to 8 is a pretty big change.

If you did a clean install all the programs would probably work just fine but an upgrade is what causes issues.

I have Firefox on a 10 machine with no issues. I don't use Nero anymore, no real need.

Printers are a special case though. Commercial grade printers tend to have universal OS support. Hell I had a 15 year old HP LaserJet 4000 running on 8.1. But consumer grade printers are just crap and the OEMs almost never update drivers, they want you to buy more.

Still if you did a clean install most everything would have probably worked fine and probably better than in 7.

 

[theunliked]

well here in Leeds UK..I am back running windows 7 it is an absolute joy. Printer/Picasa/nero all work smoothly..never going near 10 again..Ubunctu if i have to...another 5 years of W7 support..good my next lap top will be W7...I hate 8/8.1...loved XP thats why 7 works for me... Firefox works well with 7 too

Firefox works perfectly on Windows 10 for me.

 

[nukemaster]

well here in Leeds UK..I am back running windows 7 it is an absolute joy. Printer/Picasa/nero all work smoothly..never going near 10 again..Ubunctu if i have to...another 5 years of W7 support..good my next lap top will be W7...I hate 8/8.1...loved XP thats why 7 works for me... Firefox works well with 7 too

Firefox works perfectly on Windows 10 for me.

I use it as well. I am guessing something went wrong with the upgrade.

We are getting closer to the first Windows 10 update to bring tweaks and some bug fixes.

 

[USAFRet]

Same here. FF is the default browser on all my Win 10 machines. Zero issues.

 

[Mightyena]

Every so often I try out Windows 10 (clean installed on a separate HDD), and after a few hours go straight back to 7 again... 10 just feels like it's still in beta... Explorer stops responding after 30 minutes and I have to kill it in task manager, and it feels slower to start up than my 6 month old win7 install. Also, I hate the new start menu, but I managed to fix that with classic shell

 

[nukemaster]

The first major update coming to Windows 10 should fix many things.

It should be faster and look a bit better(I prefer my active window to have a different titlebar color).

Also Windows 8/8.1 and 10 have a delay in starting startup programs, this may make things feel a bit slower. I think it is to avoid too much performance drop on startup.

 

[Rafael Mestdag]

The first major update coming to Windows 10 should fix many things.

It should be faster and look a bit better(I prefer my active window to have a different titlebar color).

Also Windows 8/8.1 and 10 have a delay in starting startup programs, this may make things feel a bit slower. I think it is to avoid too much performance drop on startup.

I've got access to 10586 version and it is indeed faster and better, nothing major has changed but the system is really faster, for me at least...

 

[jimmysmitty]

Every so often I try out Windows 10 (clean installed on a separate HDD), and after a few hours go straight back to 7 again... 10 just feels like it's still in beta... Explorer stops responding after 30 minutes and I have to kill it in task manager, and it feels slower to start up than my 6 month old win7 install. Also, I hate the new start menu, but I managed to fix that with classic shell

Then something you are using/doing is causing the issues. I have been using 10 since launch, have it on 3 PCs at home and have no issues with Explorer on any of them. It is possible that Classic Shell is causing the issue, remember you are adding another layer on top of the GUI which will add slow down and load times to everything. That is why I never used Classic Shell or Strat8 on Windows 8. Besides Windows 8 showed me how much I use the Start Menu, which is not that much since I keep everything I want to open on my desktop or task bar.

 

[Mightyena]

Then something you are using/doing is causing the issues. I have been using 10 since launch, have it on 3 PCs at home and have no issues with Explorer on any of them. It is possible that Classic Shell is causing the issue, remember you are adding another layer on top of the GUI which will add slow down and load times to everything. That is why I never used Classic Shell or Strat8 on Windows 8. Besides Windows 8 showed me how much I use the Start Menu, which is not that much since I keep everything I want to open on my desktop or task bar.

It started freezing before Classic Shell was installed, pretty much from the beginning on a clean system (plus GPU drivers). I can't really get rid of Classic shell because to me, the new start menu (and the Win8 Start Screen) are unusable...

 

[Supernu]

Would be nice if we can have a POLL attached to this thread, and people vote if they recommend other users upgrade.

I personally think i'm going to milk using windows 7 to last day, same way i did with XP.

 

[TerrorK]

After sorting out my slowdown issues, Windows 10 just lost a buttload of points from me.

First of all, new update comes. Stupid thing completely messes with my Nvidia graphics drivers are resets them. I have to go in and tweak everything how I liked it before again. WTF is Microsoft doing messing with my third-party software like that for.

Secondly, we can finally put Windows Apps from the store where we want, and not just C:/ drive. "Great" I initially think, so I move it to my secondary drive. It creates some new folders and says I don't even have permission to access the main WindowsApps folder. Damn it, Microsoft! Tis is MY computer and I have an ADMINISTRATOR account with FULL access EVERYWHERE else. Where the F@#& do you get off telling ME where and where I can and can't access?! So, now I have to create a stupid new Microsoft account just to access my own goddamn computer, and what happens next... it completely subsumes my local account, and makes me leap through a bunch of hoops to just get back to my old, non-Microsoft controlled/dictated computer account.

To add insult to injury, I decide to actually download my first Windows Store app. Project Spark, since it's free now. So it just downloads and I have NO control over where to install this thing directory wise. It HAS to go in their stupid WindowsApps folder that they won't even let me into. I download it and then can't even PLAY the game because it forces me to login with their stupid Microsoft account, and then when I do it AGAIN subsumes my whole computer and on top of that won't even let me PLAY the game because it keeps directing me to these terms and conditions I'm supposed to agree to through a web-based login that just takes me to the Microsoft default XBox site and... that's it. There are no terms and conditions there, and I can't FIND them anywhere on the site they linked me to. Meanwhile the stupid game just keeps looping the intro logos and not letting me in until I've agreed to these external, phantom terms and conditions.

Screw all that. Uninstalled Project Spark. Logged off of the lame Windows Store that makes GFWL look like Steam by comparison. Reverted back to my old local account. MS can take a long leap off a short cliff... I'm sticking to Steam and GOG. Their Store is a joke and there's NO real control over any of these Apps available on it (thankfully there's almost nothing worthwhile on there that I can't get off Steam or elsewhere).

 

[Rafael Mestdag]

Would be nice if we can have a POLL attached to this thread, and people vote if they recommend other users upgrade.

I personally think i'm going to milk using windows 7 to last day, same way i did with XP.

Currently I'm using version 10586 of Win10, its last version. But before this I went back and forth between Windows versions(including Vista) for the sake of comparison and variety.

The privacy debacle doesn't really bother me despite the fact that I do torrent a lot(I don't think MS is gonna do anything about it, they would've before if they could or wanted to).

Finally the lack of control over the upgrades, the only trouble I've had with it so far(there's a solution for it in my case) was with the video drivers being updated no matter what version you wanted installed. Other than that I've had no problems with updates.

After much testing and comparing, I guess in comparison with Win Vista, Win7 and Win8/8.1 Windows 10 is generally faster, has the right amount of apps but has the same flat design as Windows 8/8.1, which is a shame. To me at least there's nothing really wrong with 10 and I would recommend it over its predecessors, even if it's only for its compatibility and speed(at least in its latest version, 10586).

 

[ToineF]

After sorting out my slowdown issues, Windows 10 just lost a buttload of points from me.

First of all, new update comes. Stupid thing completely messes with my Nvidia graphics drivers are resets them. I have to go in and tweak everything how I liked it before again. WTF is Microsoft doing messing with my third-party software like that for.

Secondly, we can finally put Windows Apps from the store where we want, and not just C:/ drive. "Great" I initially think, so I move it to my secondary drive. It creates some new folders and says I don't even have permission to access the main WindowsApps folder. Damn it, Microsoft! Tis is MY computer and I have an ADMINISTRATOR account with FULL access EVERYWHERE else. Where the F@#& do you get off telling ME where and where I can and can't access?! So, now I have to create a stupid new Microsoft account just to access my own goddamn computer, and what happens next... it completely subsumes my local account, and makes me leap through a bunch of hoops to just get back to my old, non-Microsoft controlled/dictated computer account.

To add insult to injury, I decide to actually download my first Windows Store app. Project Spark, since it's free now. So it just downloads and I have NO control over where to install this thing directory wise. It HAS to go in their stupid WindowsApps folder that they won't even let me into. I download it and then can't even PLAY the game because it forces me to login with their stupid Microsoft account, and then when I do it AGAIN subsumes my whole computer and on top of that won't even let me PLAY the game because it keeps directing me to these terms and conditions I'm supposed to agree to through a web-based login that just takes me to the Microsoft default XBox site and... that's it. There are no terms and conditions there, and I can't FIND them anywhere on the site they linked me to. Meanwhile the stupid game just keeps looping the intro logos and not letting me in until I've agreed to these external, phantom terms and conditions.

Screw all that. Uninstalled Project Spark. Logged off of the lame Windows Store that makes GFWL look like Steam by comparison. Reverted back to my old local account. MS can take a long leap off a short cliff... I'm sticking to Steam and GOG. Their Store is a joke and there's NO real control over any of these Apps available on it (thankfully there's almost nothing worthwhile on there that I can't get off Steam or elsewhere).

Seems like microsoft can't get it right since Bill Gates left! too bad!

 

[jimmysmitty]

After sorting out my slowdown issues, Windows 10 just lost a buttload of points from me.

First of all, new update comes. Stupid thing completely messes with my Nvidia graphics drivers are resets them. I have to go in and tweak everything how I liked it before again. WTF is Microsoft doing messing with my third-party software like that for.

Secondly, we can finally put Windows Apps from the store where we want, and not just C:/ drive. "Great" I initially think, so I move it to my secondary drive. It creates some new folders and says I don't even have permission to access the main WindowsApps folder. Damn it, Microsoft! Tis is MY computer and I have an ADMINISTRATOR account with FULL access EVERYWHERE else. Where the F@#& do you get off telling ME where and where I can and can't access?! So, now I have to create a stupid new Microsoft account just to access my own goddamn computer, and what happens next... it completely subsumes my local account, and makes me leap through a bunch of hoops to just get back to my old, non-Microsoft controlled/dictated computer account.

To add insult to injury, I decide to actually download my first Windows Store app. Project Spark, since it's free now. So it just downloads and I have NO control over where to install this thing directory wise. It HAS to go in their stupid WindowsApps folder that they won't even let me into. I download it and then can't even PLAY the game because it forces me to login with their stupid Microsoft account, and then when I do it AGAIN subsumes my whole computer and on top of that won't even let me PLAY the game because it keeps directing me to these terms and conditions I'm supposed to agree to through a web-based login that just takes me to the Microsoft default XBox site and... that's it. There are no terms and conditions there, and I can't FIND them anywhere on the site they linked me to. Meanwhile the stupid game just keeps looping the intro logos and not letting me in until I've agreed to these external, phantom terms and conditions.

Screw all that. Uninstalled Project Spark. Logged off of the lame Windows Store that makes GFWL look like Steam by comparison. Reverted back to my old local account. MS can take a long leap off a short cliff... I'm sticking to Steam and GOG. Their Store is a joke and there's NO real control over any of these Apps available on it (thankfully there's almost nothing worthwhile on there that I can't get off Steam or elsewhere).

The App store is just that, an App store. It is not meant to be used for full applications but app versions since 8/10 are meant to be able to handle desktop or mobile apps.

I don;t see why they would change that even in the future but it is possible.

 

[Supernu]

Would be nice if we can have a POLL attached to this thread, and people vote if they recommend other users upgrade.

I personally think i'm going to milk using windows 7 to last day, same way i did with XP.

Currently I'm using version 10586 of Win10, its last version. But before this I went back and forth between Windows versions(including Vista) for the sake of comparison and variety.

The privacy debacle doesn't really bother me despite the fact that I do torrent a lot(I don't think MS is gonna do anything about it, they would've before if they could or wanted to).

Finally the lack of control over the upgrades, the only trouble I've had with it so far(there's a solution for it in my case) was with the video drivers being updated no matter what version you wanted installed. Other than that I've had no problems with updates.

After much testing and comparing, I guess in comparison with Win Vista, Win7 and Win8/8.1 Windows 10 is generally faster, has the right amount of apps but has the same flat design as Windows 8/8.1, which is a shame. To me at least there's nothing really wrong with 10 and I would recommend it over its predecessors, even if it's only for its compatibility and speed(at least in its latest version, 10586).

Thank you, that's helpful.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Torrents are not illegal. It's just 99% of the stuff obtained through torrents is.

Autocad uses a torrent to download.

 

[TerrorK]

The App store is just that, an App store. It is not meant to be used for full applications but app versions since 8/10 are meant to be able to handle desktop or mobile apps.

I don;t see why they would change that even in the future but it is possible.

Yeah, but they also sell full games through the store. There's no other way to get Project Spark, and there's talk of Fable Legends also releasing through it and not through Steam or other delivery platforms. I assume it's going to be the same for Gears of War Remastered, Halo Wars 2 and any other future Microsoft Games Studios games that may come out like Recore, Crackdown 3, Quantum Break, etc. with their so-called "Windows 10 game push" they're apparently making. Even if Microsoft DO release these titles through Steam, I wouldn't be surprised if you had to use both Steam AND the stupid App store.

 

[cst1992]

I'm not going to 10. Period.
Call me old fashioned, but I like the look of 7. It's clean enough for me.
I didn't go to 8 because it is supposed to be a desktop OS, not a mobile one. I have Windows 8 Mobile in my mom's phone and the stupid thing doesn't even offer volume controls for videos you play. I'm not even going to mention all the other crap that's happened since Microsoft took over Nokia's handset division.

Worst of all, I can handle ugly UI and lackluster OS design, but I absolutely will not install an OS that tracks what I do. What's to say there isn't a keylogger tracking all your passwords and sending them to Microsoft? 'You did agree to the terms' is not an excuse. This is outright illegal.

Another thing is that I can choose not to use Yahoo or Google Search if I don't want to. But that's not the case with Windows. Because all my software and games, etc have to run through it.

If Microsoft doesn't fix this in an update or a future release, I'm not upgrading. Ever. They're welcome to keep their crap OS.

 

[jimmysmitty]

I'm not going to 10. Period.
Call me old fashioned, but I like the look of 7. It's clean enough for me.
I didn't go to 8 because it is supposed to be a desktop OS, not a mobile one. I have Windows 8 Mobile in my mom's phone and the stupid thing doesn't even offer volume controls for videos you play. I'm not even going to mention all the other crap that's happened since Microsoft took over Nokia's handset division.

Worst of all, I can handle ugly UI and lackluster OS design, but I absolutely will not install an OS that tracks what I do. What's to say there isn't a keylogger tracking all your passwords and sending them to Microsoft? 'You did agree to the terms' is not an excuse. This is outright illegal.

Another thing is that I can choose not to use Yahoo or Google Search if I don't want to. But that's not the case with Windows. Because all my software and games, etc have to run through it.

If Microsoft doesn't fix this in an update or a future release, I'm not upgrading. Ever. They're welcome to keep their crap OS.

My wife has a HTC One M8 Windows phone and has no issues with volume during video playback. Maybe it is the player or settings causing that? And short of the lack of apps I like WP8 better than Android. After nearly 2 years her phone is still fast and snappy like it was day one. My new Galaxy S6 however is already starting to show signs of the normal Android slowdowns that tend to happen.

And how do you know there isn't a keylogger on your 7 install sending MS all of your passwords? Why not? For some reason it seems that everyone is that important to Microsoft. In fact they are also logging your bank account information to steal your money.

That is what I don't get. Everyone thinks that Microsoft has a vested interest in them personally when the reality is they are doing what everything and everyone else has already done in order to improve products and make money so the upgrade can be free. It is not free to develop the product, those software engineers demand big pay (over $100K a year easily).

 

[cst1992]

Their TOS says that they log activity in their Technical Preview. Agreed, that was research on Microsoft's part. But no one said it won't be in the newer release.
And what's this about doing people's work for them? Updating drivers, checking for pirated software, who knows what else.
It's none of their business really. What if I have a legal copy of a software but MS says it's not and blocks it? No one has asked them to decide. Theirs should be an OS and ONLY an OS, which manages the computer. Nothing more than that. We'll buy our own software, thank you very much.

 

[xtnt]

Their TOS says that they log activity in their Technical Preview. Agreed, that was research on Microsoft's part. But no one said it won't be in the newer release.
And what's this about doing people's work for them? Updating drivers, checking for pirated software, who knows what else.
It's none of their business really. What if I have a legal copy of a software but MS says it's not and blocks it? No one has asked them to decide. Theirs should be an OS and ONLY an OS, which manages the computer. Nothing more than that. We'll buy our own software, thank you very much.

Many anti-spy tools have already been released for 10 if you are questioning how they use your data. To be fair you can switch a lot of ms's data reporting services off manually already. In my opinion 10 is not stable enough so I wouldn't even consider dabbling with any of these tools, but some do have backup functions. http://www.ghacks.net/2015/08/14/comparison-of-windows-10-privacy-tools/

or the manual way for some of the basic features
http://www.zdnet.com/pictures/windows-10-privacy-step-by-step/

ms explain their privacy
http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-tries-to-clear-the-air-on-windows-10-privacy-furor/

I'm sure some of the above can probably be found on tomshardware articles, but that was a quick google From what I have read it seems as though most 7 and 8.1 users are not making the switch to 10. It's hard to move if your computer simply works better on a previous operating system, than on a system which is still essentially a beta, with microsoft using the user as a tester as the OS remains in it's infancy. My own initial system was 8.0, updated to the superior 8.1, then 10, yet in the control panel of 10 I have the option to 'backup or restore windows 7'. Windows 10 was definitely a rushed release.

 

[cst1992]

Windows 10 was definitely a rushed release.

Right. They have till 2020 to improve it. Till then, I'm sticking to 7.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Their TOS says that they log activity in their Technical Preview. Agreed, that was research on Microsoft's part. But no one said it won't be in the newer release.
And what's this about doing people's work for them? Updating drivers, checking for pirated software, who knows what else.
It's none of their business really. What if I have a legal copy of a software but MS says it's not and blocks it? No one has asked them to decide. Theirs should be an OS and ONLY an OS, which manages the computer. Nothing more than that. We'll buy our own software, thank you very much.

Many anti-spy tools have already been released for 10 if you are questioning how they use your data. To be fair you can switch a lot of ms's data reporting services off manually already. In my opinion 10 is not stable enough so I wouldn't even consider dabbling with any of these tools, but some do have backup functions. http://www.ghacks.net/2015/08/14/comparison-of-windows-10-privacy-tools/

or the manual way for some of the basic features
http://www.zdnet.com/pictures/windows-10-privacy-step-by-step/

ms explain their privacy
http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-tries-to-clear-the-air-on-windows-10-privacy-furor/

I'm sure some of the above can probably be found on tomshardware articles, but that was a quick google From what I have read it seems as though most 7 and 8.1 users are not making the switch to 10. It's hard to move if your computer simply works better on a previous operating system, than on a system which is still essentially a beta, with microsoft using the user as a tester as the OS remains in it's infancy. My own initial system was 8.0, updated to the superior 8.1, then 10, yet in the control panel of 10 I have the option to 'backup or restore windows 7'. Windows 10 was definitely a rushed release.

Every OS is still a "beta" in essence. Every major version has had at least one or two massive service packs that change and or fix a lot of issues and continuous updates to fix issues. The only non "beta" OS now would be anything older than 7 SP1 as most of those no longer receive updates.

And I wouldn't say 10 was rushed. I have yet to have any issues with it but I also did a clean install. Unless it is a service pack, upgrades never go smoothly although 10s has gone a lot smoother than previous OSes.