Windows 10

[Roxie]

A question to all you learned forum users.
I am frequently being asked to upgrade to Windows 10. I have heard that it is still a little unstable and should leave it alone for the time being, or should I now download before MS pull the plug on Windows 7?

Any help welcomed.
John

 

[transatlantic]

unless you specifically need it for something (can't think what), ..imo, stick with windows 7, it's not going anywhere soon.

ignore or turn off the reminders to update.

 

[monkeybiter]

+1
I'm using both [and mint], don't like 10.

 

[morfa]

It's not at all unstable (well no worse than these things are generally). I would strongly advise that you update. Windows 7 is already out of support. All you'll get (till 2020) is limited security updates.

Also after June 2016 you'll have to pay to upgrade. So I'd do it now while it's free. Also once you have updated, you will still have access to Windows 7.

Yes, the GUI is a bit different. But that's just how computers work, things get changed over time. It's a vast improvement on Windows 8 however.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/lifecycle

 

[Spindle]

Hi

Sorry for a bit of a highjack

Morfa - I am running Windows 8, (which I always felt was a backwards step from XP), what do you consider the greatest improvements to be of 10 over 8? I'm hoping the transition from 8 to 10 is less traumatic than XP to 8 when I finally take the plunge.

Regards Mick

 

[Wuffles]

Windows 7 is already out of mainstream support.

With all due respect, it's a bit of a stretch to tell someone to upgrade from what is considered the greatest OS to come out of Redmond since XP because the new OS if a free* upgrade. XP being an OS that many people around the World still run happily.

Just my opinion anyway. I'd stick with Windows 7 and the critical & security updates you will continue to receive until 2020 (they come with the "extended support" offered to a MS product that drops out of "mainstream support").

Or install 10 and switch off the well documented spying built into the OS using a 3rd party utility and hold onto your wallet.

* Windows 10 is free for one reason only, money. Here's a fairly unbiased link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2957365/ ... costs.html

 

[Phill joiner]

I upgraded to windows 10 and it's been a nightmare for me. Picture file only stays open for five seconds and shuts down. Cannot fix it no matter what I do. It also messed all my files up. The most annoying thing is all the adverts that come up and slow my computer down. Have to wait till the adds finish uploading before I can do anything. So be prepared for some hassle.

 

[Rhossydd]

you will still have access to Windows 7.

Only for 30 days. It's an upgrade, not an additional OS licence.

 

[Malc]

I really like windows 10 it is an improvement on 8.1 which I also liked. I have it at home but clean installs and I find it quick and stable. I know of some upgrades where there have been problems with the menu system. We have upgraded 20 machines at work as well with no problems.

Phil have you seen this http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... 52e?auth=1

Also where are you getting adverts?

 

[ChrisR]

+ 1, for loathing (Windows 10), I did not like (8.1), but was getting used to it, then the (Windows 10) down loaded on to my computer, and I assume wiped out (8.1), it would have been nice to have had the option. But Big Bad Brother, Microsoft would not have wanted that. So stuck with (Windows 10), with all of my previous files lost. :evil:

Having said that, there was not as many files to lose as there was when I was upgraded from (XP) to (8.1). Then there were years of photographs lost. :evil: :evil:

Take care, Big Brother, Microsoft is watching every move.

Chris.

 

[RobinBHM]

I had windows 8 and hated it, but have since upgraded to windows 10 and installed classic shell over the top which is great if you are used to windows 7 as it appears with the start button and menus exactly the same. Windows 10 GUI is just one clock away as well.

windows 10 tries to integrate edge and one drive and updates cannot be turned off.

 

[AJB Temple]

Chris - you only lose files if you have no back up. It is very risky indeed not to have a back up whether you upgrade operating systems or not.
..........

It is increasingly clear that software delivery is moving fast and firmly on-line. Buying a software package or licence is disappearing quickly in business as software suites on line take over. We are just about to bow to the inevitable and switch to Office 365 as it is cheaper to do that than mess around upgrading licences and maintaining machine installed systems. Those who use things like Adobe Creative Suite will already be familiar with this. There were howls of outrage at first when Adobe pushed customers down this route, but that has now largely died away. On-line storage is now also getting incredibly cheap - for example on my personal systems at home I have two different 2TB cloud stores with different providers, costing less than £6 a month in total, with automatic backups taking place continually.

It is surprising how many businesses (many banks and some regulatory authorities) still use XP. It seems risky to me as it is to all intents and purposes unsupported and archaic. We use Microsoft for business but I still hate it ;-)

 

[Phill joiner]

I really like windows 10 it is an improvement on 8.1 which I also liked. I have it at home but clean installs and I find it quick and stable. I know of some upgrades where there have been problems with the menu system. We have upgraded 20 machines at work as well with no problems.

Phil have you seen this http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... 52e?auth=1

Also where are you getting adverts?

Yes I read through the whole lot of those answers and it was total gobbled e gook to me. I'm not that good with computer jargon. The computer workings don't interest me one bit....just a means to an end.
Adverts are now on my e mail page which does my head in....Internet forum ads are bad enough but I do realise money has to be made somewhere.

 

[Rhossydd]

There were howls of outrage at first when Adobe pushed customers down this route, but that has now largely died away.

I wouldn't say that. Most of those angry about the subscription model have made their opinions loudly heard and now just get on with their perpetual licence versions and are keeping an eye on, and investing in, the alternatives. But we're still pretty annoyed by the policy.

Frankly I can't see why you'd need to move to Office 365 or whatever the latest version is called. There's been precious little of real value added to MS Office since version 2002 and the free Open Office suite lacks very little for the vast majority of users.

 

[dickm]

Gradually moving from loathing to grudging acceptance of W10. But can anyone tell me if it's possible to get it to allow two copies of a single page doc to be printed half size on one sheet? Used to do this all the time with W7, but now each half size copy takes a separate page :evil:

 

[Myfordman]

Dick, That functionality sounds like a feature in the printer driver rather than the OS

Is is possible that if you go to the website of your printer manufacturer, there could be a revised driver from them that will help rather than using some default driver bundled in with the OS.

hth

 

[Myfordman]

My inbuilt luddite tendencies kept me using XP when & and the disaster that was 8 came out.
The plus point is that I don't get pestering requests for upgrades to W10
I have 5 machines running under XP so changing OS to one that requires online authorisation is going to cost me dear so will it be worth it?

At least one computer needs to run CNC machinery and this is fussy about having a proper parallel port - not available on newer computers.
A lot of my software is not likely to be W10 compatible either eg Visio Technical which I use nearly every day
I've not been able to find a clear description of what W10 can do that I can't do with XP.

Note that I do not care about the lack of updates to XP. To me, no support means stability of the OS and most of the machines are behind a physical firewall

So what am I missing by sticking to XP?

 

[Wuffles]

So what am I missing by sticking to XP?

Nagging updates? I have a few XP virtual machines I keep running, and my workshop computer came with XP. All hunky dory.

 

[mseries]

Note that I do not care about the lack of updates to XP. To me, no support means stability of the OS and most of the machines are behind a physical firewall

So what am I missing by sticking to XP?

nothing, exercise safe browsing and you'll be ok

 

[Sheptonphil]

So what am I missing by sticking to XP?

For machine CNC work, you're missing nothing. We still supply refurb computers with Dos6, win98 and XP for wood and metal CNC and metal milling machines. It's what old software runs happily on and does a specific task perfectly, supports legacy ports natively, so no need to update, indeed updating could mean spending hundreds on new versions of the software unessisarily.

I have pentium 2, 3 and 4 computers kept back from our recycling programme for the purpose.

If you want to 'bag' the free copy of win 10, run the update before August, revert back straight away to previous system whether 7 or 8 then you can do a clean install of Win 10 at any time in the future for the life of the motherboard in that computer.

There is no great need to go from 7 to 10, but I think 8 to 10 is a massive improvement in usability.

Like others on here I upgrade machines on a daily basis as part of my work. I also have the job of sorting the large amount of Win10 upgrades that fail to a greater or lesser degree.

My advice, if you're not computer savvy, your needs are simple, and the computer does what you want it to now, don't do the upgrade.

Phil

PS. I really like Win 10 as a pure install, far quicker than Win7, and just as stable. The real annoyance is the constant update re-writes happening of late, taking 10-15 minutes after the computer restarts.