Windows 10

[David-G]

If you are on Windows 8 or 8.1 it could make sense to upgrade to W10 but I certainly wouldn't do that upgrade now.

Thanks for your thoughts, johnb.

I have Windows 8.1 and am pretty happy with it. It does not seem to pose me any particular problems. So I am interested in why you think that it could make sense for me to upgrade to W10 (in 6 months time, say). Could you explain in a little more detail?

[johnb]

My expensive Dell XPS laptop broke after only 3.5 years. The replacement Samsung Ultrabook broke after only 2.5 years. Maybe I have been unlucky, but I would say that if you use a laptop, frequent backups are essential!

This is why I will probably go again for a Lenovo Thinkpad as my current Thinkpad has lasted for 10 years, though it is little used now. Backups are always important.

[johnb]

Thanks for your thoughts, johnb.

I have Windows 8.1 and am pretty happy with it. It does not seem to pose me any particular problems. So I am interested in why you think that it could make sense for me to upgrade to W10 (in 6 months time, say). Could you explain in a little more detail?

Only because the reviews seem to consistently report that W10 is much better and solves many of the issues that annoyed W8/8.1 users. If you are happy with W8.1 then there is no urgency to upgrade, of course.

[David-G]

Thanks. I originally had big problems with Win 8. All I wanted to do was to use it in desktop mode, as if I was in Win 7. It took me about a week to achieve this. After that Win 8 was fine, and did have certain advantages which I appreciated.

Following recent death and repair of my computer, it came back with Win 8.1 installed (from scratch). It seems easy to use this in desktop mode. I am pretty happy with it. Only current gripe is that it seems to force updates on me (as we have been discussing for Win 10). But there may be a way of switching this off, I have not yet found the time to investigate.

[cloughie]

No, you can refuse the repeated offers. It's on Windows 10 that avoiding updates is very hard. The license agreement actually obliges you to accept them.

I may be being naive here, but once on Windows 10 why would receiving updates be a problem? There appears to be some fear of them on this thread!

[Bryn]

I may be being naive here, but once on Windows 10 why would receiving updates be a problem? There appears to be some fear of them on this thread!

Well, for starters, updates might include even more intrusive spyware than that already used by Microsoft.

[gurnemanz]

I may be being naive here, but once on Windows 10 why would receiving updates be a problem? There appears to be some fear of them on this thread!

Never having seen any reason not to keep Windows up to date I was going to post something similar to the above. I assume the concern is that you now have no option. However, there does seem to be an option to uninstall updates, under advanced options.

[johnb]

cloughie, most people won't have an issue with mandatory maintenance and security updates. It gets more interesting when you consider that Microsoft's intention is that W10 will be the last release of Windows in the traditional way. From now on new features and upgrades will be done through the update system. That would be fine if we had confidence that those new features and upgrades will be beneficial but you only have to look at the chequered history of Windows releases to realise that not everything they try to foist upon the public is what the public wants (e.g. Windows ME, Vista, W8).

With the mandatory updates there will be no way to skip a major change as many did with Vista and W8. This is especially important for businesses, which us why W10 Enterprise Edition includes the option to control the updates. The rest of us will have to take what Microsoft throws at us (good, or not so good).

[Bryn]

cloughie, most people won't have an issue with mandatory maintenance and security updates. It gets more interesting when you consider that Microsoft's intention is that W10 will be the last release of Windows in the traditional way. From now on new features and upgrades will be done through the update system. That would be fine if we had confidence that those new features and upgrades will be beneficial but you only have to look at the chequered history of Windows releases to realise that not everything they try to foist upon the public is what the public wants (e.g. Windows ME, Vista, W8).

With the mandatory updates there will be no way to skip a major change as many did with Vista and W8. This is especially important for businesses, which us why W10 Enterprise Edition includes the option to control the updates. The rest of us will have to take what Microsoft throws at us (good, or not so good).

I expect the EU's lawyers are already on the case.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I may be being naive here, but once on Windows 10 why would receiving updates be a problem? There appears to be some fear of them on this thread!

I don't really know, but I get the impression that whenever I download a Windows update (on my laptop) the machine subsequently runs more slowly.

[Serial_Apologist]

I expect the EU's lawyers are already on the case.

Attorneys.

(I'll just get my briefs)

[ChrisBennell]

The problem with Windows 10 updates is that you don't have any control over when they are downloaded onto your machine. The only option you have is to choose to be notified when the download is finished and the machine is ready for a reboot. This is not the default case, though, and you have to select that option for notification (as I have). There have been reports of numbers of people losing lots of work, when the machine decided it was time to reboot before they were aware of the way it works. (The only other option is to turn Updates off altogether - not recommended!) There have been a lot of complaints on this, and I wouldn't be surprised to see more flexibility available in due course.

My experience of Windows 10 has been largely positive however (on my desktop). The loading process took about an hour and a half, and it then worked first time. It loads very quickly, and the internet connection (via Ethernet) is there immediately - unlike Win 7 where the network would sometimes take minutes to come up.

I did have some problems with certain applications though:

1. Epson Scan didn't work - solved by a reinstallation of the software (still the automatic scan button on the scanner doesn't work, but I can live with that)

2. Canon EOS Utility didn't start when I plugged my camera in - I found an update on Canon's website - actually for Windows 8.1, but it worked OK for Windows 10.

3. Windows Update issues as above -

4. Connect software to a Windows Home Server 2011 didn't work - solved by uninstalling and reinstalling.

5. I don't like the new browser (Edge) as you don't seem to have the same control over options - so I went back to Internet Explorer - which was still available.

Otherwise, I'm quite happy (so far!)

[David-G]

Chris, thanks for the report, which is very useful.

[Bryn]

Just had an email from O&O re. their freeware W10 features control freeware "ShutUp10".

See http://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup...newsletter2262

How well it works I do not know, but at least attention is being paid to the data sharing aspects of W10. Expect other third party tools addressing the issue to appear before too long.