Windows 10: My opinion of Windows 10

First off I do I like the startup speed improvement of Windows 10 over Windows 8.1 (which was pretty fast itself) and I think Win 10 is generally a smooth operating system with what works. I also think the start menu in Win 10 is much improved over 8.1, though Classic Shell made 8.1 totally fine and does the same for Win 10. That said, I much prefer any version of Windows over Win 10 and I don't understand Microsofts one platform strategy at all in practice. I also did not like how aggressive Win 10 was pushed to Win 8/7 users with notifications that you could not remove from the tray without uninstalling/hiding updates.

Edited: This was pretty long and rambling so I made it smaller and to the point.

What I don't like about Windows 10:

1. The OS seems very partial to mobile concerns and touch screens with live tiles, apps (background apps), touch/ipad like switches, cortana etc. Aside from that fact that these features are not needed on a desktop OS, these specific mobile ideas have not done well to put it mildly on mobile devices. I'm afraid what has not done well in the mobile sector will affect the desktop OS long term, which has no need for background apps for example, for the worse. I don't like the one platform idea in practice and see it as placing emphasis on what has not done well and taking away or reducing what has done well. I also don't get the service idea of Windows 10 or how it is the last windows OS with no more improved windows versions that people could purchase ongoing.

2. I don't like the Settings system and not having control of updates and the need for a whole "privacy" section. Also, the OS to me looks very bland and flat and some programs on W10 seems slower than Win 8.1.

3. It's been buggy for me. Problems with email notifications, settings that were set off getting turned on somehow, a photo app that can't resize, game problems, privacy concerns. It's disheartening.

Personally I'd rather have a desktop/laptop keyboard/mouse OS that is all about that form and is optimized for the desktop. Not a touch screen compromise with features that have not even done well on touch screen devices.

I'm going to spend the money and go back to Win 8.1 and keep open to other options.

:)

 

*My* frank opinion of the N900

So... In a nutshell, the N900 is RUBBISH and I'm stuffed with a 2yr O2 contract. Incredibly disappointed. I used to be a keen Nokia user, then I moved to the HTC products and was absolutely delighted. The N900 promised so much more, but it is actually
barely more than a beta test. I am quite sure I shall never buy another Nokia device again.

 

*My* frank opinion of the N900

I agree with most of what you said although the fact that debian apps "run" on maemo is not quite as convincing as them being able to be usable on maemo.



it took me about 2 days to wish i still had the n900 to play with. loved ssh you are right and all the linux stuff, and Iactually was not that unhappy about the size of the maemo-capable app catalog. the big drawback was the fact that i could not trust the
phone for an 10-hour battery life. i had to always carry my n97 or n82 everywhere. i know that if nokia sticks with maemo (will they?) I will be back as I do consider the hardware and the OS to be far superior and more flexible than any of its serious competitors
-- android, blackberry or winmo.



i'll be back.

 

You might be concentrating on wrong things when looking at an OS. At the beginning you said that you like main components and how it works (speed etc. ) but the rest is more concentrated on looks which do not have any bearing on performance. Looks can be very deceiving !!! Not only that bat can be altered considerably.
Let me just state that I would too like to have differently equipped windows but under the circumstances it's close enough for me as long as everything works good and it does (hmmmm... mostly).
Mobile phone success or no success have no bearing on desktop use.
Desktop use is in no way limited anywhere, I and most others have no more problems with Kb and mouse use than if it looked any different and "girly phone look" I can't agree on either. Besides, it's irrelevant.
Why is the way of updating and upgrading boring ? Why should anyone be waiting few years for "New and improved" Windows to show up when it can be done in continuity ? There are already two big updates and many smaller ones, not counting insider version.
"And how do they make money with a new OS if there will not be a new OS? ", easy they'll be selling this windows, they are not going to be a free upgrade for too long. Why do you think putting a new number in the name would sell more ?
Mixed OS, maybe, but nobody has to use part they don't like or use. Don't like or want to use APPs, you don't have too, get rid of them. I use very few, they can come handy, Live weather, news, mail, they are just fine with me, why should anybody want to take them away for me, wouldn't be fer !!!
I have W10 on several computers and all are serious desktops, no more problems than using W7 for instance. Full desktops, no touch screens, no finger painting but only mouse and KB. You won't see "desktopeir" setups than that. So much for mutant OS.

 

It just all goes back to I don't understand their thinking and I'm wondering if this "desktop" OS will go the way of the mobile OS in terms of success. As far as the way it looks (a little primitive and boring) that's just my opinion. I was on Windows 8.1 yesterday and I was surprised how vibrant and nice it looked. And firefox is faster on it. All programs seem faster on it. Also, Win 10 is just super buggy for me. Everyday it is something else. Now a game I use occasionally has gone totally nuts. I never had issues with Vista like i do with win 10. It's been a frustrating and disappointing exp . Anyway, I'll probably go back to win 8.1.

 

I understand what you're saying but MS has made clear from the beginning that it's supposed to be more of a trans-device OS so you can use same stuff on them weather on desktop or phone, tablet whatever can run it which is a good idea if you want to use various devices.

 

In an ideal world (at least for me) Windows/ or iOS for that matter would hardly change. I prefer an OS to mature rather than constant updates. Windows 10 may be the last OS but the threshold updates every 6 months will be like (and as stressful as) doing an upgrade from Windows 7 to 8, 8.1 to 10 and bring a lot of bugs/installation problems etc. Windows 7 is my favourite system, I don't want my desktop trying to be like a mobile or tablet. I wish that had got worked upon so it was so mature and bug free. Alas, that's the way it is now. Constant updates all the time. I think I use my machines/iPhones/iPad more updating and then testing as much as time permits to check what may or may not of got broken.

Unfortunately you can only put off upgrading so long until services/software become latest OS only. On Windows 10 with my new pc which was pre installed I see numerous irritating bugs. And I detest the forced updates (especially the drivers). That being said, I cannot believe the start up speed combined with SSD. Fast boot means, as soon as BIOS passes doing whatever it does, Windows 10 is there in my face instantly. That's cool. And aesthetically it looks quite good. Potentially it seems pretty good. On the fence at the moment, I give it 6 out of 10 but say calm down on the updates - I think despite what MS (or Apple) thinks people don't like change that much, continuity is better

 

Updating/upgrading is good (unless on metered connection) but having a choice would be better I guess. If it didn't do automatically, I would have to do it manually. Everything, including us, gets old at some point and has to be refreshed or changed, how else to get better. Wish I could update myself and get young every few years.
Ones that do not want change can stay on whatever level they are on now or some time in the past. Nobody stops anybody to use a 286 computer with DOS or play Pong. I want more and that more can't come soon enough !

 

I guess your right but my feeling is there is just a bit too much updating/or change for the sake of change going on. Perhaps not totally aimed at Microsoft here. It's across the board and it get's tiresome when you've got all the major players pumping out updates relentlessly - features then getting lost/removed (native dvd playback in Windows 10 or no longer being able to play .mpg files without taking the gamble and risking third party codec packs to restore) or things what once worked getting broken. I wouldn't have such a problem if the updates could be trusted. I like to be updated but with family and work do not have much free time to spend googling fixes/bugs/workarounds in the aftermath. I would say Apple is much worse than MS in this respect. I love my iPhone but already since mid September they've pushed out iOS9 and about 7 or 8 revisions. Threshold updates every 6 months on Windows 10 isn't as bad and bugs do need fixing but it just feels a bit like Russian Roulette.

The big thing with Windows 10 is the implementation of driver updates - I do not like the way GPU drivers can auto install (as a gamer I know newer isn't always better and Nvidia / AMD can release some pretty bad driver packages). The feature is good in as much as I plugged in a Bluetooth dongle and webcam recently. It was good not to have to install the accompanying cd to get drivers going as Windows 10 detected and installed. So for that reason I want the setting enabled but it is frustrating that you cannot single out specific hardware not to update such as the GPU - which I prefer to update at my own convenience and when there is a compelling reason to do so. It's all or nothing and this is the main thing that slightly sours my opinion of Windows 10

 

Yeah, I see what you mean but at least for GPU drivers it's not true any more, Put 15.7 drivers a while ago and it didn't get changed by MS. Crimson drivers now and they are staying put. Realtek didn't change either although they put out new ones every week. One thing I don't like is that update changes my setting every now and than but I already have a habit to change them to my liking. 10586 didn't change them as far as I can see. Got to take some bad with the good though, that's life eh ?

 

Time to UP this thread over one year later, because I think this is a good question. Now when Windows 10 has evolved a bit, your updated opinions are highly appreciated.

To make a long story short:

I love what is happening in the core of Windows, it's faster and seems more secure (this needs to be verified with more real world tests)
What I also like is the idea behind Windows Universal Platform, but that is pretty much all I like, THE IDEA! In practice MS has dumbed down a lot of really useful tools and brought a lot of instability to the system. Also the MS Store monopoly for WU Apps is crazy.

All this UWP development has been going on since Windows 8 and it has not evolved/improved much. It's sad. Even settings are now using the UWP, which is insane. If something break because of a setting is wrong I can't easily fix it because I can't open the settings anymore. :-D

I have moved more and more towards using PowerShell and if I still have to be using powershell for anything useful, I could aswell move over to Linux and run everything from the Shell. At least then, as a user, I would be in control of everything.

Speaking of control, MS tries to be in control of everything as if they're owning my computer. The fact is that my computer is MINE and I do whatever I like with it, whenever I want to.

Speaking of whenever I want to, MS also forces a lot of updates on us, without letting the user decide what to install and when to install it. Well that is not completely true, but for a power user it's a pain. Only way to get rid of all that is to disable the whole WU service and block all MS sites in the firewall once Windows got activated.

Well, this is my Windows 10 rant, and now it is your turn to give your opinion.

 

Over the time 10 has been out to me it has got better,
What I like now I have been able to drop a lot of the 3rd party software, which has helped my cost of living a lot.
Also at last in my opinion Edge Browser is 100% better than IE as have had no freezes or crashes since using it.
I can now use Defender without having a third party app, and my Printer now works with Office 2016 where as before I had to use a third party app to print.
Cant wait for the next big update

 

Things are moving in right direction but it's leaving a trail of unresolved problems, some trailing from very beginning, some newly introduced but left without real solution. Surprisingly, new features are not disaster and most work well but some look really rough around the edges.
Other than those things OS is stable and quite usable even in latest incarnations.

 

Windows 10 is awesome!
A lot of users love it..., a lot of users hate it!
I have my complaints too, but,
I roll with it cuz my license to use it was bought and paid for a long time ago! *Wink