Windows 10: Windows 7 Support ends in three years

I had a Toshiba laptop that self destructed when trying to program some digital ham radios, the Toshiba was running windows 7 pro. windows 7 had quirks with loading the driver for the programming cable. got it to run on my windows 7 laptop but absolutely cannot get it to install on my friends laptop that is the same computer running the same version of windows 7 pro. got the dell last night brought it home downloaded the programming cable driver and programming software and no issues at all installing it. found a way to install it on his laptop by using universal drivers but at least windows 10 does what it is supposed to like mac.

 

I didn't like the Start Menu/Screen in Windows 8.0. And before you ask, I had no interest in Classic shell. I just went back to Windows 7. When they changed it in Windows 8.1 I was back on board.

 

Wow, W7 was the first version of Windows I really enjoyed, and I've been through Windows 3.1, 95 and 98 before XP. XP was an important step in quality and consistency. Vista was a little messy, and 7 came to provide what I called and upgraded XP. Since 7, I never had any problem at all with Windows. Well, some messed stuff wich had to do with my obsession, back in the day, of using cleaners. Other than that, and aside the initial problems I had with 10, them all from 7 have been flawless.

 

Of course, many vendors have given up supporting Windows 7 now. It is time to let Windows 7 die a graceful death.

 

That's why it pays to hold onto older software. I still have a old tower with sdr ram & a floppy drive, that I plan to put Dos 7.1 unto, just for fun.

 

So what was different then for you in 8.1? I guess that's what I'm asking (not to belabor a point, but other than improvements in the Metro apps, and the new Facebook app, I see little difference in the "explorer" section of Windows 8 vs 8.1)
*Smile

 

I'd have to install and compare the two to remember exactly what cheesed me off at the time. It was the way the Start Menu/Screen worked that bugged me. I'm running Windows 10 now, and have been for quit a while.

 

I disliked 8 too purely on the start menu. I skipped from 7 straight to 10 because I didn't want my PC to look like some kind of giant smartphone GUI! I don't know what 8.1 was like and whether the start menu improved, i got the impression they did a half baked restore to familiarity. 3rd party start menus did not appeal, I always thought at some point they might go horribly wrong as some update takes exception to the 3rd party changes made. 10 makes a big improvement on the start menu in that respect. I hope 10 works out, it's got a lot of improving to do but it looks the part even though I find it more unpredictable than my wife's mood swings!

 

LOL hope she does not read the last bit
I had windows 8.1 and was glad when 10 came out, in my eyes the best OS so far and I have been using windows since 3.1 came out

 

"Security" seems to be the solely argument to force people to move to W10.
Well, for me that is no argument that justify to drop the last genuine Win32 OS.
There are too many limitations on W10, for example about Desktop Colors, people are limited to few colors. In former Windows you could choose any of 16 Million, in W10 you have the choice of 24 Colors!
In W10, system is limiting the access to the Registry that is a reason why many Software and Drivers stop working.
Also in W10 there the "File and Folder" virtualization, which further makes older Software not working properly.
Last, that forced OS Update policy without any user Control is more like a nightmare.
Oh yes, and that "Data Collection" sending to MS Servers in Background is the "feature" that I most "love" in W10.

 

Older software not working on a newer OS is nothing new. Its been that way since Windows 3.1.
CPU's are 64 bit and have been for a while, even the ARM CPU on my Raspberry PI is 64 bit. Time to move on. Time for developers to get up to date actually. Asking the current version of Windows to be compatible with every piece of legacy software on the planet is lunacy.
What? I can't get that color I want for my desktop, the sky is falling, *Doh Slight exaggeration, but really?

The forced Windows update argument I agree with, that needs to change.
The data collection has been going on for a long time. Good or bad its nothing new. Get over it. And its not only Microsoft that's doing it.

 

@alphanumeric: I feel your arguments are going on circles, trying to vanish the reality of W10. W10 is a pitfall in many ways, mainly about user privacy. And the excuse the "others" are doing the same, is something irrational.
About the 64Bit processor , it is a long time ago that Intel is only selling 64-Bit Processor , I think before XP was launched.
It is a shame that someone is telling people they have to upgrade to W10 because of the 64-bit processor. I am sorry for you.
And as for Compatibility, at least MS should say Older Software are likely more and more to be incompatibly with the very "new" OS, instead of making people believe everything is the "best" OS ever. Sure, W10 is a completely new OS and moving away from the "old" Win32 OS.
The people should be informed correctly of what they are facing with W10 comparing with what they have with W7.

 

It's actually a bad thing for some users who suffer from what I think is called visual stress and some people with dyslexia.

For these users, the ability to alter the windows background from white to some pastel colours makes it easier to read text and use the screen for longer periods. Although Windows 10 has some High Contrast themes, these users require the opposite and Low contrast, which isn't available.

So for some people the removal of the ability to choose appropriate colours in Windows 10 it is a bigger issue than you may think.

 

Why would anyone pirate an OS with such a ridiculously annoying and awful UI?

 

Having been there and done that, running an old DOS box is not much fun really. I'd setup a VM, install it in like 5 minutes, and then move onto something else.

I'd actually say consistency. Easier for MS to support 1 OS. Especially the same core on Xbox and Windows Phone (for the 10 people that use it).

I haven't had a need for a 32 bit OS that supports old 16 bit software in many years. I ran 64bit Windows 7. Being able to support more than 4GB of RAM was far more important to me than an old software title.

I don't care so much about the forced updates. I'm going to install all of the updates anyway. What I don't like is the complete lack of telling me how many MB or GB need to be downloaded for the update. It's all a mystery while you sit and watch the number climb to 100.

Windows 10 is not the first time MS has sent data in the background.