Windows 10 Anyone?

[MikeL]

Well, I did it.  I upgraded to Windows 10.  Why?  Hmmm...the price was right.  I'm certainly not a geek.  I don't have to have the latest of everything.

 

I know it has a lot of features, but I haven't explored much.  Has a new browser, Edge, not Explorer.  I've used it just a little...no opinion yet.  I'm sticking with Firefox browser and Thunderbird e-mail.

 

Is anyone else on Windows 10?  Have you found some great features I should check out?  What's your opinion?

 

I know one thing.  It is fast!  Didn't expect that.  It is much faster than Windows 7 Home Premium.

[Drew Espinosa]

Most of my family is now upgraded to it, but I am still on Windows 8 as I wait for thoughts and opinions from them

[Valkyrie]

I've taken the 'wait and see' approach as well.  I have Windows 8 on my laptop, and am holding off on Windows 10 until the verdict is in about it. 

[Cia]

You know how everyone wants a reading list on GA so they can keep track of the stories? Well, Edge has a 'Reading List' separate of the Favorites list that is really handy to keep track of those online reads you're enjoying. A lot of the other features, like Cortana's voice options and the face recognition software, I already had on my laptop with 8. Before I had it set up to be just like my Surface, they were even cloned to stay in sync, but now the laptop has more of a 'computer' interface than a tablet set up. I'm not sure if I like it, actually.

[Valkyrie]

You know how everyone wants a reading list on GA so they can keep track of the stories? Well, Edge has a 'Reading List' separate of the Favorites list that is really handy to keep track of those online reads you're enjoying. A lot of the other features, like Cortana's voice options and the face recognition software, I already had on my laptop with 8. Before I had it set up to be just like my Surface, they were even cloned to stay in sync, but now the laptop has more of a 'computer' interface than a tablet set up. I'm not sure if I like it, actually.

I don't really use my Windows 8 like a tablet.  I find myself using the desktop features more, since that is what I am used to.  I am sure there is so much more I could be doing with it, but have found it too confusing to learn on my own. 

[JamesSavik]

My experience with win-blowz is that they release their alpha version and let their users do their beta testing.

 

It's not really worth bothering with until it has been around for a year to a year and a half.

[Headstall]

I downloaded and installed it on my laptop today... it was going fine... I left, and came back and it was reinstalling Widows 7. I have no idea what happened. I have lots of space. I don't know whether this happens sometimes and you just do it again, or what? Any insights or opinions for me? Gary.

[Suvitar]

They are offering it for free here, but I´m still trying to figure out how to use 8.1, so I´ll wait to hear how it works for others and perhaps or I´ll just skip it.

[Renee Stevens]

I think Windows 10 is actually a lot more user friendly than Windows 8.1.  First off, when you click on where the start menu used to be, it actually HAS a start menu, rather than having to go back and forth to the apps and searching, because it puts them all in alphabetical order. The only thing I don't like so far with Windows 10, is I have issues with my screen going black if I don't do anything for like a minute or two, and when it does it, it sets my Skype to offline. That is annoying, but sometimes it does it, sometimes if I restart it doesn't do it for a bit.

[Aditus]

Ha, I'm still using 7 on my desktop pc. I have 8.1 on my laptop and it took me so long until I had it how I liked it. Well, I still don't like it. I will update to 10 on both next year. You guys test it for me.

[Carlos Hazday]

Got 10 running with no issues so far. Keeping fingers crossed.

 

Then again, I use about 10% of the features  to keep par with the 10% of my brain I actually use. As long as I can acces the half dozen programs I use, I don't care what the OS is.

 

I do want to checkout Edge at some point but Firefox will probably remain my go-to browser.

[The_Jordanator]

Can I just say my opinion about this? I really want to have it, and my laptop which runs on Windows 7 home premium has the Get Windows 10 icon and window but Dad tried it for me and said it didn't work and notified me when it would. This was about a week or 2 ago. I have received no notification. But now that our home broadband has clicked over (we are on 80gb a month), I can attempt to download it myself at home. Hopefully it will work on my 5 or 6 year old laptop. I'm going to try it sometime soon

[TalonRider]

My desktop can't do the upgrade to 10 due to a compatibility issue. The display moniter manufacturer hasn't made your moniter compatible with Windows 10. Please check with manufacturer for support.

 

My desktop tries to upgrade on its own. As for my laptop, it doens't seem to be available as I did reserve a copy for it at the same times I did for my desktop.

[The_Jordanator]

Oh I forgot to mention, Cortana isn't available in New Zealand! Waaaaahhhh, why do Americans have to get all the good stuff?

A few have pulled a sneaky and changed their location to USA but Microsoft caught onto it and left a Cortana message on their PCs basically saying that 'we know you're not from USA' and then disabled itself altogether. But who needs Cortana anyway? It's only the better version of Siri. And a GLaDOS voice would have been much better...

[Caz Pedroso]

I upgraded a week ago and so far so good.

 

I don't use edge - I stuck with internet explorer as edge wasn't compatible with some of the websites I use.

 

I do love Cortana, and my daughter has taken a liking to asking it to tell her a joke.

[rec]

I encountered a glitch to starting the upgrade on one of our computers when I clicked on the icon that Microsoft furnishes to call for the upgrade and said that Windows 10 was ready; a message came on that said something like 'preparing' and never stopped.

 

To get around the problem, and based on a tip, I did a search for Windows Update, clicked on that and found the startup information that worked.

[Bill W]

I had some problems learning Windows 8.1 after upgrading from XP on my desktop, but I've now upgraded to Windows 10 and have had no problems so far.  To me, it handles a lot like 8.1, so I'm glad I made the switch.  The only problem I had was the install took 2 hours, but that may have had more today with my ISP provider.  They seem to like to slow my computer down, so they can make more from the business types.  

[Kitt]

Keep talking people!  In the past every time I have upgraded I preferred the older version better.  Has windows 10 put some of the features I miss back, like the normal start menu rather than the touch screen thingy? It might be nice if you actually HAVE a touch screen but on my laptop it is just a pain.

[rec]

I've been running Windows 10 on my laptop for several months now (as an evaluator). I've switched all my computers over to Windows 10 (from 8.1 and 7) To me, after several months, Windows 10 seems as stable as Windows 7 and not as off-putting as Windows 8 and 8.1. Since I use my computers in desktop mode, I found that Stardock.com's Start10 at $5 makes my startup screen look and operate almost identically to Windows 7 -- with the benefit that you can  use the touch-screen opener menu if  you choose it from the Start10 menu. 

[Daddydavek]

I got a new computer shortly after Windows 7 came out and it has a dual bios mode where I could start it in either windows XP or windows 7 but it defaults to windows 7.  I haven't used the XP option in years as I took to Windows 7 like a duck to water and actually have forgotten how to make the switch to XP.  

 

I have read that if you have any hard drives with a copy of windows before Windows 7 that you should disconnect it before downloading and installing Windows 10.  I'm wondering if that dual bios option on my system is going to cause the looping problem I've read about?  As a result until I see some more information, I think I will be deferring my installation......

[Phantom]

Ditto with what JamesSavik said about waiting. I have 1 computer running Windows 7 (my gaming rig) and will probably update to Windows 10 once all the kinks are worked out. Meanwhile my laptop is running 10 and honestly I'm not overly thrilled with the finished product (I've been beta testing it since February this year). There are still a lot of glitches I encountered during beta testing that don't seem to have been resolved in the release, nothing major mind you just minor annoyances here and there, and the only reason I would upgrade is because of the DirectX 12 that's being released on the Windows 10 platform (DirectX = better gaming at times).

 

Still I could go on and on about it but let's just say for the common user there is no issues or anything to be worried about. In fact some people might relish the return of the start menu, no matter how badly butchered it looks...

[Headstall]

Yay, I got it to upgrade to windows 10. There were errors for some reason, but I did some updates, and three hours later, it appears all is well.

[Celethiel]

i found windows ten to be ugly, overly filled with gimmics, almost all of which only take up disk space when they're not useful in my life at all, and this laptop can't afford to loose the extra 6 gigabytes that windows 10 takes up over windows 7. you know what they say about free things... you get what you paid for, and you didn't pay for that....

[JamesSavik]

Oh I forgot to mention, Cortana isn't available in New Zealand! Waaaaahhhh, why do Americans have to get all the good stuff?

 

 

The answer to that is there is some technology included that is classified as strategic or has military applications.

 

We (the US) have gotten badly burned in regard to many technology transfers over the years.

 

Under the Reagan administration, Iraq under Saddam Hussien in the 1980s was given billions in trade credits to charm Iraq away from Soviet influence. The US Dept of Agriculture was expected to administer this program. The Iraqis could order practically anything they could find in a catalog or e-bay. (OK, only kidding about e-bay). Anyway- they asked for stuff that had hospital applications in pathology and brewers vats. Sounds harmless right? They used that stuff to create TONS of battlefield grade anthrax (a nasty bioweapon). Other stuff they used to make nerve gas. The rest is some very ugly and controversial history.

 

In another badly botched technology transfer Red China asked the Clinton administration for the technology required to launch multiple satellites with one booster rocket. Sounds harmless right? Wrong. We just handed one of our biggest rivals the tech needed for MIRVs or Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicles for nuclear weapons. Oops.

 

In another, more round about way, we got burned, a Japanese company sold high tolerance milling equipment to the Soviet Union. They originally got it from US. It allowed the Soviets to manufacture parts for their submarines that made them much quieter.

 

This has made us more than a little paranoid about what technologies we give to whom. Not that I expect New Zealand to go mustang and nuke Australia, we have to be very careful about what we do because we have a long, ugly history of being shot in the back with our own iron.

 

I mean that literally. The bomb that destroyed the Arizona at Pearl Harbor was made from scrap iron purchased from the United States.

[Celethiel]

The answer to that is there is some technology included that is classified as strategic or has military applications.

 

We (the US) have gotten badly burned in regard to many technology transfers over the years.

 

Under the Reagan administration, Iraq under Saddam Hussien in the 1980s was given billions in trade credits to charm Iraq away from Soviet influence. The US Dept of Agriculture was expected to administer this program. The Iraqis could order practically anything they could find in a catalog or e-bay. (OK, only kidding about e-bay). Anyway- they asked for stuff that had hospital applications in pathology and brewers vats. Sounds harmless right? They used that stuff to create TONS of battlefield grade anthrax (a nasty bioweapon). Other stuff they used to make nerve gas. The rest is some very ugly and controversial history.

 

In another badly botched technology transfer Red China asked the Clinton administration for the technology required to launch multiple satellites with one booster rocket. Sounds harmless right? Wrong. We just handed one of our biggest rivals the tech needed for MIRVs or Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicles for nuclear weapons. Oops.

 

In another, more round about way, we got burned, a Japanese company sold high tolerance milling equipment to the Soviet Union. They originally got it from US. It allowed the Soviets to manufacture parts for their submarines that made them much quieter.

 

This has made us more than a little paranoid about what technologies we give to whom. Not that I expect New Zealand to go mustang and nuke Australia, we have to be very careful about what we do because we have a long, ugly history of being shot in the back with our own iron.

 

I mean that literally. The bomb that destroyed the Arizona at Pearl Harbor was made from scrap iron purchased from the United States.

fueled by oil that Japan originally got from the United States... don't forget Japan bombing us we partially brought upon ourselves... since we were Embargoing Japan to the point that they needed to go to war with us or run out of fuel...(mind you this Embargo was because they invaded china)

heck half of the middle Eastern Countries we've gone to war with, were supplied weapons from us.... Iraq for instance was our ally before we changed our mind for the First Gulf War....

We still do it though.

Edited August 12, 2015 by Celethiel