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Windows 10?


Voxumo

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So I've been putting off upgrading to windows 10 since it's initial release, however now that it is almost a year later, and the 'Free Upgrade' deadline is approaching, I was wondering if anyone who does use windows 10 could perhaps provide some insight.

 

Firstly, is it actually stable yet? I know one of the big problems when it first came out was that alot of people were getting crashed, Blue screens of Death and some computers being rendered unusable.... Is this still occurring on a regular basis or have they finally fixed the problem?

 

Secondly, how are you liking it? I mean is it worth the upgrade or is it just kind of meh?

 

Thirdly, is there any actual features that just make it stand out from like windows 8? Basically I don't do alot of tech heavy stuff, and I just am curious if it's worth it for me to upgrade from windows 8.1? I mean if there's a bunch of features that I'll never used, I don't see the reason for me to upgrade, especially since as I understand it, it doesn't support Windows Media Player, which sadly is the one media player I have on my computer and use for my playlists and whatnot...

 

So yeah, anyone who can answer these questions would be appreciated... I just don't want to do something I'll regret.

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You are a great computer user, Vakama. You could have many destinies. Come, join my Windows 10 brothers and me...
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You are a great computer user, Vakama. You could have many destinies. Come, join my Windows 10 brothers and me...

So Windows 10 is evil and will eventually betray it's own kind?

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Most crashes were due to driver issues rather than Windows 10 itself. There is a good chance many of those issues have been fixed but there is no guarantee. What computer do you have?

 

I like it a lot overall, though there are of course people who disagree for various reasons, e.g. the lack of control over Windows Updates compared to prior versions of Windows. It's a valid point but I've never had issues with Windows updates before so I'm fine.

 

Yes, there are actually features that make it stand out from Windows 8.1. Again, there are people who disagree but personally I find it better than 8.1 in almost every way. Some notable features include windowed apps (which of course sounds silly for Windows 7 users but is kind of more important for 8.1 users), virtual desktops and some minor but pretty cool stuff like Snap Assist (when you snap a window to either of the two sides) and the ability to change the width ratio of two windows when snapped to either sides. If you use pre-installed apps, pretty much all of them have improved significantly over 8.1, too.

 

All in all, I'd say there is nothing for you to go nuts about but there are a couple of small and welcome changes - in my humble opinion.

 

One thing you should be aware of is that Windows 10 is the "last version of Windows". Instead of waiting three years or so for major upgrades, Windows 10 will get regular, but smaller, feature updates. There was one in November and there will be another, bigger one in July.

 

Windows Media Player is still supported, what is not is Windows Media Center.

 

Windows 10 offers an inbuilt way to roll back to your previous OS during the first month of usage. However, a manual backup before undertaking the upgrade is definitely advised as a failsafe.

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I had no issues upgrading to Windows 10 with what was a mid-tier PC back in 2014 (in fact, my computer has been running better with Windows 10 than it did before - significantly better).

 

From my personal experience, I would highly recommend upgrading.

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Most crashes were due to driver issues rather than Windows 10 itself. There is a good chance many of those issues have been fixed but there is no guarantee. What computer do you have?

 

I like it a lot overall, though there are of course people who disagree for various reasons, e.g. the lack of control over Windows Updates compared to prior versions of Windows. It's a valid point but I've never had issues with Windows updates before so I'm fine.

 

Yes, there are actually features that make it stand out from Windows 8.1. Again, there are people who disagree but personally I find it better than 8.1 in almost every way. Some notable features include windowed apps (which of course sounds silly for Windows 7 users but is kind of more important for 8.1 users), virtual desktops and some minor but pretty cool stuff like Snap Assist (when you snap a window to either of the two sides) and the ability to change the width ratio of two windows when snapped to either sides. If you use pre-installed apps, pretty much all of them have improved significantly over 8.1, too.

 

All in all, I'd say there is nothing for you to go nuts about but there are a couple of small and welcome changes - in my humble opinion.

 

One thing you should be aware of is that Windows 10 is the "last version of Windows". Instead of waiting three years or so for major upgrades, Windows 10 will get regular, but smaller, feature updates. There was one in November and there will be another, bigger one in July.

 

Windows Media Player is still supported, what is not is Windows Media Center.

 

Windows 10 offers an inbuilt way to roll back to your previous OS during the first month of usage. However, a manual backup before undertaking the upgrade is definitely advised as a failsafe.

I'm using an Acer Aspire R7-571, since you asked.

So it still supports windows media player? That's nice to know, I assumed player and center were one in the same. As for the Windows Updates, I've only ever encountered one instance of a window update messing with a game I play. Though Is there a way to remove updates, like windows 8 has?

 

Also how does one do a manual backup? I'm not tech savvy at all, and have never done a backup before, at least to my knowledge.

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According to Acer, your model is suitable for running Windows 10.

 

Removing updates works about as easy as in 8.1 but preventing it from installing again is more cumbersome than in 8.1, you need to download a special tool for that, which Microsoft provides. The main problem with Windows Update in Windows 10 is that you cannot exclude updates from installing beforehand, you can only uninstall and hide updates once they've already been installed (or failed with an error).

 

There are several tools to do manual backups but one tool I can recommend is Macrium Reflect Free, it's easy to use and creates one single backup file that you can easily move around.

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According to Acer, your model is suitable for running Windows 10.

 

Removing updates works about as easy as in 8.1 but preventing it from installing again is more cumbersome than in 8.1, you need to download a special tool for that, which Microsoft provides. The main problem with Windows Update in Windows 10 is that you cannot exclude updates from installing beforehand, you can only uninstall and hide updates once they've already been installed (or failed with an error).

 

There are several tools to do manual backups but one tool I can recommend is Macrium Reflect Free, it's easy to use and creates one single backup file that you can easily move around.

Hmm, alright thanks for the advice. I'll see about this Macrium thing. I assume it gives some sort of a tutorial or a helpfile on how to use it?

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Probably but even if there isn't, it's pretty self-explanatory. You can choose which partitions to create an image of (if you aren't sure, just select all of them) and what drive or disk to save the image on.

 

Speaking of backups, I strongly recommend that you at the very least set up the File History feature from Windows 8.1 and 10 so that your personal files will be backed up regularly.

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Probably but even if there isn't, it's pretty self-explanatory. You can choose which partitions to create an image of (if you aren't sure, just select all of them) and what drive or disk to save the image on.

 

Speaking of backups, I strongly recommend that you at the very least set up the File History feature from Windows 8.1 and 10 so that your personal files will be backed up regularly.

Alrighty. Thanks for all the help and advice. This certainly makes me feel a tad safer about upgrading to windows 10.

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Except that last pic is a piece of total scaremongering ***. I could write a huge piece right now taking every single one of those captions apart and if you want me to.

 

There are some privacy concerns around Windows 10 - some have been debunked (including that article on Forbes), lots have never been more than unfounded FUD (including that very last link you've posted before the edit), a few things are still not as clear as they could or should be (like the first link, or for example what's inside patches, as mentioned in the second to last link before the edit, though that's also outdated now as Microsoft has started posting patch logs months ago). There is certainly room for reasonable discussion - but I can assure you that that picture does not cover that, it does the exact opposite. The last thing it does is certainly "explain the situation well".

 

I've literally spent hours reading research, contacting people at Microsoft and discussing this subject with people on the internet. I think I know what I'm talking about. There are concerns, some I don't agree with, some which are valid, but most of what I've found in the web is just scaremongering and FUD, including most of what Shiny Chariot has posted here (no offense). And that's a real pity because many of the better arguments and points just get drowned among all the bull there has also been floating around since months.

 

My personal opinion is as follows: Windows has always been a closed-source operating system. Which means that the choice of using Windows has always boiled down to trust - nothing will ever change about that as long as Windows is closed-source. I don't see any compelling reasons to take on another stance regarding Windows and trust today than at the release of Windows 8.1. If you don't trust Microsoft enough to use their operating system, that's your choice and perfectly fine. But in that case, please be consequent and get rid of all Microsoft software you may be using, including Windows 8.1 or Windows 7. And while we're at it, if you're afraid of "spying" you better get rid of your Android phone as well, if you have one.

 

The offer to address every single one of the points in the last picture still stands if you want it.

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It's really hard to trust a company that has worked with the NSA in the past and has leaked user profiles.

 

Even if they're not giving your data to the government they're giving it to advertisers. And those guys aren't always legit.

 

Also worth noting that Microsoft has admitted that tracking can't be turned off.They still have quite a few questions to answer.

 

I'm all for freedom of installing what you want. But all I'm saying is that a lot of features in Windows 10 are designed specifically to track you and your data. Windows 7 had its tracking features yes, but those could be turned off and were minimal. There are plenty of safe scripts that can be run on Win7 to remove its spying features.

 

More info here.

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I've had a pretty good experience with Windows 10. A couple minor hiccups, but that's all.

 

Regarding Windows Updates: there is an option for them to not be so very automatic I think? Whenever mine gives me a notification saying that upgrades are required I keep the window it leads me to open until I'm done with what I'm doing and then I just do the upgrade myself rather than wait. I trust windows to not screw me over too badly, but I don't run bunches of games and other programs that risk being broken.

 

Speaking of trust: a lot of what people have said are concerns probably aren't really that big a deal. I'm a little paranoid, though, so when I upgraded to 10 I didn't use the automatic set-up and went through each and every option in the manual set-up deciding what I would and wouldn't prefer. Some other things you have to go find in the settings menu after you set up, but it isn't so hard and there are plenty of articles detailing what's been brought up as concerning. And it seems Gata here is willing to help you out with things you are concerned about. For my part, I mainly didn't like the idea of the wifi-sense thingamajig. Just rubs me the wrong way and seems to be a service no one really needs. Why is it so hard to ask for a wifi password once?

 

But beyond my minor paranoia and stubborn resistance to the march of time, Windows 10 has been great. I very much prefer it to 8.1. Very. Very. Very much. Windowed apps are a blessing to have back, as is a proper Desktop that isn't basically treated as another app.You can have your startmenu resemble the traditional one, or you can keep with the 8/8.1 style.

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Shiny Chariot: Your link to the NSA collaboration is in fact precisely the reason why I carefully chose my words to say I don't see a compelling reason to take on another stance compared to Windows 8.1, as that was released in 2013 after the Snowden revelations, unlike Windows 7, which was released years prior. Now that is indeed a valid point you make, just not one that is concerning Windows 10 more than previous versions of Windows. In fact, all three Windows versions released before Windows 10 - namely Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 - were released after Microsoft joined the PRISM program of the NSA in 2007.

 

Not sure what that story about Yahoo has got to do anything with what we're discussing here.

 

Saying that "Microsoft has admitted that tracking can't be turned off" is a misleading statement. What cannot be turned off entirely are the transmission of diagnostics and telemetry data. However, what each of the three level of telemetry transmissions does is well-documented on TechNet (except for a few issues I do see with the highest level, which also happens to be the default level, which accounts for two of the greatest issues I personally see). The amount of data transmitted by the basic telemetry level is, in my eyes, small enough to an extent that I find it entirely acceptable but I do also accept differing points of view here.

 

It is true that Windows 10 has more features that in order to work correctly, track usage data and collect personal information to an extent that none in Windows 7 do to my knowing, most notably the personal assistant Cortana. However, Cortana can not only be turned off entirely - it does in fact need to be turned on explicitly - a process during which the user is presented not with one but two privacy-related prompts before this is possible.

 

So if we conclude that most of said features of Windows 10 can either be turned off entirely or toned down to a large extent, then what remains is mainly a distrust that Microsoft could have secretly implemented features to track user behavior that are not publicly documented. I'm not criticizing that distrust - trust is a personal choice and up to every individual - but Windows 10 is simply no different in this regard than any prior version of Windows. Actually, I'd argue for two points: One, that the fact that most of Microsoft's profit does in fact not come from any consumer software but from enterprises, which collectively uphold Microsoft to particular scrutiny, does make it very unlikely that Microsoft would secretly spy on the users of its operating systems, even more so considering they are a listed company and have to give a detailed breakdown of revenue, profits and losses every quarter, which in turn would make any unofficial profit stemming from selling user data difficult to conceal. And two, that since the launch of Windows 10 almost nine months ago, several investigations were launched concerning the operating system, including from Russian authorities, and none of them has yielded any result that would prove that in fact, Windows 10 can be, as you put it before, categorized as spyware.

 

In conclusion, I stand by my point that you are entirely free to use whatever you want for whatever reasons you want, but if the reason you're not using Windows 10 is a distrust that Microsoft may be secretly spying on you, then a consequent execution of that reasoning requires a total renunciation of any other Microsoft software, first and foremost their operating systems, including Windows 7 and 8.1.

 

 

 

Zox Tomana: Updates are installed automatically without user intervention (though an update to Windows 10 this July will allow for users to set "active hours" during which this process is never automatically initiated without user intervention), however, most updates also require an additional reboot of the computer. You have entire control over when this reboot is supposed to happen, up to one week after the installation began. The biggest problem with the behavior of automatically installing updates is that drivers also get automatically installed this way, sometimes overwriting your drivers with an older, less functional / more buggy version, particularly in the graphics driver field. It is possible to prevent this but it is cumbersome.

 

You raise a good point about not choosing the automatic set-up, that is definitely something everyone should always do with every software. Thank you for bringing that up.

 

WiFi Sense is not something you really need, it's purely for comfort, but a feature I've personally turned off since it's not particularly useful unless you have a Windows 10 Mobile phone save in some cases, which so far are a small subset of Windows Phone users which in turn are an even smaller subset of the smartphone market.

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*Reads through the wall of text, majority of it going right over his head*

So yeah, I think I will be upgrading to it, once I figure out this backup program. Trying to find a way to prevent it from formatting the external Hard drive i am using, since I have other stuff on it that does not currently fit on my laptop.

 

Also in regards to the windows update, I've been reading and can't you set your connection as metered to prevent it from downloading the updates, effectively stopping windows updates?

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Macrium Reflect should create a backup image without tampering in any way with the drive you want to back up to - unless of course the drive needs to be properly formatted to be readable by Windows in the first place but unless the drive is being used by someone with OS X or Linux I don't think there should be a problem.

 

You can set your connection as metered as a workaround, it just isn't a very good one. For one, only wireless connections can be set as metered, and second, this will prevent Windows Store apps from updating automatically - even if you don't download any apps from the Store, many programs that come pre-installed on Windows 10 are in fact apps that get updated through the Store, including but not limited to the default photo, music and video apps, mail, calendar, the Store app itself and even the calculator. Last but not least, the problem remains that even with this workaround there is no way to control beforehand which updates are going to be installed. However, I'd argue that for the vast majority of users, this should never be a problem but if you'd like the highest possible control over your OS then chances are you won't be happy with this (though then again, I'd question if Windows is indeed the right OS for you rather than Linux).

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As it stands, I don't actually use like any of the apps from the windows store, aside from a few I've downloaded personally, and even those ones I would rather manually update than have them update by themselves.

 

Also that reminds me, what does upgrading to windows 10 change exactly? By this I mean appearance wise? Like will my desktop for the most part stay the same, or will things get moved around/deleted? Will it notify me if there is a program that either no longer works, or had to be deleted for some reason?

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You should get notified if a program is deemed incompatible before the upgrade takes place, in which case you can decide accordingly. Most often, it's antivirus suites that are affected by this, but reinstalling the latest version after the upgrade should always be possible. Your personal files including the desktop should not be affected in any way.

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You should get notified if a program is deemed incompatible before the upgrade takes place, in which case you can decide accordingly. Most often, it's antivirus suites that are affected by this, but reinstalling the latest version after the upgrade should always be possible. Your personal files including the desktop should not be affected in any way.

Alrighty, that is good to know.

 

Also thanks a whole lot for being willing to answer all of these, sometimes trival, questions. You've certainly made me less leery of upgrading to windows 10.

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I can see the benefit from upgrading from Windows 8 to 10, but I'm not really motivated to upgrade my computer since my windows 7 is operating fine. 

 

It boots up slow, but I'm 90% certain my antivirus program is to blame for that. 

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However, Cortana can not only be turned off entirely - it does in fact need to be turned on explicitly - a process during which the user is presented not with one but two privacy-related prompts before this is possible.

Actually even if you do disable cortana she still has processes running in the background. So you have to go into the files to actually turn her off.

 

Edit: I don't entirely believe that windows 10 is secretly spying on you. I'm scared of the fact that they are spying and collecting your data out in the public. It is pretty well known that companies do do that and its not always clear who they sell it too. That was the point of the yahoo article. The fact they're openly doing it is what scares me.

 

 

You should get notified if a program is deemed incompatible before the upgrade takes place, in which case you can decide accordingly. Most often, it's antivirus suites that are affected by this, but reinstalling the latest version after the upgrade should always be possible. Your personal files including the desktop should not be affected in any way.

Alrighty, that is good to know.

 

Also thanks a whole lot for being willing to answer all of these, sometimes trival, questions. You've certainly made me less leery of upgrading to windows 10.

 

Since you do seem intent on installing win10 it is recommended you remove some bloat ware and some useless programs. This is guide does really help.

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Actually even if you do disable cortana she still has processes running in the background. So you have to go into the files to actually turn her off.

The Cortana process running in the background is simply the app for search in the taskbar, which has the same frontend. Attempting to disable that will only cripple the functionality of your PC for, as I see it, zero benefit. Had Microsoft decided not to call that process "Cortana" but just "Search" there wouldn't even be this discussion, while in fact nothing would have changed.
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