OT: Windows 10. Worth getting or not?

[Op2]

It's been out and free for almost a year but at the end of July it stops being free. I'd be interested to hear whether the people that downloaded it liked it. I did read someone say that their printer no longer worked after changing over to Windows 10 and that worries me. I don't use my printer very much but when I use it it's because I need it.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[Still in State College]

I have used W10 from day 1.

I haven't had any issues with it. Of course I have never found any OS to be problematic (still have Vista at work). Everything has its unique quirks. I use it almost exclusively in tablet mode because I have a touch screen. Hate when I use a laptop that doesn't have touch screen now because I am so used to it.

 

[Sharkies]

I would say yes, since you'd just be delaying the inevitable.

 

[scottpsurules]

It's been out and free for almost a year but at the end of July it stops being free. I'd be interested to hear whether the people that downloaded it liked it. I did read someone say that their printer no longer worked after changing over to Windows 10 and that worries me. I don't use my printer very much but when I use it it's because I need it.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

It downloaded uninitiated last month on my home laptop. Entire family HATES it, list of complaints are many. I have spent hours trying to make changes, investigating on my own and googling, nothing works. Font on entire computer changed, text and pictures look ridiculous, constantly need to enter network password, every time hit a link to internet/or download asks what app to use, computer has slowed significantly and on and on. Tried the well publicized one month ability to go back to 7 and it won't allow me. DON'T DO IT!!!!!!

 

[rohrmd9]

I would say yes, since you'd just be delaying the inevitable.

This. Everyone's going to have to go to it at some point, so why not now.

 

[Op2]

If I download it is there a toggle to switch back to the old one if I don't like it, or maybe so I can go back and forth and ease into Windows 10? I hate to have to go 100% all at once.

 

[Colorado Man]

Microsoft has admitted to forcing Windows 7 users to update to W10. I upgraded my W7 laptop to W10. Haven't fully taken it through the paces as my primary computer is W8.1. I see signs that Microsoft is trying to force W8, 8.1 users to upgrade.

 

[fortheglory94]

If I download it is there a toggle to switch back to the old one if I don't like it, or maybe so I can go back and forth and ease into Windows 10? I hate to have to go 100% all at once.

I installed it and shortly thereafter had to work from home for a day. After an hour and a half on the phone with Windows tech support, it was decided that the Windows 10 was blocking my ability to connect to my company's server. It was then another hour to uninstall it. Went back to the prior version and I could finally get into my company's server again. So if you decide download it, just know that something may not wok and you will have a long process to uninstall/reinstall if you have the same experience as I did. I doubt there is a toggle feature since the Windows 10 overrides any earlier version on your computer once it's installed.

 

[Obliviax]

I installed it and shortly thereafter had to work from home for a day. After an hour and a half on the phone with Windows tech support, it was decided that the Windows 10 was blocking my ability to connect to my company's server. It was then another hour to uninstall it. Went back to the prior version and I could finally get into my company's server again. So if you decide download it, just know that something may not wok and you will have a long process to uninstall/reinstall if you have the same experience as I did. I doubt there is a toggle feature since the Windows 10 overrides any earlier version on your computer once it's installed.

Ouch.

Yeah, when you upgrade you take a risk. My iPad spit the bit last weekend when I upgraded it. So its not just MSFT.

Windows 10 is supposedly a lot lighter on the hardware. As a result, it is more efficient and faster. And, as others have said, you will upgrade...its just a matter of when and how much you have to spend.

I always tell people, when upgrading, it will take an hour or it will take ten hours. There is no way to tell for sure. But just in case, make sure you can a) do without your computer for several hours (or days) b) make sure you have access to MSFT and third party companies (like your employer if you use it for work).

 

[LemonEars]

It's been out and free for almost a year but at the end of July it stops being free. I'd be interested to hear whether the people that downloaded it liked it. I did read someone say that their printer no longer worked after changing over to Windows 10 and that worries me. I don't use my printer very much but when I use it it's because I need it.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

I run Windows 7 on one of my computers and Windows XP on the other. Happy as a lark. Of course, my main computer is an iMac so I don't worry much about the foibles of Windows.

 

[doublehaul]

It's been out and free for almost a year but at the end of July it stops being free. I'd be interested to hear whether the people that downloaded it liked it. I did read someone say that their printer no longer worked after changing over to Windows 10 and that worries me. I don't use my printer very much but when I use it it's because I need it.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

My computer downloaded it automatically three weeks ago. My e-mail had to be set up, but other than that no problems. I would still rather 7
but that's water under the bridge.

 

[Plan Ahaed]

This. Everyone's going to have to go to it at some point, so why not now.

I agree with this statement. Microsoft has already stopped mainstream support of Windows 7 and will discontinue security updates by 2020. Might as well make the change now for free as opposed to changing later and having to pay for it. Just make sure to learn how to turn off the roughly dozen privacy invading and advertising integration features that come with the new OS.

I plan to make the update on my machine before the end of July. My nephew recently did the upgrade and had no issues on his refurbished toshiba laptop that is 5 years old. My mother-in-law got the auto update this week and immediately reverted to Windows 7 b/c Windows 10 made her 7 year old laptop a p.i.t.a. to use, though that thing is on its last legs anyway so can't draw much of a conclusion on that one. The research I have done on my 5 year old Dell says that there's a 30% chance I might not have internet after the update since the mini-wifi card installed on my mobo may not work with Windows 10.

 

[tboyer]

It's been out and free for almost a year but at the end of July it stops being free. I'd be interested to hear whether the people that downloaded it liked it. I did read someone say that their printer no longer worked after changing over to Windows 10 and that worries me. I don't use my printer very much but when I use it it's because I need it.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Make sure your new computer has enough ram and processor power to run it well, or can be infuriating watching the little dots orbit in a little circle while you wait for whatever you're waiting for.

Unless you have some need for Windows 10, why bother? There are no significant feature improvements from Win 7, but the interface is different and entails a learning curve.

I've made my peace with Win 10 ( have a very fast new laptop) but I don't love it and it is definitely less stable than Win 7. Microsoft is still bug-fixing and crashes are much more common (which makes sense, Win 7 is mature).

If you want Win 10, you MUST have a relatively fast processor (core i5 or similar from last couple of years) and a minimum 8 gigs of ram, otherwise it is a slug. I'd also recommend replacing hard drive with an SSD if you want good performance.

Win 7 will be supported until 2020 I think. If you have a Win 7 computer that is working for you, especially if you're running older hardware and 4 GB of ram, don't bother with Win 10.

If you're buying a new computer it's going to come with Win 10 -- so make sure you have adequate hardware to run it well.

 

[tboyer]

Windows 10 is supposedly a lot lighter on the hardware. As a result, it is more efficient and faster.

It's interesting, that's what is claimed for Win 10 but I haven't seen it in my experience. I have upgraded a couple of older machines with poor results -- in one case went back to Win 7. If you don't have a ton of ram (8 GB), Win10 has so much bloat it overwhelms your ram and has to use the swap file so you hear your hard drive thrashing -- that's the sign that you're out of ram.

I have heard from my son that if you disable a lot of Win 10 features, such as Cortana, you can dramatically shrink the OS footprint.

So that might be the way to go if you're stuck with Win 10 on an older computer with only 4 Gigs of ram.

Another possibility, particularly if you have fast USB 3.0, you could put in a USB 3 jump drive and use the feature that allows you to use your jump drive as an OS cache -- which can speed things up a lot. I think that is still supported in Win 10.

 

[N&B4PSU]

Make sure your new computer has enough ram and processor power to run it well, or can be infuriating watching the little dots orbit in a little circle while you wait for whatever you're waiting for.

Unless you have some need for Windows 10, why bother? There are no significant feature improvements from Win 7, but the interface is different and entails a learning curve.

I've made my peace with Win 10 ( have a very fast new laptop) but I don't love it and it is definitely less stable than Win 7. Microsoft is still bug-fixing and crashes are much more common (which makes sense, Win 7 is mature).

If you want Win 10, you MUST have a relatively fast processor (core i5 or similar from last couple of years) and a minimum 8 gigs of ram, otherwise it is a slug. I'd also recommend replacing hard drive with an SSD if you want good performance.

Win 7 will be supported until 2020 I think. If you have a Win 7 computer that is working for you, especially if you're running older hardware and 4 GB of ram, don't bother with Win 10.

If you're buying a new computer it's going to come with Win 10 -- so make sure you have adequate hardware to run it well.

All good points. I went ot 10 and my life is a living hell. Whenever i open a second window, my mouse pointer makes like a crazy mouse and goies everywhere but where i want it.. i have to try and guess where it's headed and click and hope i click at the right point.. or something else opens. i've tried all the fixes and i see i'm not the only one with the problem. When i get some free time i'll make some changes to speed this up, but i strongly doubt my mouse problem will resolve. i could open 10 windows in 7 and never had an issue.

count me in as digusted.... of course, sooner or later we have to buy into it, so options are limited.

 

[scottpsurules]

I agree with this statement. Microsoft has already stopped mainstream support of Windows 7 and will discontinue security updates by 2020. Might as well make the change now for free as opposed to changing later and having to pay for it. Just make sure to learn how to turn off the roughly dozen privacy invading and advertising integration features that come with the new OS.

I plan to make the update on my machine before the end of July. My nephew recently did the upgrade and had no issues on his refurbished toshiba laptop that is 5 years old. My mother-in-law got the auto update this week and immediately reverted to Windows 7 b/c Windows 10 made her 7 year old laptop a p.i.t.a. to use, though that thing is on its last legs anyway so can't draw much of a conclusion on that one. The research I have done on my 5 year old Dell says that there's a 30% chance I might not have internet after the update since the mini-wifi card installed on my mobo may not work with Windows 10.

Any further insight you could offer on "Just make sure to learn how to turn off the roughly dozen privacy invading and advertising integration features that come with the new OS. " would be greatly appreciated

 

[emrtmakesshiteup]

Also been using it since day one. All of my programs and Firefox extensions worked and that was important to me. It is really fast. Of course I built this machine for speed (e.g. SSD and x64) before W10 arrived. I'm about as techie as a toad (building a PC is 90% mechanical and a very important 10% learning compatibility of components) and have know issues with it. Just make sure you download and install Classic Shell (for your start menu and it is free) and you won't even realize you left W7. Before you upgrade, backup your current state to a different drive, which you should be doing anyway, internal, external, DVD, USB, whatever! There are free programs. The best by far is Macrium Reflect. It never fails. I own it on this PC and my laptop but the free version will do you fine. Should you experience issues just google the problem and you'll find solutions. Good luck, although you don't really need it this late in the W10 upgrade game!

 

[drblue1977]

I thought the only reason MS gives you W10 for...........free, is to force you to subscribe to a compatible Office suite for a yearly fee. What a deal.

 

[Lion78]

Upgraded about 6 months ago. Works fine and is a bit quicker than 7 IMHO. Spent about a full day over a month tweaking the configuration of stuff when I came across something I didn't like.

 

[StL_lion]

I run windows 10 both at home (we have 4 laptops/pc's) and at work and am delighted with the functionality and superior performance. Running MS office 365 at home and MS Office 2013 at work. I do not do gaming. was previously running W7 and W8.1 and upgraded...at work I got a new W10 laptop. Edge Browser is very good and very fast. Cortina and functionality are nice....easy to find stuff and get to the right settings area. When I work from home I use VPN. If you liked desktop then this provided what MS should have done for desktop users...start button is back and fully operational...I make full use of both the list and the metro look on the new start page, combined with taskbar and desktop icons. I do not have a touch screen and find I do not want it...I do have tablets and for what I do on a tablet I like touch screen. I have not experienced any real problems...I am computer savy...some of the problems listed her are easily remedied by going to settings and making the change to your need/liking. As another poster mentioned...you will eventually have to go to w10 so now is the time since it is a free upgrade.

 

[StL_lion]

I thought the only reason MS gives you W10 for...........free, is to force you to subscribe to a compatible Office suite for a yearly fee. What a deal.

I have MS office 365..I like this model as I use it across 4 laptops/pc's...for $99/yr I get 5 full licenses that I control and I can upgrade to office 2016 at my convenience. I think it is a great deal for those with family pc license needs. also get great amount of cloud storage for free.

 

[canuckhal]

I like Windows 10. At first it ran really slow and then I turned off a bunch of stuff for privacy and not it runs fast. Haven't had any issues.

 

[Plan Ahaed]

Any further insight you could offer on "Just make sure to learn how to turn off the roughly dozen privacy invading and advertising integration features that come with the new OS. " would be greatly appreciated

Sure - to make a long story short Windows 10 includes a number of settings that track what you're doing as well as gather data to send targeted adds your way. You can google or youtube it to learn more, but here are a few articles from a quick google search. Mind you I don't have Windows 10, but there seems to be a large amount of people who have written about the invasive features of the OS.

http://www.techrepublic.com/article...y-default-heres-how-you-can-protect-yourself/

http://www.techradar.com/us/how-to/computing/how-to-use-windows-10-privacy-settings-132291

 

[PSUinMICH]

Just upgraded my home computer from 7 to 10. It took several hours but no problem with install and/or performance. It's free so no reason not to do it.

 

[Michael.Felli]

It's been out and free for almost a year but at the end of July it stops being free. I'd be interested to hear whether the people that downloaded it liked it. I did read someone say that their printer no longer worked after changing over to Windows 10 and that worries me. I don't use my printer very much but when I use it it's because I need it.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

I accidently accepted the upgrade. I got the black screen of death afterwards and freaked.

Had to call microsoft. When the update occured, I had my speakers and stuff plugged in, so when it rebooted, it didn't recognize them. So, once I unplugged everything, I was good to go.

I don't have any complaints with W10. But, I'm not a heavy user.

I would read up on troubleshooting BEFORE downloading so you know what to expect if you run into trouble.

 

[ThePennsyOracle]

Upgraded a few weeks ago and had no issues/have no complaints.

The IT department at work is now sending employees computers with W10 if they need a new machine.

 

[Wallace Breen]

It's been out and free for almost a year but at the end of July it stops being free. I'd be interested to hear whether the people that downloaded it liked it. I did read someone say that their printer no longer worked after changing over to Windows 10 and that worries me. I don't use my printer very much but when I use it it's because I need it.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Not bad, not great. Windows 7 is still the best operating system I have used and see no need to replace it.

 

[PhillipintheValley]

Got a Surface about 1.5 months ago with Windows 10. Running MS Office 2016, which I got for $49, using my educational discount, and am having no problems. Fast, intuitive, and bug free so far.

 

[PSUAlum]

It's interesting, that's what is claimed for Win 10 but I haven't seen it in my experience. I have upgraded a couple of older machines with poor results -- in one case went back to Win 7. If you don't have a ton of ram (8 GB), Win10 has so much bloat it overwhelms your ram and has to use the swap file so you hear your hard drive thrashing -- that's the sign that you're out of ram.

I have heard from my son that if you disable a lot of Win 10 features, such as Cortana, you can dramatically shrink the OS footprint.

So that might be the way to go if you're stuck with Win 10 on an older computer with only 4 Gigs of ram.

Another possibility, particularly if you have fast USB 3.0, you could put in a USB 3 jump drive and use the feature that allows you to use your jump drive as an OS cache -- which can speed things up a lot. I think that is still supported in Win 10.

You do not need 8 GB of RAM or even a processor that is within the last 5 years such as an i5 processor. Every computer that I have installed Win 10 on ran better than before upgrade. Win 10 is or can be a lighter OS than some previous Windows OS. I have installed it on 2 Dells at work that came with XP and are maxed out on RAM at 2 GB that are about 10 years old. Before XP End of Life, I upgraded them to Vista because I did not have enough Windows 7 licenses laying around. The 2 Dells ran like a dog with Vista with almost everything killed to run the best it could and used the speed boost feature using an USB thumb drive. I installed Windows 7 on them with the intent to upgrade to Windows 10. Windows 7 ran better than Vista, which I expected. Windows 10 runs better on these 2 Dells than XP, Vista, and Windows 7 without using the USB drive speed boost feature. I have always killed Cortana. Every computer that I upgraded had a SATA HDD in it. I have to upgrade a HP computer or 2 in the office that has more RAM than the Dells but are EIDE/PATA HDDs. It is possible that when I upgrade these 2 11+ yrs old machines that I will find these former XP boxes run like dogs because of the hard drive difference.

 

[83wuzme]

My printer quit working when I installed it, so I ended up removing it. It also seemed likel a clunky, needlessly complex mess. I didn't feel the need to change. I suppose Microsoft needs the money from a new product.

I've grown to really dislike the software industry, specifically Microsoft. They have what amounts to a monopoly. They force untested and often needless products on the public, then act surprised when people don't like them. The industry needs real competition. People accept lousiness because they are used to it. There used to be a servamt - master relationship between humans and technology. About 20 years ago, that began to change.

 

[thecoolestfish]

It's been out and free for almost a year but at the end of July it stops being free. I'd be interested to hear whether the people that downloaded it liked it. I did read someone say that their printer no longer worked after changing over to Windows 10 and that worries me. I don't use my printer very much but when I use it it's because I need it.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

A bazillion times better than that garbage OS iOS, fwiw.

 

[johnmpsu]

Microsoft tried to "upgrade" me to 10 without my permission on my desktop and tablet. Both updates failed. I made no attempt to find out why.

 

[Obliviax]

A bazillion times better than that garbage OS iOS, fwiw.

Totally disagree. Perhaps you come at it from a developers standpoint. But from a user's standpoint, Apple's OS (for the Mac) is lightyears ahead in terms of upgradability and usability. I converted, because I had to, about 18 months ago. It took me about 6 months to get used to it but love it now. My wife has a modern PC (solid state drive Asus). It boots in about ten seconds, which is nice. The only thing it has the the Mac doesn't have is touch screen...but that's clunky when you don't have a touch screen external monitor. (which is expensive as hell).

net/net, I'll take the Mac.

 

[psu1969a]

It's been out and free for almost a year but at the end of July it stops being free. I'd be interested to hear whether the people that downloaded it liked it. I did read someone say that their printer no longer worked after changing over to Windows 10 and that worries me. I don't use my printer very much but when I use it it's because I need it.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Get or stay with current OS. If you have 8.0 or 8.0 why end up paying for it when the new version is FREE!

 

[RobBliz]

Make the switch.. Windows 10 now displays BWI in thread view.

 

[tboyer]

You do not need 8 GB of RAM ......
Every computer that I upgraded had a SATA HDD in it.

I simply do not believe Win 10 is lighter unless you unpack a bunch of features and apps like Cortana as you have done.

I think the key to your post is SSDs (which are a great upgrade for any computer).

When an operating system runs out of ram, it doesn't crash, it creates virtual memory (swap file) on the hard drive. Both Windows and Mac do this. The problem is, a hard drive is about 100 times slower than ram, so if you have a lot of swapping going on with frequently used parts of the OS, you'll hear your hard drive thrashing and your computer will perform like a slug.

An SSD will typically be 10-20 times faster than a hard drive, still slower than memory but the effect of the swap file is much less pronounced. But using an SSD as a substitute for ram is not optimal in the long term since SSDs are not designed for huge numbers of writes and writes are relatively slow.

Really, given that SSDs are so cheap, I'd do an SSD upgrade before I'd upgrade ram. 128 GB SSDs are like $40 now and 250s are $60-70.
But ram upgrade is cheap too. Upgrading ram from 4 to 8 GB is typically only like $30.

So if you have a computer from the last 4-5 years, you can dramatically improve performance in ANY OS by spending about $100 on SSD and ram. they're both relatively easy to do yourself -- the trickiest thing is cloning your HD to the SSD. (and BTW you don't have to invest a lot in special brackets to mount the SSD in a desktop computer -- just use Velcro tape because SSDs are super light.

The smart way to run a computer is to back up your files on the cloud or a server in a different location. Keep your local copy of bulky files (video, music, photos) on an external drive (but always maintain at least two separate copies, and important things should be cloud backup).

If you do that, you probably will only need a 128G SSD. Though the 250G ones are so cheap, $60-$90, I'd probably buy that size now.

SSD brands do matter. Pay attention to the Amazon and Newegg reviews. Samsung SSDs are generally recognized as the best but they're 40-50% more expensive than other brands. Kingston, Crucial, Sandisk, Adata and PNY are all selling a ton of them and doing a good job. Adata and the Kingston SSDnow line are super cheap and extremely popular.

I think SSD failure rates -- even for the cheapest brands -- are already lower than HD failure rates. But obviously, back up or build yourself a RAID.

You do not need 8 GB of RAM or even a processor that is within the last 5 years such as an i5 processor. Every computer that I have installed Win 10 on ran better than before upgrade. Win 10 is or can be a lighter OS than some previous Windows OS. I have installed it on 2 Dells at work that came with XP and are maxed out on RAM at 2 GB that are about 10 years old. Before XP End of Life, I upgraded them to Vista because I did not have enough Windows 7 licenses laying around. The 2 Dells ran like a dog with Vista with almost everything killed to run the best it could and used the speed boost feature using an USB thumb drive. I installed Windows 7 on them with the intent to upgrade to Windows 10. Windows 7 ran better than Vista, which I expected. Windows 10 runs better on these 2 Dells than XP, Vista, and Windows 7 without using the USB drive speed boost feature. I have always killed Cortana. Every computer that I upgraded had a SATA HDD in it. I have to upgrade a HP computer or 2 in the office that has more RAM than the Dells but are EIDE/PATA HDDs. It is possible that when I upgrade these 2 11+ yrs old machines that I will find these former XP boxes run like dogs because of the hard drive difference.

 

[GregInPitt]

"worth getting" ????

If you are happy with your current version and your computer is serving your needs why waste the money?

On the other hand, when your computer craps out and you go out to replace it, you will almost certainly get a W10 computer.....