Windows 10, should I upgrade?

[Deleted]

If you do upgrade to Windows 10 make sure to turn off everything in the privacy section of settings. Micro$oft wants to share your info as well as other apps. It is also best to have a local router so you can set the firewall outbound policies to only allow certain traffic through. This also helps against Micro$oft from gathering info and sending it to themselves.

[teaman]

Jul 16, 2016 12:10:06 GMT -5 novisnick said:

Jul 16, 2016 12:06:56 GMT -5 teaman said:

I just upgraded mine last week and so far so good. I am not crazy about the 10 version but if you don't like it I believe the return to 8.1 or whatever is fairly easy.

I believe you only have 30 days to go back to the previous version.

When I bought my new Dell PC last month they also sent the 8.1 restore disc with purchase.

[wilburthegoose]

It's a no-brainer to upgrade. Win 10 is MUCH more secure.

[wilburthegoose]

Jul 16, 2016 13:40:21 GMT -5 DavidR said:

I agree that XP was a winner. Easy to use for just about anyone. That's why so many people are still using it. The new OS built for Tablets and PC just sucks for work use. All that clutter from the Tablet crap.

Today, Windows XP is incredibly dangerous to use if you're on a network.  It hasn't been patched for over 2 years, and the attackers know how to exploit it.

[copperpipe]

Jul 16, 2016 12:54:16 GMT -5 knucklehead said:

The only reason I boot into Win 7 any more is to use the 2015 Nero Premium DVD/CD/BR authoring software - and only because Linux has no equivalent. There are a couple of shells that allow you to run software such as Nero inside Linux but its too much of a kludge - it takes only minutes to switch. Best of all there is no anti-virus to have to buy since Linux was built with security in mind. I've had zero problems with it in the 6-7 months I've been using it.

knucklehead, I mostly agree with your post, but the burning stuff isn't really accurate. Linux has great tools for burning. Brasero (from Gnome desktop) and K3B (from KDE desktop) should do the trick nicely; brasero has a nicer interface and is easier to use, K3b is more powerful and has more features, but either should work well. Failing that, you can do any sort of burning or dvd authoring on the command line using an assortment of commands.

But to your point about lack of apps... the biggest missing piece for most people might be photoshop, or a financial package like quickbooks. Of course there are tools that sort of perform those functions on linux, but they are not nearly as advanced and people might have to learn a new program of course (the horrors!)

[spence]

I had my Ver. 8.1 PC set to auto-upgrade/auto-install and when I wasn't looking, it installed Win 10. I played with it for a while and then reverted to 8.1. When you go back, you lose many of the customizing you have so carefully set up. I had to spend significant time getting back to where I had been, so be warned: you can't just restore everything the way it was and you do have only 30 days to go back. I have since changed how I download upgrades and nothing is installed automatically. In addition, since I don't trust MS, I have installed a monitoring program that prevents this from happening again: GWX Control Panel. It's free and it works.

[knucklehead]

Jul 16, 2016 17:07:49 GMT -5 copperpipe said:

Jul 16, 2016 12:54:16 GMT -5 knucklehead said:

The only reason I boot into Win 7 any more is to use the 2015 Nero Premium DVD/CD/BR authoring software - and only because Linux has no equivalent. There are a couple of shells that allow you to run software such as Nero inside Linux but its too much of a kludge - it takes only minutes to switch. Best of all there is no anti-virus to have to buy since Linux was built with security in mind. I've had zero problems with it in the 6-7 months I've been using it.

knucklehead, I mostly agree with your post, but the burning stuff isn't really accurate. Linux has great tools for burning. Brasero (from Gnome desktop) and K3B (from KDE desktop) should do the trick nicely; brasero has a nicer interface and is easier to use, K3b is more powerful and has more features, but either should work well. Failing that, you can do any sort of burning or dvd authoring on the command line using an assortment of commands.

But to your point about lack of apps... the biggest missing piece for most people might be photoshop, or a financial package like quickbooks. Of course there are tools that sort of perform those functions on linux, but they are not nearly as advanced and people might have to learn a new program of course (the horrors!)

I have Brasero installed. I've used it a few times and it works fine to copy a CD or DVD but it does not have near the features that Nero has. As for command line - forget it! That's why I waited so long to move to Linux in the first place. I know command line from my days of programming IBM S-34 & S-38 using IBM's command line interface - and even earlier with a Burroughs B-1800 with it's Unix command line. Those had no graphical user interface (GUI). I worked in the IT environment for 6 years programming primarily in COBOL and some RPG/RPGII - and some JCL too.

I've forgotten a lot - and I'm not going to re-learn any of that. Give me a window interface and I'm fine.

[AudioHTIT]

While I generally echo Porscheguy's comment above, I understand Mac's aren't for everyone and everything. Along with my Mac's I have a Windows boot partition on my MacBook and installed Windows 10 on it almost a year ago. I think it's the best performing Windows to date. Sure it takes a bit to learn some of the changes, but it's not that different and the performance, additional drivers, and new features more than make up for the changes. Certainly there have been some versions of Windows to skip (Vista, 8.x), but Windows 10 is a definite winner, do it and don't look back.

[novisnick]

Jul 16, 2016 18:10:36 GMT -5 AudioHTIT said:

While I generally echo Porscheguy 's comment above, I understand Mac's aren't for everyone and everything. Along with my Mac's I have a Windows boot partition on my MacBook and installed Windows 10 on it almost a year ago. I think it's the best performing Windows to date. Sure it takes a bit to learn some of the changes, but it's not that different and the performance, additional drivers, and new features more than make up for the changes. Certainly there have been some versions of Windows to skip (Vista, 8.x), but Windows 10 is a definite winner, do it and don't look back.

Thanks, this may be one of the most helpful posts of all.

[novisnick]

I had purchased a laptop with 8.1 and immediately upgraded to 10 and didn't find it much fun with all the pop-ups and apps and such. Any more advice would be welcome.

[cwmcobra]

Just installed it on my laptop and like it. Upgraded from Win 8.1. I have a SSD boot drive, so don't notice much difference in boot times, but it's clear that the browser is faster and more responsive. So it's a keeper for me.

I'm in the process of upgrading a family member's old laptop. It was using Vista OS and I had to upgrade it to Win 7 (using a spare install disc that I had) and then to Win 10 because MS doesn't offer free upgrade from Vista to Win 10. The only problem so far is that Intel hasn't released a graphics driver for the old hardware that works with Win 10. I haven't given up, but Gar is right, the drivers are a pain.

I can see why Win 7 users might not be impressed because it's a big change in look, feel and location of features. But from Win 8.1 to 10 the feel is nearly the same for me.

Chuck

[AudioHTIT]

Also as WarpedMind alluded above, take some extra time with the upgrade. There is a step where it will encourage you to choose the "Express" settings, don't do it, look at the bottom of the page for the Advanced or Custom settings. Uncheck the options that use your machine to upgrade other machines not on your network (yeah, the default is to eat up your uplink). Also uncheck the app user sharing WM mentions. Just go though all the options and don't take "Express" shortcuts.

[novisnick]

Jul 16, 2016 18:26:42 GMT -5 AudioHTIT said:

Also as WarpedMind alluded above, take some extra time with the upgrade. There is a step where it will encourage you to choose the "Express" settings, don't do it, look at the bottom of the page for the Advanced or Custom settings. Uncheck the options that use your machine to upgrade other machines not on your network (yeah, the default it to eat up your uplink). Also uncheck the app user sharing WM mentions. Just go though all the options and don't take "Express" shortcuts.

Thanks my friend, I missed WarpedMind s suggestion!!

thanks WarpedMind!!!

I feel much more comfortable about moving ahead!

[DavidR]

Jul 16, 2016 18:18:54 GMT -5 cwmcobra said:

Just installed it on my laptop and like it. Upgraded from Win 8.1. I have a SSD boot drive, so don't notice much difference in boot times, but it's clear that the browser is faster and more responsive. So it's a keeper for me.

I'm in the process of upgrading a family member's old laptop. It was using Vista OS and I had to upgrade it to Win 7 (using a spare install disc that I had) and then to Win 10 because MS doesn't offer free upgrade from Vista to Win 10. The only problem so far is that Intel hasn't released a graphics driver for the old hardware that works with Win 10. I haven't given up, but Gar is right, the drivers are a pain.

I can see why Win 7 users might not be impressed because it's a big change in look, feel and location of features. But from Win 8.1 to 10 the feel is nearly the same for me.

Chuck

Very true. MS has total lack of continuity from OS to OS

Yes, what is good about 8 is better with 10 and what sucks with Win8 still sucks with Win10

[bitsandbytes]

Jul 16, 2016 15:40:30 GMT -5 wilburthegoose said:

Jul 16, 2016 13:40:21 GMT -5 DavidR said:

I agree that XP was a winner. Easy to use for just about anyone. That's why so many people are still using it. The new OS built for Tablets and PC just sucks for work use. All that clutter from the Tablet crap.

Today, Windows XP is incredibly dangerous to use if you're on a network.  It hasn't been patched for over 2 years, and the attackers know how to exploit it.

I am using Windows Vista on my tower computer. I use separate antivirus and antispyware programs from different companies - so the Windows Defender antivirus is disabled since only one antivirus program should be used at a time. If I am being protected from viruses, spyware and being hacked, what exactly was Windows support protecting me from?

Windows Vista has become inconvenient when using Google Chrome because they add pop up windows now and no longer save the preferences for Windows Vista and XP users. Other than that, Vista fits my needs perfectly.

Another consideration is that a Windows 7, 8.0 or 8.1 license is required to upgrade to Windows 10 for free.

This is a link on operating system use. It shows Windows 10 has 19% of the market while Windows 7 has 49% market share and Windows 8.1 - 8% and Windows 8 - 2%. If Windows 10 is so great, whey does Microsoft have such difficulty giving it away for free?

www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0&qpcustomb=

That being said, I will attempt to upgrade my laptop from Windows 7 to Windows 10 since they will charge $119.00 after July 29th to upgrade - and they plan to stop supporting Windows 7 in 2020 (and Windows 8.1 in 2023).

Walt

[Deleted]

Jul 16, 2016 18:18:54 GMT -5 cwmcobra said:

I'm in the process of upgrading a family member's old laptop. It was using Vista OS and I had to upgrade it to Win 7 (using a spare install disc that I had) and then to Win 10 because MS doesn't offer free upgrade from Vista to Win 10. The only problem so far is that Intel hasn't released a graphics driver for the old hardware that works with Win 10. I haven't given up, but Gar is right, the drivers are a pain.
Chuck

Which model is the Intel video card in the laptop? Also make sure the laptop is running the most current bios firmware. Some of the older laptops require a bios update to work correctly with the newer operating systems.

[LCSeminole]

A computer expert friend of mine had me make an image of Windows 7 before I installed Windows 10 to make it easy to revert back. My Windows 7 laptop also had a disc backup feature to burn a backup installation disc. The software key will always be valid as it's assigned to your particular machine so upgrading to Windows 10 would be no different in this regards.

[geebo]

Windows 7 was my favorite Windows until 10.

[yves]

I voted "other" because there are still a few wrinkles to be ironed out IMO, and some need to be ironed out by using a 10 lbs. hammer.

First, use the bootable CD of Acronis True Image 2016 (or similar) to create an image of your whole system partition (and other important partitions, if any). The article linked below states that you can revert back reliably from Windows 10 to your previous Windows installation after the free Windows 10 upgrade, but as others have stated, the actual reality is that this roll-back procedure may turn out unreliable so that's why I recommend people to simply create a reliable image of their own, just to be safe.
www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-lock-in-your-free-windows-10-upgrade-and-keep-using-your-old-windows-version/
After the free upgrade is complete, toy around with it some. Take control over Windows Update automatic updates if you like, but remember, blocking critical security updates from automatically being installed is not a very wise thing to do.
betanews.com/2016/02/22/control-windows-10-updates/
If you don't like spies, discover that there are ways to disable those, too.
www.thewindowsclub.com/ultimate-windows-tweaker-4-windows-10
Should you decide to revert back, you can now do it reliably, and you can still decide to make the switch to Windows 10 again later. (Even, after 29 July if that's what you prefer).

[hemster]

Jul 16, 2016 19:31:09 GMT -5 geebo said:

Windows 7 was my favorite Windows until 10.

^This. It gave a fresh overhaul to XP but Windows  was a disaster and I'm glad I avoided it. Windows 10 thus far has been a very positive experience for me. As always, YMMV...