Does Windows 10 attract or repel you?

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nissimezra

Level 25
Verified
Apr 3, 2014
1,460
No problem. As for this right here, I'm not too sure. I know that my OEM is not embedded into my PC but I have another newer PC that came with Windows 8 with an OEM key which does have it's key embedded onto it however I was able to activate Windows 8 on another computer with that key. I think OEM keys can be put on any computer as long as the brand matches. Both computer I did this on were HP. Seems to be purely motherboard related. Although I think when a key is embedded, it probably activates by itself using that key without user intervention but I'm not sure.

For me, Windows 10 RTM is working perfectly (using it right now) so I doubt I'll be restoring Windows 7. Only problem I have is AV support. Good thing is, the 29th is very close and won't have to wait long at all to get the support that I need. Right now, I'm waiting for ESET to support Windows 10. Even the beta doesn't work without problems.

I agree with you about Windows 8. I highly doubt anyone who has that will not want Windows 10 more. It's faster and more stable for me than Windows 8 ever was. I have no experience upgrading to 10 from 8. I have too many problems with 8 to have used it for long. That PC that came with 8 preinstalled I downgraded to Windows 7 Home using an old OEM key from another HP.
Many thanks for the info.
 
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MrXidus

Super Moderator (Leave of absence)
Apr 17, 2011
2,503
Sharing a little feedback/my own opinion on my use of Windows 10 RTM x64 [10240] as my main OS since Saturday 18th July 2015:

The information shared here is purely my own opinion, you have every right to disagree or say otherwise, I kindly ask that your comments regarding anything I've said here to be constructive if negative. Don't mind any spelling mistakes as I typed this quickly, point them out and I will correct them. Cheers.


The good:

Overall it feels and behaves very fast, responsive and fluid and has been stable for me.
I'm a multitasking power user that clicks around every fast and generally has a big handful of windows and applications open, the system can keep up with me with no stalling which is a good thing as nothing is more frustrating then feeling like you're too fast for the OS.

I'm not even on a SSD (I'm on a 1TB SSHD) so for those that are I can picture them being very pleased with speed and response, start up time and cold starts of various applications etc because as for me right now all is fast and responsive in this regard.

Since our systems/hardware are all different your results may vary and instead of taking my word for it you'll have to try it on your own system (I suggest a real install and not base your opinion off a virtual machine installed Windows 10) to either agree with me, call it placebo or share bad news.

So far for me it's been nothing but smooth sailing and positive usage, I don't have anything that's making me want to go back to Windows 8.1 and until a big enough issue/reason arises I can see myself staying on Windows 10 for the future, I have all the software and applications I need installed and they're working fine. Testing a few games too which no trouble.

Regarding privacy concerns, I did not Express install Windows 10 and instead I checked "No" for all the "data snooping" options.
I use Windows Firewall Control with strict settings/notifications/wiped Windows default firewall rules and instead started building my own rules list: What this had allowed me is essentially full control over what software & system services are allowed to access the internet, up here I have full control I like to think and so far I have witnessed alot of attempted outbound connections to Microsoft IPs and since I only need my web browser / VPN accessing the internet these attempts get blocked as I don't need them getting internet access. I don't use OneDrive or have Skype installed. I have also done a various number of other edits to change / stop forced data feedback imposed by Microsoft / Windows Defender.

I'm curious to see if the public retail release will allow the data feedback option to be disabled easily without having to hack away at the system to force it off, using firewalls, etc.

For more information and about Telemetry and what else I've done to disable data collection features.
Read the "Windows Changes" information in my configuration.

">implying you can opt out of the botnet.
you cant disable the nsa backdoor in the kernel ;^)"
- /g/


;^)

The not so good:

Edge:
- While various benchmarks show Edge to be a top score performing browser right now, personally it's not my type of browser, I use Cyberfox x64 for reason and that is add-ons, I have over 40 add-ons installed that make browsing the web usable and feature rich for me personally and that includes uBlock Original and various privacy add-ons and changes to about:config.
I did however enjoy testing Edge on my 10-point touch screen and with its large buttons and spaced dropdown menus keeps it easy and simple to use.
I just find Edge, right now in its current state is too minimal for me and lacks features a power user like me needs and use.
None the less I did find Edge to be very quick with loading webpages that I was happy with and I'm not claiming Edge to be bad or unusable, just not feature rich for me personally or enough reasons / pros to use it over Cyberfox x64 for example.

New Start Menu:
- Being un-able to pin shortcuts/applications to the very left menu, this was something I could back on the Windows 7 start menu but can't do here even though it seems like one should be able too. For now it only shows recently used applications in the said space.
Besides that I do not have a use for tiles and the modern apps, the other tile I actually find useful to me personally is the weather and news (customized with tech feeds and local news). The rest of the modern apps are un-pinned and replaced with my own installed applications. Due to this I have been looking at 3rd party software such as StartIsBack++ for Windows 10 as I think I'm more suited for the Windows 7 style start menu. Besides this though I have found the Windows 10 Start Menu to maybe be a little lack luster in terms of options and features for power users rather than the average joe / consumer and would have liked something a little more better.

Forced Updates:
- "Check for updates but let me choose what to download", this is what I always used on Windows 7 / Windows 8.1 and seeing this option gone doesn't do well by me, While I've already read and seen both sides of the arguments to why this is good and why this is bad, to me personally, being advanced and a power user I don't need Microsoft being my Nanny.

Because of this I have the Windows Update service disabled.
We've seen the past, various updates released and installed automatically breaking peoples systems, reboot loops, BSODs and other problems that arise, this why I much prefer waiting for majority or the Microsoft Insiders to basically be genuine pigs, test the updates and wait to see that there isn't widespread reports of a certain update breaking systems as there has been in the past.

Microsoft also provides very lack worthy descriptions for the updates they release and I would much prefer detailed information on exact what each update does/adds/fixes/etc and I do miss the classic Windows Update window over the built-in to Settings one that we have now. I personally find this to be a double edged sword, for now though I have installed the latest security updates for Windows 10 so don't think that I'm leaving myself vulnerable by not gobbling up every update Microsoft pushes out without even knowing what they do. In future I may look into 3rd party freeware (such as WUD, WSUS, WHDownloader but supporting Windows 10) to manually download selected updates and install them.

Windows 10 Hero Wallpaper as the sign in background:
- Disappointing this can't be changed easily in Settings. Instead one has to look to 3rd party tools to force this to be changed. (MyDigitalLife Windows 10 Forums have a GUI tool in development that uses a PowerShell script to change this, I haven't tried this so I can't say if it will work for everyone or not, use at your own risk and backup first.)


Other:

Notification Side Bar:
- To be honest I haven't used it barely at all nor had reason so no comment in regards to real usage. I'm sure if I used plenty of modern apps and social apps such as Facebook/Email/Skype/OneDrive etc there would be more notifications on the sidebar showing.

Task View: ALT-TAB is basically the same thing but none the less I use it as much as I did on Windows 7 / 8.1.

Virtual Desktops:
- Being a multitasking power user often with many windows, applications open at once I'm actually find this feature helpful and useful and have been using it more than I thought I would. Yes there have been 3rd party tools and even an official Sysinternal tool available for a long time that has allowed Windows 7/8.1 users (and various GNU/Linux distros have always had it too) to use this but I haven't used virtual desktops up until this point nor considered them that handy until now. Gimmick? Up to you.

New Control Panel "Settings":
- Done the job so far for basic actions and settings I wanted to change, how ever for the more technical stuff I had to use the classic Control Panel and for the even more technical settings I had to use Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) as the settings aren't available for the user to change in Settings and fair enough, wouldn't want Average Joe or Marry messing up his system playing around with potentially system wrecking settings.

Windowed Modern Apps:
- I'm liking this, applied to Settings window aswell, though I don't use modern apps I can see how much better from a usability point this is rather than forced full screen, especially to those on a keyboard/mouse and don't need their entire screen real-estate being taken up.

New Icons:
- If you seen the early versions, they were too bright or oddly shaped. I personally find the new icons fine, even so they're basically just the flatter variants of their predecessors I have no complaints, atleast they aren't a super bright eyesore as they were before as seen in the earlier Insider Builds.
Inconsistency is the main factor I dislike. There are still plenty of remnants to Vista/Windows 7 Aero icons and still tools such as Regedit still uses the same ancient icon, plenty of options in the classic Control Panel still are a mix of these with modern/flat icons, me being a hobbyist UI designer as some of you may know this is something that can "trigger" me to say and of course I wish every icon was modernized system wide. Consistency!

Search Box on taskbar/Cortana:
- I have no use for Cortana and have her disabled and the "Search the web"/"Search online and include Web results" functions disabled.
I only use it to search my installed applications and files and regarding that searches are working fine, on Windows 8.1 I often experienced slow results, this doesn't seem to be the case here.

Shadow Defender:
- (The newest Windows 10 compatible release), I've tested and used this just fine with no BSODs.
Changes were saved to 8GB of RAM and flushed on restart. I do not ever use Shadow Defender for testing malware, instead I prefer testing malicious software inside of VMWare Workstation regardless of some malware being VM/Sandboxie aware.

Problems I've experienced so far:

- NVIDIA Graphics Driver crashes when using MadVR in MPC-BE. I didn't experience this problem back on Windows 8.1.
I don't know if MPC-BE is to blame, MadVR or the NVIDIA Driver itself, for now I've disabled MadVR. I've recently installed PotPlayer x64 for a trial run. I'm keeping an eye out for new beta drivers for Windows 10.

- Explorer Error Message: (explorer.exe restarts itself), only had this happen twice since installing Windows 10, I don't know what causes this or how to replicate. Windows Error Log doesn't provide helpful information.
My guess is a program such as 7-Zip context menus or another program that's added context menu items is causing it.
Will use 2 tools from Sysinternals to disable items that might be causing it / in 7-Zip settings disable context menu if needed.

- PC shuts down (not Sleep) when I close the laptop lid, this might just be related to my laptop, In settings I have 'Choose what happens when I close the lid' set to Nothing yet closing the lid still shut downs my laptop. I'm looking into this but for now I just keep my laptop lid open a little. if you have a laptop I'd be greatful if you could test this for me, does it happen to you on your laptop with Windows 10 [10240]?

No other problems to report, like I said it's been smooth sailing so far and I'm liking Windows 10 overall, if you have any questions feel free to ask and I'll answer if possible, I might have missed something I would have otherwise shared here.

tl;dr:
Does Windows 10 attract or repel you?
For now I stay attracted so long as Windows 10 on my system stays stable and fast.
Thanks.
 

jamescv7

Level 85
Verified
Honorary Member
Mar 15, 2011
13,070
the bigest problem is the automatic update that can not be stopped, I install a lot of operating system and I just dont have enough bandwidth for all of them. I will need to find a way to disable it.

Well that argument is still valid, however its up to the Microsoft how they will implement it again; as far it concerns still not an official version therefore those Windows Insiders user may continue to provide feedbacks. ;)

It sounds a little dire. What if I’m on a l0w-bandwidth or capped Internet connection, and the unavoidable updates use up my precious data? More likely, what if an update breaks something or flat-out doesn’t work?

But don’t panic. Those concerns do exist, and they’re valid. But also remember that Microsoft has five million people in its Windows Insider program testing updates and features ahead of time and giving feedback.

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/windows-10-automatic-updates-dont-panic-2015-7
 
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MrXidus

Super Moderator (Leave of absence)
Apr 17, 2011
2,503
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Thread author
yep faced it. but explorer always restart a second after , so not big deal.
 

Rolo

Level 18
Verified
Jun 14, 2015
857
I like it but, heh, 2 days prior to whatever Microsoft defines as "launch", it isn't finished. Releasing unfinished, buggy, forget-about-polish software is quite common these days.

Disabling driver updates doesn't work. No, I do not like having my video driver forcibly uninstalled, reinstalled with options I don't want, lacking options I do want, and removing my second monitor. My IP feedback was, "Knock it off or Win7 (the new xp) it is until 2020".
 

Cch123

Level 7
Verified
May 6, 2014
335
It would be unfair to say that there are only cosmetic changes to Windows 10. There are a lot of under the hood security changes, and I will list some of that I can think of at the top of my mind here:

1. You need a Microsoft signed file to run drivers on x64 Win10. Basically software developers will need to register with Microsoft and submit their software to MS to get it signed. More details here: https://www.osr.com/blog/2015/03/18/microsoft-signatures-required-km-drivers-windows-10/
This will defeat entire class of kernel rootkits. Now only the most technically sophisticated threat actors can even run kernel rootkits on win64. There are still ways to do this though.
2. MS introduced the new ProcessFontDisablePolicy, called from SetProcessMitigationPolicy(). In non technical terms, you can block untrusted/non-system fonts to prevent kernel exploits. (Chrome uses this on Win10)
 
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PrMi

Level 3
Verified
Aug 25, 2014
115
I would say both.
Attract- The new features, the look and cortana.
Repel- Last version of Windows, minimal theme, forced updates, and maybe driver problems.
 

Rolo

Level 18
Verified
Jun 14, 2015
857
You need a Microsoft signed file to run drivers on x64 Win10.
Oh, man....I thought I stumbled into an Apple forum on accident! (cue Imperial March theme music) :eek:

Attract- The new features, the look and cortana.
Repel- Last version of Windows, minimal theme, forced updates, and maybe driver problems.
hehe...this is too funny and why Microsoft, et. al. need to understand "provide options" as my UX is completely different:
  • I like the look too but I wish it weren't so schizophrenic
  • Hello, Cortana, take a memo for Microsoft. Dear Microsoft, since your products reflect a blind spot, let me point you to Google. If you're going to compete with Google, you should seriously consider making a finished product that performs same-or-better service as already enjoyed by millions of Google users. Sincerely,
  • "Last" version of Windows. Cortana, take a memo to Microsoft marketing. Dear Marketing Department, Knock it off. Sincerely, (this isn't the "last" version of Windows unless they're ceasing development all together, which I seriously doubt.
  • I am fine with forced security updates but that's not what they are doing; I'm with you on that. (raise volume of Imperial March theme)
heh...been watching a lot of "Crash Course" on YouTube lately...hence the "Open letter" dealie...
 

jn2002dk

Level 1
Jul 24, 2015
14
That guy sounds like he has already made up his mind. Not a good quality in a reviewer;)

Personaly, i will upgrade in a few months. Once i have read about any major flaws or software conflicts

Then again i like Windows 8 so i dont see why i wouldnt like 10

If they start charging a monthly sub for it down the line however, i will ditch it as soon as possible
 

Rolo

Level 18
Verified
Jun 14, 2015
857
The guy the original post is quoting
Oh that guy...heh

Maybe...but after using 10 for a couple of months, I agree with his observations completely...especially the bit about the live tiles: until I deleted all of them, they made me anxious and they made me remember the TV viewing in the movie, Idiocracy. That and the advertisements that were in the metro modern apps. I think the purpose of insiders is to see what users are willing to tolerate.

For me, the honeymoon is over and Win10's annoyances have surfaced and I find myself thinking, "But this wasn't a hassle in Win7..." and am on the fence with upgrading anytime soon--mainly due to updates and DRM.
 

jn2002dk

Level 1
Jul 24, 2015
14
Oh that guy...heh

Maybe...but after using 10 for a couple of months, I agree with his observations completely...especially the bit about the live tiles: until I deleted all of them, they made me anxious and they made me remember the TV viewing in the movie, Idiocracy. That and the advertisements that were in the metro modern apps. I think the purpose of insiders is to see what users are willing to tolerate.

For me, the honeymoon is over and Win10's annoyances have surfaced and I find myself thinking, "But this wasn't a hassle in Win7..." and am on the fence with upgrading anytime soon--mainly due to updates and DRM.
I have not tried it myself so i cannot say if he is right or wrong, only that a reviewer should strive to be as objective as possible

The tiles, are they the ones on the start screen like in 8 or in the revamped start menu?

At any rate i am sure there will be a registry tweak or a small piece of software to remove them

I am mostly worried that they are switching from releasing major OS versions to an ever changing one so they can charge a subscription down the line

The UI can be tweaked, i care more about optimization, stability and security in my OS
 

Rolo

Level 18
Verified
Jun 14, 2015
857
I can't say he was biased or unobjective.

The tiles are in both start menu and full-screen (aren't they the same tiles in 8? I don't know, I've not used 8 for more than like 15 minutes) and if you turn on the live attribute, they're pretty epileptic seizure-inducing. It's all click-bait (unless you're a news junkie or whatever then I suppose it's your fancy...). It's no big deal since one can turn them off/remove them (unless they show up again like earlier updates) but it does give the initial impression of "tacky".

Don't rely on registry tweaks or group policy: some I've tried were either not working or locked out. Then there's the whole "Well I could do this easily in Win7" argument that leaves me thinking that, in Microsoft terms, 7 > 8 > 10.

Subscription, advertisements (they're gone for now but I'm expecting a "boiling frog" approach) and other monetizing the OS concerns me also. At this point, my dream machine would run Android KitKat with DirectX.

I'm with you on performance and stability; the former being threatened by bloat and M$ lockdowns (whether by removal of options or Admin not really being Admin but almost Admin) and the latter being threatened by a rushed release and forced updates that are also rushed.
 

Malware1

Level 76
Sep 28, 2011
6,545
Is Windows 10 going to install Optional updates automatically too?
I experienced many issues after installing driver updates from Windows Update, waking up from sleep stopped working on one device (black screen), on another device: after installing a graphics driver update Metro apps weren't able to play videos anymore. Everything was solved after I uninstalled the drivers.
I hope there will be a working way to disable Windows Update once Windows 10 is released and Windows won't protect itself from it, maybe by editing the hosts file or stopping the service.
 
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