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[rickyson1]

it always amazes me just how hated windows 8 is

like yeah it looks ugly and such,that's why you use classic shell

 

[emag]

it always amazes me just how hated windows 8 is

like yeah it looks ugly and such,that's why you use classic shell

On my Windows 10 convertible in tablet mode, you can actually see the desktop being drawn when you minimize/close a window before the Windows 8-like tablet interface pops up. Microsoft just can't nail the start menu/screen.

Also, search has been borked on all of my Windows 10 machines, whether Cortana is activated or not (even "fully" disabled in lieu of classic search via RegEdit on my desktop). On one machine, the indexing just stopped at some point and newer programs won't show up. On another, the search results display properly, but neither hitting Enter/Return nor left-clicking to launch the selected search results has any effect. On yet another, everything "works" but the search process is incredibly slow.

 

[isamu]

As a Windows 7 user, which version of Windows 10 do you guys suggest upgrading to and why? Enterprise? Pro? Home?

 

[Blizzard]

Speaking of search, it always amazed me that there wasn't a power user option to be like NO KIDDING, I REALLY WANT TO SEARCH ALL THE FILES IN THIS DIRECTORY AND SUBFOLDERS, I DON'T CARE IF IT'S SLOW, PLEASE SERIOUSLY JUST DO IT.

Like, I could use "findstr /S" from the command line and get files that search wouldn't get, even with indexing explicitly enabled on a certain directory. I guess findstr sort of IS the power user option, but I think that's been a hassle since Windows 7.

I have to think back to Windows XP to remember a search that truly let you use brute force if you wanted to.

 

[soxinthebox]

Coming from Mac OS the most baffling thing to me is the settings menu. Have of the menus are windows 10 styles while half of them look straight out of XP. It's irrational but those inconsistencies are annoying as fuck.

 

[secretanchitman]

My thoughts on 10 after messing with for the last year:

-Lots of intrusive apps/stuff wanting data uploaded to Microsoft.
You can disable a lot of it, but you can't truly turn it off without breaking some stuff.

-10 REALLY wants to push Edge on you. Edge also sucks pretty hard for a browser.
Edge seems to be built directly into the OS, so if you try to forcefully remove it, it'll cause problems. Or it'll just pop right back up!
Also, I noticed for the 1703 update if you're still using IE11, they added a button so you can open up a webpage in Edge. lol
(Good thing is that you don't have to use it, nor should you.)

-Customization Options were made a lot worse than 7. Back in 7, it was pretty easy to make changes to the Default Profile and make changes across all created Accounts.
For some obtuse reason, they made this MUCH harder in 10. (This is mostly in regards to Network Accounts.)
There's some things you just can't apply to all Accounts period for no reason.

-Group Policies were also kinda borked for some reason. Like they removed/modified existing policies that were in 7 and worked fine, but decided not to put them in 10.
MS says you can recreate those policies, but I haven't really seen a way to do this yet.

-Forceful Updates: People have brought this up in other threads, but 10 really wants you to run updates.
So much so that if you refuse to apply updates a number of times, it'll forcefully restart your computer if you're in the middle of something.
You can avoid some of it if you modify some of the Update settings (like your "busy" hours), but it's gonna push those updates one way or another.
(This is kind of a good/bad thing; good in that updates do need to be applied, but bad in that it can potentially ruin something you're working on.)

-Dueling UIs; MS pulled this shit with 8 and it returns with 10.
There's your Settings UI from 7 which still remains, but then they added a second UI that is 10's, but the two styles are so different.
Sometimes they try to manage the same things, and other times, only one has what you're actually looking for.
Like they couldn't agree on which one to use, so they put both in. Pretty sloppy from my point of view.

Personally, I don't really care for 10. Optimized, it runs pretty well, but getting to that point is another story.
Frankly, it does a lot of pretty shitty stuff I don't really agree with. I can say it's better than the clusterfuck that 8 was. But I still prefer 7 for now.

Great post and well said - agreed with everything you mentioned. I use macOS as my main o/s and W10 for games only.

I would stick with Windows 7 but W10 is just a lot better with Retina/Hi-DPI displays on my MacBook Pro. When I build my new machine next year, I would rather go with Windows 7 but I believe Kaby Lake and beyond only supports W10 officially.

 

[emag]

As a Windows 7 user, which version of Windows 10 do you guys suggest upgrading to and why? Enterprise? Pro? Home?

Enterprise is always best, as it gives you the greatest level of control over the system and the most features. Pro, similarly, is always better than Home.

The only question is whether the monetary cost is worth it, and that's very dependent upon your personal situation.

 

[kruis]

It's a bunch of potential conflicts and broken software in exchange for no meaningful benefit at all.

Every update restart brings fresh worry that something new is going to malfunction or some new "feature" they added is going to conflict with something you want or need to use. I've had Windows 10 updates break things that worked perfectly for several years. In the last big update for example, borderless fullscreen started tearing in games that had never torn in the mode ever before. I had to figure out how to disable "full screen optimizations" at the executable level to fix it. A new "feature" added in August.

In exchange for these worries and headaches I've had, I've received...nothing on the positive side that I didn't have with Windows 7 or 8. My computer is not faster (it was already fast with an SSD). My computer isn't quieter. My computer doesn't open applications faster. Applications and hardware are not more likely to be compatible with my system. Virtual Desktops are more useful than they were in 7/8 (I don't think they existed outside of 3rd party apps on 7 or 8), but are still not as good as OSX's Spaces. The settings menus UIs are not uniform and are often confusing.

This is what I hate about "Windows as a Service". The constant updates. In the old days you'd have the certainty that when Windows ran fine with all your software and internal/external hardware, it would stay that way for ever and ever. That's a big requirement if you do real work with your PC. But with with Windows as a Service that certainty is gone, because Windows is ever changing and there are big updates every six months or so. And with each update there's the possibility that things will break.And they will break: webcams, ebook readers, Xbox Controllers, G-Sync, DAW software, etc etc etec.

All of those issues were fixed after a few more patch rounds but it's nevertheless a disrupting process, in particular if none of the new Windows 10 features are of any use to me. I'd rather have a stable OS that works as intended than one that's in continuous flux.

 

[Narroo]

Threads like these really make me realize how many masters Microsoft has to serve. There are so many different types of users working with this one piece of software.

Some people just want a giant smart phone, others want a standard Desktop OS. These two groups alone can't be pleased simultaneously.

 

[Coriolanus]

Was liking it quite a lot before the creators update. Once that got pushed out, had to revert back to before it because it was giving me a black screen with cursor that i couldn't solve.

As a result of that, the windows store broke.
As a result of that, mail, news and Gears4 stopped working.
As a result of that, the gears4 folder got duplicated somehow, going from a 130gb monstrosity to a 260gb whatthefuckery

Gears still wouldnt work tho. Started. Realized it couldnt connect to server. Refused to even allow single player.

As a result of that, opted to delete the gears folders. Deleted via store. Folders were still present in the hd. Both of them.
As a result of that, tried to manually delete them. Found out my admin account didn't have the required privileges. After a lot of googling, learned how to do it and finally got rid of the things.

Went the fuck it route and allowed windows to do a fresh install, keeping some of my filles

That
broke
nearly
everything

Windows booted into desktop tho. Finally. Alas, update windows didnt play well with my OC settings, crashing constantly, which is odd cuz it was rawk solid before.

Tried to revert back to pre-patch, cuz fuck losing so much of my shit

Windows threw an error message saying some shit got fukt up and it wouldnt b able to do it.

Spent the next 5 hours trying to fix all the shit it broke with the update.


tl:dr; Windows 10 works pretty well... until it decides to push a major update and change a lotta shit that didn't need changing. Then you better pray to your lucky fucking stars that it doesn't shit its pants for no clear reason.

bonus: reinstalled gears4 after the update. Showed a 120gb download bar. Download was finished shortly after it surpassed the 70gb dl mark. The download bar apparently used the final install size to count progression. Because reasons. Then went and checked the installed folder. NO CAN DO. Someone at MS updated the installer permissions to prevent a dude with admin privileges from even looking inside the goddamn folder.

Seriously, fuck everything related to the w10 store.

Also did i mention that to this day there's no easy way to throttle windows store download speeds?

 

[MaddenNFL64]

Their best OS ever. You can turn off most of the spurious data collection in the settings as well.

 

[Lurk]

enterprise is really good.

 

[Duxxy3]

Hasn't changed much.

I have it because 7 will hit EOL soon. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have updated.

 

[captive]

Windows 10 has some pretty intrusive policies when it comes to updates and user-data. There's nothing idiotic about losing respect for MS for those policies. Why do you feel the need to be so judgmental?

the user data stuff can be turned off, pretty easily.

the update stuff is fine. People don't update and when they dont update they get viruses and malware. Update your shit on time and it wont be a problem.

 

[Koroush]

Hi guys, I'm Koroush Ghazi and Ive been referred to this thread to defend my honour. So in that spirit, I challenge the poster who called me an idiot to a duel

Seriously though, the OP is correct that I've essentially lost all respect for Microsoft based on the way they've handled Windows 10. But I provide a link on my TweakGuides Tweaking Companion download page which explains my reasons (reproduced below):

Let's talk about Windows 10, my least favorite subject right now. At the end of last year I announced that for personal and professional reasons, I would not be doing a TweakGuides Tweaking Companion for Windows 10, but that I would try to compile a brief Windows 10 tweak guide. Well I've tried, and I'm just not finding it possible to write a decent but brief guide. Windows 10 is an ever-changing, non-transparent, disjointed mess of an OS. Many of its annoyances can't be successfully tweaked away, and those that can require pages and pages of explanation. Furthermore, any such guide would require constant editing over time as Microsoft alters Windows 10 on almost a monthly basis now.

But perhaps the single biggest reason I'm not motivated to write a Windows 10 guide is that I've rapidly lost all respect for Microsoft, and consequently have lost a great deal of interest in anything to do with their products. Microsoft's clumsy, desperate, visionless push to get PC users to adopt dumbed-down mobile-oriented apps purely for their own commercial benefit; the unrelentingly persistent, unethical, and highly deceptive way they're trying to trick less tech-savvy Windows 7 and 8.1 users into "upgrading" to Windows 10; and their insistence on reducing user choice and control over Windows have all left a very bad taste in my mouth. This is an inept company struggling for relevance in the mobile era by shamelessly abusing its monopoly on desktop operating systems, and I don't want to play any part in helping them do that.

That was my opinion from early last year, and I still feel much the same about Windows 10. To be fair, Microsoft has added back some user control over forced updates, but that's about all I can praise them for. Ultratech's great post echoes many of my complaints, especially the point that you can't fully turn off the telemetry, at least not without breaking some functionality, and even then you need to use third party utilities and/or Group Policy and/or Registry edits - which is both risky and tricky for non tech-savvy users.

Note that I'm not worried about the telemetry because I think MS is spying on me, I dislike it because (a) I'm old school in that I want to keep full control over what data I broadcast via the Internet; and (b) I don't trust MS' competence in safeguarding my data, which they hold on their servers, from malicious third parties.

But I think Unknown Soldier's post really nails it when he says:

Windows 10 is an example of an operating system which is focused entirely upon the needs and desires of the company (Microsoft) and not about the consumers who use it.

Of course with the movement of Windows to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and becoming freeware for the first year, the changeover from Windows being a product to the consumer being a product was going to be jarring. And it is.

Windows 10 treats the consumer like shit, because Windows isn't the product anymore. The consumer is the product and the operating system exists to gather data about the consumer and push advertising on them, like Google Search or something.

To add to that, this whole "Windows as a service" approach, with its forced incessant updates, causes a lot of technical issues as many of you have noted here. That's because the Cumulative Updates are like Service Packs, and the 6-monthly feature updates are like a full OS install - and in the past it was always best practice to clean install any major updates to Windows. Now, they're heaped on top of each other on the same install. Add to that the way MS has basically outsourced beta testing to non-professionals, and the end result is conflicts and bugs.

I don't see a bright future for Windows 10, as Microsoft gets more and more desperate and brazen in trying to make money from users who have so far resisted being herded onto the Windows app store and who ignore the OS-level ads, sorry, suggestions. It's not that it's a terrible OS, in and of itself, it's more that I despise the way MS tricked so many people into installing it, reduced user control and choice, and is basically trying their hardest in making a buck off the user, with little regard for our privacy, convenience, or choice.

 

[Jezbollah]

Windows 10 for home consumers is a service. You accept the OS for free (like most here I suspect) and you accept via EULA the aspects of the operating system your consider objectionable.

The only questionable aspect of MS I have is forcing you to update to Windows 10. If you want to stick with XP, 7, 8 or 8.1 then you accept that risk, and the lack of security updates that go with it when your OS is considered out of support. That also includes resultant malware risk.

Forcing users to update their OS to newer versions as part of commercial strategy is not new. MS have been doing it for ages, so have Apple (they are especially guilty of doing this in IOS to force upgrades by increasing resource demands in IOS, making you either stop using the Apps you like, or by making you upgrade your tablet or phone).

It's no surprise people are turning to Linux distros to get out of this vicious cycle and contempt for users.

 

[thenexus6]

My biggest issue with Windows 10 is the super inconsistent UI. The icons and design language is all over the place.

Old build but point still stands

 

[Koroush]

Forcing users to update their OS to newer versions as part of commercial strategy is not new. MS have been doing it for ages, so have Apple (they are especially guilty of doing this in IOS to force upgrades by increasing resource demands in IOS, making you either stop using the Apps you like, or by making you upgrade your tablet or phone)

It's important to keep in mind that there's a difference between pushing users towards an upgrade through planned obsolescence, and the outright trickery which Microsoft repeatedly used to deliberately deceive users into upgrading to Windows 10 - e.g. as this article covers. In my 30+ years of using PCs I've never seen any reputable piece of software do that.

 

[Skinpop]

anyone know how to fix the super annoying blue loading circle that randomly appears? Especially when using chrome or switching between programs.
I've been on win 10 on my main pc for six weeks now and every time I fire it up I wish I could go back to win 7 but apparently that's not an option if you have new hardware. it's an awful os, not because it doesn't do anything well but because it's so buggy and ms introduced so much friction that it almost feels unusable for productivity.

 

[DarthWoo]

That is one thing Microsoft fixed a bit too much from 7/8. Whereas Windows Update used to be slow as fuck, on 10 it often uses as much bandwidth as it possibly can and can saturate routers without robust QoS.

I never tested it, but you could try clicking on your wifi connection on the tray, then properties and enable the "treat this as a limited connection" option. It works for ethernet too since a recent update. This should cause Windows to back off internet-intensive stuff, but I have no idea how it affects updates.

I did that and it seemed to work reasonably well. The only problem is a week later I noticed that Windows Defender was complaining that the definitions were out of date. It had not updated the definitions (one of the least obtrusive bandwidth hogs at least) at all since I changed that setting. So I trade off for either convenience or a completely vulnerable system, which isn't much of a choice. I really don't know why the hell it needs to cripple my system with mystery downloads for half an hour every time I turn it on.

 

[von Stroheim]

It's a privacy nightmare. But what do I know, I'm just an IT guy....

 

[Timeless]

I was one of the only Win8.1 apologists - get Classic Start Menu and it's a great OS.

Win10 is a different story. I use it begrudgingly because I wanted DX12 games (Halo Wars 2) but if that doesn't appeal to you, grip onto Win7 / 8.1 as long as you can. Sadly, support is going to try up for those OSs if it hasn't already. 10 is clunky: crashes, forced restarts even when I swear I've disabled those seven different ways, changes from 8 that make the user experience on a desktop worse, but conveniently make MS more money (semi-forced lock screen which sometimes shows ads, hmm...).

I'm so sick of 10 being more locked down and user hostile that I'm strongly considering giving a Linux desktop a shot when I build a new PC. I've used Linux for school and I think it's come a long way, plus the guaranteed customization appeals to me. Will have to boot into Windows for games but I'm hoping to really migrate my productivity over.

 

[mcrommert]

It's a privacy nightmare. But what do I know, I'm just an IT guy....

Lol I'm also in IT. .. It's not

But people seem to come up with all sorts of reasons to hate it

I was one of the only Win8.1 apologists - get Classic Start Menu and it's a great OS.

Win10 is a different story. I use it begrudgingly because I wanted DX12 games (Halo Wars 2) but if that doesn't appeal to you, grip onto Win7 / 8.1 as long as you can. Sadly, support is going to try up for those OSs if it hasn't already. 10 is clunky: crashes, forced restarts even when I swear I've disabled those seven different ways, changes from 8 that make the user experience on a desktop worse, but conveniently make MS more money (semi-forced lock screen which sometimes shows ads, hmm...).

I knew the win 8 defenders came out of the woodwork after Microsoft went to a new OS.

 

[Koroush]

Lol I'm also in IT. .. It's not.

There is no way anyone outside Microsoft can be sure of the privacy implications given it's not open source software. The only facts we have are those Microsoft has grudgingly given us, and those which investigative articles have uncovered, and both point to substantial streams of your data leaving your system, some of which cannot be easily - if at all - disabled. Microsoft has revealed details of the basic telemetry it collects, but all the telemetry is not fully documented. If it's entirely harmless, why isn't it all documented?

If you're an IT guy, surely you would want to know, and control, exactly what data is leaving your system, being stored on Microsoft's servers, and thus susceptible to misuse either by Microsoft, or by malicious third parties. There was a time when Microsoft could be trusted to collect and store such data safely, but these days I question both their competence and their intentions.

 

[cpp_is_king]

There is no way anyone outside Microsoft can be sure of the privacy implications given it's not open source software..

That’s not true. There are tons of white hat hackers who investigate this stuff.

And it’s not like they’re doing anything illegal. I don’t work for Microsoft, but i do work for a company (and on a product) that has a huuuuuuuuge number of users from whom various types of telemetry are collected, so I know how these things are handled. Would I feel comfortable with a small no name company collecting this stuff? No chance in hell. But a huge conglomerate like Microsoft who has absolutely everything to lose if they get it wrong? 100% chance they have done due diligence

Given that I like using the software, opting in to (or not opting out of) data collection is a complete no-brainer for me, because I’ve seen firsthand the way the data is used to drive improvements to the product. It makes a real difference.

As to the OP, Windows 10 is amazing. I got a new laptop with Windows 7 and it’s embarrassing how unusable it is. You can’t truly be free until you’ve fully embraced the magic that is the Win+S key

 

[brickarts295]

I always get scared when theres a new update. Most recent update made my computer insanely slow. Managed to fixed it but man I hate always having to regret an update every time.

I don't have win 10 but I don't like it either. I miss win 7.