# Are you getting in line for Windows 10??



## My Dog&#039;s Servant (Jun 2, 2013)

I have computers with Win 7 and Win 8.  All are eligible for the free update to Win 10 at the end of July.

I expect that Win 10 will be better than both....eventually. But I also expect that MS will quickly discover they have some problems when they first roll it out.

For the computer experts among us, are you signing up for the update now? Or are you waiting to see how it rolls out, which may mean, if it's a good product, it may be a long wait for the update?  (MS has already warned that even if you get in line now, the update may not show up for some time.)

I've been debating between signing up the old Win 7 (slower processor, less memory) and my little 2 lb Asus that I carry around to use just for writing (also slower processor and only 2G memory).  Just cause I want the shiny new, but I'd hate to get stuck with the equally new headaches.


----------



## Mat Ridley (Jun 15, 2015)

I'd wait. MS have said that the deadline for the free update to Windows 10 is a year after release, so there's no need to rush. See what other people think, let MS fix things up first of all, maybe get to try it first hand on someone else's computer... then decide if it's for you or not.


----------



## Seshenet (May 20, 2015)

I have 2 laptops, both with Win 7. I have signed up for the update, and will try it out on one laptop first. My friends in IT are cautiously optimistic that Win 10 will be better. Win 8 should've been called Layers 8, IMO. I tried it on my Surface and even I found it frustrating, and I don't get frustrated easily by OS. 

Will be interesting to see how well it goes over.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

If you have Win 7 or 8 you'll see a little icon at the bottom light that will let you 'reserve' a copy. Which is a misnomer, because you aren't reserving anything.  But if you do what it says you'll automatically get the download on release day -- July 29, I think.*

Or, as others have said, you can wait . . . . . you can get it free any time 'till next July. After that, if you choose to upgrade, I understand you will have to pay for it.


* it won't install itself, however . . . . 

(BTW, moved this thread to the "Not Quite Kindle" board  . . . . sorry for any confusion.  )


----------



## My Dog&#039;s Servant (Jun 2, 2013)

Thanks for the move, Ann...Sorry for posting in the wrong place.

And thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated!


----------



## scribblr (Aug 20, 2010)

I have a friend in IT who works in an enterprise system. He got an early look at Win 10, and says it's a memory and processing cycle pig like Vista. He also told me that early plans from MS called for the update to be performed automatically if your system is set up for auto updates, as they did with IE 11. Once your system is changed over, you can't go backwards. So make sure you have a complete backup copy of your main drive. I'm staying with Win 7 until I absolutely have to switch over.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

My Dog's Servant said:


> Thanks for the move, Ann...Sorry for posting in the wrong place.
> 
> And thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated!


No problem!

Actually . . . . since it doesn't install itself, it seems like the smart thing is to go ahead and 'reserve' a copy. When it downloads, just let it sit there until you've had a chance to read the tech blogs.

I really don't think there'll be much wait though. I think most folks who 'reserve' will get the download within a few days of the 29th. And anyone who waits until later will probably get it almost right away.

There's definitely NO requirement to reserve it at all . . . . . .


----------



## Jill Nojack (Mar 7, 2014)

I've been doing technical support since Win 3.1. Microsoft gets it right every other OS. 

Win 98 wasn't bad.

Win 2k and XP were gems.

WinME and Vista were nightmares.

I freaking hating Windows 8.1, which I had to have on at least one box so that I could thoroughly learn it because I have to support users who have it.

I'm going to upgrade my Win8 laptop as soon as possible, but I'll be leaving my WinXP (yes, I still have it--it is my print and file server and never goes on the net) and Windows 7 box as they are. Win7 is a fabulous OS.

I know that Win 10 will be better than 8, but I'm not sure I hold out hope that it will be the OS of my dreams. I expect there will be issues at rollout, but hopefully not like there were with Windows 8. If there are, it's going to be a real problem for Microsoft. Corporate users are never going to upgrade to Win8, and if Win10 is not better, they are going to have to drastically extend support for Windows 7 just like they had to with XP.


----------



## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

I hate my Windows 8.1 so I am ready to go to 10.  I've reserved my copy and figure 10 can't be any worse than 8.1.

I still have XP on a desktop that got hacked a few weeks ago and so no longer will go on the Internet.


----------



## Gone 9/21/18 (Dec 11, 2008)

I'm typing this on a desktop running XP. Believe it or not, I retired from a position as a network administrator for a law firm, but now that I am retired, I hate dealing with updates.  My laptop runs 7, and I have a new CPU sitting here with 7 on it I've never switched to because of the aggravation of loading programs and transferring data. Another problem is I have a couple of old programs I depend on that are no longer supported. So 10? I probably ought to get it on the unused CPU and set it up, but there's no way I'm doing that until it's been out a while and I see reviews.

Like Jill, I plan to keep this XP machine for as long as it will run no matter what else I do/have.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Guess I'm the minority -- I have no problem with 8.1.  Don't find it significantly different to 7, really, as you can use it from the 'desktop'. You can completely ignore the 'tiles' if you want. It was weird at first without the 'start' button but since they've put it back I've thought it was fine.  

Never though XP was great . . . but definitely better then Me or Vista . . . . I think I managed to avoid both of them entirely!


----------



## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

XP has so many devoted fans! Are we simply simple people, don't like change, or what?


----------



## Mat Ridley (Jun 15, 2015)

I guess the other question to ask yourself is "_why_ would I upgrade to Windows 10?". It's just Windows, and is unlikely to do anything vital that you can't already do in existing versions of Windows. All you're doing is trading a (hopefully) working setup, capable of running all the programs that you need, for a whole bunch of uncertainty and potential compatibility headaches. Unless you enjoy ditzing around with computers, I can't see that the gamble (as it is at this stage) is worth it.


----------



## Jill Nojack (Mar 7, 2014)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Guess I'm the minority -- I have no problem with 8.1. Don't find it significantly different to 7, really, as you can use it from the 'desktop'. You can completely ignore the 'tiles' if you want. It was weird at first without the 'start' button but since they've put it back I've thought it was fine.
> 
> Never though XP was great . . . but definitely better then Me or Vista . . . . I think I managed to avoid both of them entirely!


Actually Win 8 is great on tablets. If I needed a new tablet, I'd strong consider it.

My problem with Win 8 as a power user is with resource usage and management. So many things have been made much more difficult to access for no real reason. Kind of like that Start button. It's mostly fine when it's working, but since I spend my day trying to sort things out once it's gone wrong, simply not being able to find things that were located and labeled in the same way in every OS since 98 is maddening.


----------



## Raquel Lyon (Mar 3, 2012)

spotsmom said:


> I hate my Windows 8.1 so I am ready to go to 10. I've reserved my copy and figure 10 can't be any worse than 8.1.


^^^^
This.


----------



## Will C. Brown (Sep 24, 2013)

Yup. I frequent a Windows news site that's been reporting on the frequent beta updates. Windows 10 addresses most of the complaints people had with Windows 8. It has the good features of 7 and 8, plus some new features that I'm looking forward to playing with.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Will C. Brown said:


> Yup. I frequent a Windows news site that's been reporting on the frequent beta updates. Windows 10 addresses most of the complaints people had with Windows 8. It has the good features of 7 and 8, plus some new features that I'm looking forward to playing with.


That's what I've heard as well . . . . . I'm optimistic it'll be a good upgrade.


----------



## My Dog&#039;s Servant (Jun 2, 2013)

LOL about the "every other update" being a bomb.  Been through just about every single one. A couple were hellishly bad, and I griped, but I paid for upgrades to escape them.  I've found Win 8.1 maybe a teensy bit more stable than 7, which I love (but was too cheap to pay the extra $100 to get installed on a new machine that came bundled with 8 ). But 8 does slam the processor every now and then (or is it just easier to watch it happening?)  

Really appreciate all the feedback.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Not even a free upgrade will entice me to go win10 straight out of the gate.

Microsoft is notorious with bringing out buggy first releases, especially for windows. They also have a habit of completely changing how things work.

I wont even be looking at it, until I see months of good reviews.

What I want to know, is what happened to windows 9? If that was a total disaster that died before it could be launched, then 10 has to be suspect until proved better than 8.

Win8 was a panned disaster. It wasn't until they addressed issues with 8.1 that it became usable. The only reason 8 survived was because Microsoft made it impossible to go backwards once win 8 was loaded.


----------



## Mat Ridley (Jun 15, 2015)

TimothyEllis said:


> What I want to know, is what happened to windows 9? If that was a total disaster that died before it could be launched, then 10 has to be suspect until proved better than 8.


Windows 9 never existed. There are supposedly several reasons why Microsoft decided to skip that label -

Marketing fluff - "It's such an improvement on the last version of Windows, we just had to jump a whole version number"
Potential mockery of the brand name, especially in the the German market - "Windows? Nein!"
Compatibility problems with certain software that would detect "Windows 9" as actually being "Windows 95" or "Windows 98" and therefore refuse to install or run
... but I don't think anyone really knows


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Mat Ridley said:


> "Windows? Nein!"


----------



## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

Ann, like you I find Win 8.1 to work just fine for me. Admittedly, I'm not what you would call a power user. I open to my desktop view and do whatever. I'm looking forward to the upgrade, just to see what's coming. Hope the new browser is a bit more secure than Internet Sieve Explorer. And, what is it, Catana? that is the Windows version of Siri? That might be fun to play around with. Hoping it all works out well.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

HappyGuy said:


> Ann, like you I find Win 8.1 to work just fine for me. Admittedly, I'm not what you would call a power user. I open to my desktop view and do whatever. I'm looking forward to the upgrade, just to see what's coming. Hope the new browser is a bit more secure than Internet Sieve Explorer. And, what is it, Catana? that is the Windows version of Siri? That might be fun to play around with. Hoping it all works out well.


I've been using Firefox for years . . . so IE is basically nothing more than a bit of fluff. Only open it when a site won't work with Firefox -- mostly just MS sites.  But I suppose I will give the new browser a try . . . I can sync my favorites and all in Firefox so that both my computers behave very much the same . . . I'm assuming the new MS browser will do something similar. Still not sure it'll be worth switching, though . . . .

Can't see me using the new 'talk to it' thingy. . . . I don't really talk to my devices . . . .


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Can't see me using the new 'talk to it' thingy. . . . I don't really talk to my devices . . . .


I don't talk to my computers. Swear at yes. Talk no.


----------



## J.R.Mooneyham (Mar 14, 2011)

I'm an ancient computer geek, presently using W7. At the moment I figure I'll wait until maybe the last month of the first year of free upgrade availability to decide. Because I'm very comfortable with Windows 7. And am sure people upgrading later rather than sooner will likely face fewer problems/bugs. Plus maybe get more added benefits, as MS sweetens the offer to get as many last minute users as possible (like maybe some free software apps or online credits of some sort).

Plus, at present I don't like the hassle implied with the upgrade. I ran the compatibility checker, and it said all was fine, but that I'd have to reinstall all my apps. That'll basically take weeks! Sheesh! Plus, a PC mag article warned to upgrade with almost all your peripherals but display and mouse unplugged, to insure minimal problems-- and that once you did plug in things like external hard drives, you might find you have to format them to work with 10(!). Sheesh again! Those are my back up disks!

Lastly, in my experience, when a major OS upgrade comes out, you're usually far better off to buy an OEM PC with it already installed, rather than trying to upgrade an older piece of hardware-- if you want minimal hassles. Yes, that still leaves transferring a bunch of files and reinstalling apps. But sometimes the upgrade path just plain don't work at all, for some folks. And if I have to reformat my two external hard drives, I'd consider that to be heinous.


----------



## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

J.R., where did you use a compatibility checker and learn that you might have to reinstall all their apps? That is the LAST thing I ever want to do (again). Did it a couple of months ago and it was a royal PITA.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

J.R.Mooneyham said:


> Plus, at present I don't like the hassle implied with the upgrade. I ran the compatibility checker, and it said all was fine, but that I'd have to reinstall all my apps. That'll basically take weeks! Sheesh! Plus, a PC mag article warned to upgrade with almost all your peripherals but display and mouse unplugged, to insure minimal problems-- and that once you did plug in things like external hard drives, you might find you have to format them to work with 10(!). Sheesh again! Those are my back up disks!


Microsoft programmers don't live on this planet.

That was one of the things that put me off 8 in the first place. Needing to reinstall everything is complete cr*p. I didn't go 8 until I bought a tablet with it on.

I have one piece of software that only installs into Vista. With no upgrade path past 7, and not even being able to buy 7 anymore, I'm stuck using a dosbox to run it. Very inconvenient. Scrapping backwards compatibility was a really bad decision.

I wonder does the upgrade offer specifically tell people they will need to reinstall after?

How did you find out?


----------



## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Everything I need to run works fine with my current Windows 7 installation. I don't plan to ever upgrade as long as current apps run with what I have. It's way too much of a hassle to upgrade.


Mike


----------



## archaeoroutes (Oct 12, 2014)

Mat Ridley said:


> I guess the other question to ask yourself is "_why_ would I upgrade to Windows 10?". It's just Windows, and is unlikely to do anything vital that you can't already do in existing versions of Windows. All you're doing is trading a (hopefully) working setup, capable of running all the programs that you need, for a whole bunch of uncertainty and potential compatibility headaches. Unless you enjoy ditzing around with computers, I can't see that the gamble (as it is at this stage) is worth it.


The thing is, 8 doesn't work. I'm keeping my 2000, XP and 7 machines as they are and upgrading those 8s that I can. Sadly the upgrade for 8RT isn't free


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

archaeoroutes said:


> The thing is, 8 doesn't work.


I cant say that. It works fine on my tablet which came with it.

I didn't like it when I trialed it on a laptop, but I also didn't really give it a chance.

Exactly what bothers you about 8 to the extent of saying it doesn't work? Whats it on, and whats the history?


----------



## MarkdownFanatic (Jan 14, 2014)

Go Linux for your OS and cloud for your apps, except in those (very rare) cases where you can't do your stuff in cloud-based apps -- and, in that case, find a Linux app. 
.
No, I'm not a geek, I just switched to Linux and cloud precisely because I hated the eternal cycle of updating to spankin' new OSs that turned out to be full of bugs'n issues AND require spankin' new hardware just to be able to run. 
. 
You can find a Linux variant for almost any computer that's a few years old (Mint is a nice, Win-like Linux variant to begin with), and install and maint is not the geek's paradise (and normal-human-being nightmare) that it used to be. You need to learn how to put a bootable ISO on a DVD or USB and to get your box to boot from that -- lots of help on the web.
.
Make the transition and free yourself to only buy new hardware when YOU want to - not when your supposedly-improved OS is twisting your arm ;o)


----------



## J.R.Mooneyham (Mar 14, 2011)

spotsmom, I think I found the link on a PC magazine or PC World web page. The link was at Microsoft's web site I believe, and basically was a compatibility test for windows 7 PCs to see if they could upgrade to 8.1. Microsoft is using the same test for W 10 now.

TimothyEllis, so far as I can tell W 10 is going to act a lot like W 7 in usually letting older apps run too (a lot of my apps are pretty old ones, and they passed inspection); so if you do a little online forum checking around, maybe you'll find someone on 10 with that app working, after the W 10 release, and find out that need not hold you back (but you still might have to reinstall it, I guess. So if you have no installer executable you might be out of luck. I have software from my XP days running in W 7 right now).

I tried to track down the specific link for you guys, but searches of my current bookmarks and previously saved set didn't turn it up (I collect around 1000 bookmarks a week for research and reference purposes, save the list, delete them from my browser, and start anew. Unfortunately, this makes for a most unwieldy archive, which can be tough to find something in without the exact right keyword). I also searched a list of bookmarks I keep for emailing to others, and it wasn't there either. Sorry!

The Microsoft link told me something like '56 of your apps will have to be reinstalled'. I can't recall if it gave a link there to a list of specifics; if it did, I didn't click on it.

Although I can't find the magazine links, this may be the Microsoft link:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/upgrade-assistant-download-online-faq

The test I took did a compatibility check, and gave me a summary. Then it gave me the option to buy W 8.1 (which of course I did not do).

MarkdownFanatic, I tried switching to Linux a few years back, and found it too much of a hassle and too geeky to deal with on a regular basis. For example, its filing system wasn't nearly as robust as Windows and OS X then, which I badly needed, since I tend to have folders with thousands of files in them. A folder Windows XP could open in about a second or two could take several minutes in Linux. That was just unacceptably slow, so I switched back to Windows.

I love the idea of Linux, and would love to escape from Apple and Microsoft. But sadly, Linux isn't good enough yet, for anyone needing a workhorse machine.


----------



## archaeoroutes (Oct 12, 2014)

TimothyEllis said:


> Exactly what bothers you about 8 to the extent of saying it doesn't work? Whats it on, and whats the history?


It is just about OK on a Surface. Very few programs are available for it though. And Silverlight is not available, ruling out a lot of business web interfaces.

On a laptop or a PC there is a bit less of the programs not being available issue, but there are still some big gaps.
My two biggest grumps are how deep the settings are buried and how I can't stop the start button (the actual physical one on my keyboard) pulling up the tiles. I also find that some programs open as either desktop or metro versions in an unpredictable fashion - I spend ages hunting around for a webpage I knew I had open only to find it is in the metro version of the browser which then takes me away from the desktop.

Basically, it was continuing the trend towards the Apple mindset of making things far too complicated to use. I want to be able to tell my computer exactly what I want it to do, not the other way round. It is like Android vs iOS - people say how user-friendly iOS is but I obviously don't think in the same way because I keep banging into obstacles in the way of what I thought was the obvious way to do something!


----------



## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

I'm running 8.1 on my current machine so I'm guessing compatibility won't be a problem (maybe Office 2003!) but I'll try to find that compatibility link. I did go straight to the Reserve button on the laptop and everything went ok so maybe any compatibility issues would have come up there.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

J.R.Mooneyham said:


> TimothyEllis, so far as I can tell W 10 is going to act a lot like W 7 in usually letting older apps run too (a lot of my apps are pretty old ones, and they passed inspection); so if you do a little online forum checking around, maybe you'll find someone on 10 with that app working, after the W 10 release, and find out that need not hold you back (but you still might have to reinstall it, I guess. So if you have no installer executable you might be out of luck. I have software from my XP days running in W 7 right now).
> ....
> The Microsoft link told me something like '56 of your apps will have to be reinstalled'. I can't recall if it gave a link there to a list of specifics; if it did, I didn't click on it.


Its not so much running older stuff, its upgrading from Vista without needing to reinstall anything.

As far as I'm concerned, the only acceptable re-installation for an OS upgrade is Zero. If Microsoft cant deliver this anymore, then I paint the word "failed" on them. And so what happens is, I don't upgrade, I only use the new when I buy a new laptop or tablet with it installed.



archaeoroutes said:


> It is just about OK on a Surface. Very few programs are available for it though.


I don't follow you.

The new apps, maybe, but who bothers with them? The only time I use the app interface, is when I need one of Microsoft's own programs for something, and half of those I have icons on the desktop for. Or occasionally I need a program I don't have an icon for, and would previously have used the start menu to find.

I installed all of my older programs, except 1 which has a Vista installer, successfully. I had to go to the latest Office, because I'd run out of installs on the previous version, and new Photoshop because the disc expired on me. I'm still running an XP program without any problems.


----------



## Joel Ansel (Oct 17, 2013)

I hated windows 8.1 at first, but I got used to it. I just don't like the way they geared it toward tablets with all the touchscreen stuff and put it on desktops and laptops that don't even have touchscreen. They should have made a separate OS or maybe let you roll it back to look like 7. I might regret it, but I'm "reserving" copies of 10 for all my machines anyway.


----------



## archaeoroutes (Oct 12, 2014)

TimothyEllis said:


> I don't follow you.
> I installed all of my older programs, except 1 which has a Vista installer, successfully. I had to go to the latest Office, because I'd run out of installs on the previous version, and new Photoshop because the disc expired on me. I'm still running an XP program without any problems.


The Surface runs on 8RT which is a pared down version. You can only install things written specifically for it.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

archaeoroutes said:


> The Surface runs on 8RT which is a pared down version. You can only install things written specifically for it.


Nope. Full 8.1.

I didn't even look at the RT version, and ignored 1 and 2 until they finally brought out 3 which effectively replaces my high end games laptop.

I can understand RT being so limited, but why would you bother when there is a full high end Win 8.1 version available?


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Joel Ansel said:


> I hated windows 8.1 at first, but I got used to it. I just don't like the way they geared it toward tablets with all the touchscreen stuff and put it on desktops and laptops that don't even have touchscreen. They should have made a separate OS or maybe let you roll it back to look like 7. I might regret it, but I'm "reserving" copies of 10 for all my machines anyway.


See, and for me, when I'm on the desktop, it may as well BE Win7. I almost never go to the tiles and the mouse works just fine. It was definitely more clunky at first, but 8.1 fixed a pretty much all of the annoyances -- all minor -- that I felt it had before.

In fact, for a while I had a tablet computer -- something with a touch screen but that also came with a keyboard. I didn't like it for 'real' computer work. The screen wasn't too large -- though fine for a tablet -- and I never could figure out how to make a mouse work with it. Keyboard didn't even have a touchpad or joystick. And I really didn't like having to use the touch screen to do stuff like select a word to check the spelling and stuff. It slowed me down.



TimothyEllis said:


> Nope. Full 8.1.
> 
> I didn't even look at the RT version, and ignored 1 and 2 until they finally brought out 3 which effectively replaces my high end games laptop.
> 
> I can understand RT being so limited, but why would you bother when there is a full high end Win 8.1 version available?


Well, 'cause when they first came out, they were REALLY expensive -- and the ones with a full OS were even more so. Frankly, the price is what put me off 'em entirely -- I was in the market for a new laptop-ish thing at the time and was interested in something that could also be used as a tablet. But I needed to be able to install certain software, and to get the one that let me do that it was WAY more expensive than any other options.

With the second generation of Surface, I think they canned the pared down Windows. Still more expensive than laptops though, and no added value as far as I'm concerned. As I said above, it turns out I really don't care for a touch screen when it's time to do 'real' computer work. I'd hoped the device I mentioned above really would double as a laptop and a tablet, but, for me, it didn't work as a laptop. I've since replaced it and am much happier.  Still have Win 8.1, but don't have the touch screen to deal with.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Ann in Arlington said:


> With the second generation of Surface, I think they canned the pared down Windows. Still more expensive than laptops though, and no added value as far as I'm concerned. As I said above, it turns out I really don't care for a touch screen when it's time to do 'real' computer work. I'd hoped the device I mentioned above really would double as a laptop and a tablet, but, for me, it didn't work as a laptop. I've since replaced it and am much happier.  Still have Win 8.1, but don't have the touch screen to deal with.


The RT is still around. Its the entry level tablet.

I'm using the i7/8gb/500gb option, top of the range, on a 34inch monitor, using full Bluetooth keyboard and Bluetooth mouse. I hang a 2gb external drive off it as well, and its plugged into an Ethernet cable to my router.

You cant tell the difference between this and a desktop or laptop. Which is exactly why I finally bought one.

The only time I use it as a tablet with a cover k/b is when I'm travelling.


----------



## geniebeanie (Apr 23, 2009)

I had a computer before Windows, my first computer was Dos.  Every one thought I had a C B Radio in my bedroom.  You had to put commands out there to make the computer do anything like a download, get emails was a nightmare. It would take fifth teen minutes to recieve and open a email.  Looking forward to Windows 10.


----------



## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

Well, supposedly today is the day - 29th, right? I guess now I wait until they download the files.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

If your computer is connected it probably will have downloaded for you, or is at least ready for you to tell it to go. Just waiting for you to do the install. Click the windows logo that's at the lower right of the task bar.

I just did it on my laptop -- took a while to install everything, but it looks nice and clean. Haven't explored all the new stuff yet. . . . still playing. The new browser is supposed to be an improvement over IE -- I need to see if I can import my FireFox bookmarks and play with it a little. Far as I can tell, all apps, data, etc. transferred with no difficulty.


----------



## Jane917 (Dec 29, 2009)

I am going to install it on my backup laptop, which rarely gets used. I switched to a Macbook last summer. If all goes well with the new install, I will install it on DH's laptop.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm not having any issues so far . . . I did find where the new browser, Edge, has an import feature. Problem is, the only browser it allows importing from is IE.  That's not going to get people to switch. Don't know if it's a rights issue or just Microsoft Blinders that you can't import from Firefox or another third party browser.

Gonna look for a feedback thing to tell them that's a problem. 

On the plus side, Firefox works just fine.


----------



## Joel Ansel (Oct 17, 2013)

Yep, it is there...lurking in the corner.

I'm a little bit afraid if it.


----------



## archaeoroutes (Oct 12, 2014)

TimothyEllis said:


> I didn't even look at the RT version, and ignored 1 and 2 until they finally brought out 3 which effectively replaces my high end games laptop.
> I can understand RT being so limited, but why would you bother when there is a full high end Win 8.1 version available?


1. Before they brought out the Surface Pro and then Surface 2 and 3 there wasn't any choice.
2. When the Pro came out, the battery life seriously sucked compared to the normal Surface.
3. I was given it as part of my job anyway, so no choice.


----------



## Kazak (Jul 21, 2015)

I've still got a desktop with Vista, a laptop with 7 (busted screen, but sadly still my most reliable), a 2-n-1 tablet/laptop hybrid with Windows 8.1, and I'm thinking of getting an hp ultrabook and putting W10 on that. I haven't been impressed by what I've seen of 10 but I am interested in Cortana.


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I'll be upgrading my 8.1 notebook, and based on how I like it or dislike it, decide whether or not to upgrade my Win7 notebook that I use for web-dev stuff.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

From all I've read . . . and based on my, admittedly limited use, in the last few hours . . . I think it's a good move.  If you were wary of Win 8 because of the big swing to tablet compatibility, you'll find that this is more like a nice update to Win 7.  I say . .. have no fear.


----------



## Kazak (Jul 21, 2015)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I'm not having any issues so far . . . I did find where the new browser, Edge, has an import feature. *Problem is, the only browser it allows importing from is IE*. That's not going to get people to switch. Don't know if it's a rights issue or just Microsoft Blinders that you can't import from Firefox or another third party browser.
> 
> Gonna look for a feedback thing to tell them that's a problem.
> 
> On the plus side, Firefox works just fine.


 

Oh, Microsoft. Come on, now.

ETA: The lines below are not in response to your post, Ann 

I'm hoping against hope the laptop I get will have W10 but I know I'll very likely have to install it myself. No biggie.

I'm one of the very, very few people it seems that liked the tile system W8 introduced. Even on my non-touch screen based stuff, I was okay with the tiles. The movements were smooth and fluid. I used to be unimpressed by the fact that Microsoft didn't very try new things IMO and they came big with W8 but it became such a joke. And it might be because I fully embraced touch screens and Microsoft experimenting with something new, but I was here for the changes and was kind of bummed when they faced such poor reception.

Just IMO. I enjoy Linux and Windows and I never thought W8 was THAT bad, just a lot of changes in a short time.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Kazak said:


> Oh, Microsoft. Come on, now.
> 
> ETA: The lines below are not in response to your post, Ann
> 
> ...


I never thought Win 8 was that bad either . . . but I know a lot of folks who were power users of Win 7 and REALLY didn't like that Win 8 mostly made them less efficient.

FWIW, I think the pendulum has swung back a bit . . . . I feel like it should work well for people comfortable with both ways of working.


----------



## Jane917 (Dec 29, 2009)

I tried to download Windows 10 to my old laptop. First I installed all the Windows updates, which had not been done since last December. I never got the Win10 invitation logo on my task bar. I tried to go to the MS site, but can't get on. It must be very busy. I will try later.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Jane917 said:


> I tried to download Windows 10 to my old laptop. First I installed all the Windows updates, which had not been done since last December. I never got the Win10 invitation logo on my task bar. I tried to go to the MS site, but can't get on. It must be very busy. I will try later.


Pretty sure you first have to get the invitation link . . . .part of what it does is check to be sure the OS will run on your device.

You may be able to get it from microsoft.com, however.


----------



## Jane917 (Dec 29, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Pretty sure you first have to get the invitation link . . . .part of what it does is check to be sure the OS will run on your device.
> 
> You may be able to get it from microsoft.com, however.


The invitation logo finally showed up in my task bar. I clicked on it. I was told I would be notified when Win10 was ready for my computer. How do they notify me?


----------



## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

So... Windows 10 just happened to this computer, and... it went without a hitch! Totally automatic, AND everything still works including Scrivener, Trackerbox (had to start it first time as Administrator) and so far nothing is broken. I can hardly believe it. Even my duel monitor setup works as before. All desktop icon are even in the same place (though they were 150% size) I just reduced to 100%, and the screens look as before.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Jane917 said:


> The invitation logo finally showed up in my task bar. I clicked on it. I was told I would be notified when Win10 was ready for my computer. How do they notify me?


close and click it again . . . . it'll probably say it's ready to install.


----------



## Jane917 (Dec 29, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> close and click it again . . . . it'll probably say it's ready to install.


When I click it again I get a window that says Please Wait. It just keeps spinning and spinning. The logo actually disappeared on DH's laptop.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Jane917 said:


> When I click it again I get a window that says Please Wait. It just keeps spinning and spinning. The logo actually disappeared on DH's laptop.


It's probably downloading.

I'd ignore it and check it again after some time . . . or tomorrow.


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

The upgrade went fine on my 8.1 notebook. I manually set some of the options instead of accepting the "Express" settings, and turned off a number of things that shared data with M$. It included the Classic Start Menu feature I'd installed while on 8.1, which makes the start menu button work more like it does in XP or 7. Haven't really played around with anything else, other than I know that my Firefox config copied over fine, since I'm typing this in it now and did not have to log in.


----------



## Andra (Nov 19, 2008)

We have an Asus transformer that came with 8.1 on it and that will be the guinea pig for Windows 10.  I tried to like 8.1 but I had a hard time with it.  (Yes, it was probably a user issue.)
I don't need my computer to act like my phone in most cases.  My computer needs to be my computer and my phone needs to be my phone.  I do different things with them and I don't expect the UI to be the same across devices.  I think I just don't adapt to change well...  I doubt I'll do anything about upgrading my Win7 laptop since it's stable and I don't use it much any more because it's so much more convenient to pull out one of the tablets.


----------



## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

Happily, my download was available late last evening. Download and installation went very smoothly (yay!) Sadly, my download was available LATE last evening. No time for play.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

I just tried to upgrade my test environment that has 8.1 on it.

All I got was a message saying "Something happened."

As far as I can see, nothing did.

Perhaps that means its not available in Australia yet, and the request for download has been made. But I'm guessing.

It would be way to much to ask Microsoft Programmers to actually give a decent informative message. Those people don't live on this planet.


----------



## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

I was upset to learn that Cortana only works for US English and not UK (I mean hey! Where did English come from eh?)


----------



## Jane917 (Dec 29, 2009)

I am trying to figure out where I am going wrong trying to download Windows 10.    I clicked on the icon in my task bar. It tells me my computer is compatible and I will be notified when I can start the download. Then nothing happens. When I click the icon in the task bar again it takes me back to the window titled "Get Windows 10." This window tells me to reserve my copy and I will be notified when I can download. When I click around the Get Windows 10 window, it tells me a confirmation report is not ready. It also tells me I will be notified when the download is ready. How do they notify me? 

I do not use my Dell laptop very much. I switched to a Macbook Pro about a year ago. Yesterday I installed all the updates I have for my Dell that I have missed in the last year. My Dell has Windows 7 installed in 2009. I assume that is about the time I have had the laptop, so it is at least 6 years old. Do you suppose it is just too old?


----------



## alawston (Jun 3, 2012)

I've been annoying my mates on Facebook with constant "Windows 10 is Skynet" gags, so I'll lay off here 

I think I'll wait for the first major patch, though. On general principles.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Mark E. Cooper said:


> I was upset to learn that Cortana only works for US English and not UK (I mean hey! Where did English come from eh?)


Does Siri have different accents? Is there a male voice option with Cortana? (Not a fan of the sort of female voice that's usually connected to such things -- I turn her off in my GPS.)


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Jane917 said:


> I am trying to figure out where I am going wrong trying to download Windows 10.  I clicked on the icon in my task bar. It tells me my computer is compatible and I will be notified when I can start the download. Then nothing happens. When I click the icon in the task bar again it takes me back to the window titled "Get Windows 10." This window tells me to reserve my copy and I will be notified when I can download. When I click around the Get Windows 10 window, it tells me a confirmation report is not ready. It also tells me I will be notified when the download is ready. How do they notify me?
> 
> I do not use my Dell laptop very much. I switched to a Macbook Pro about a year ago. Yesterday I installed all the updates I have for my Dell that I have missed in the last year. My Dell has Windows 7 installed in 2009. I assume that is about the time I have had the laptop, so it is at least 6 years old. Do you suppose it is just too old?


I think, for it to have been available for you on release day, you had to 'pre-reserve' a copy -- like weeks ago. Now that it's rolling out, I suspect they're controlling distribution so as not to freak out their own servers. You'll eventually see that it's ready. Just be patient.

As to whether it'll work on an older system, there should be a link, if you have the absolute LATEST Win7, that lets you check to see if the computer is compatible.


----------



## Jill Nojack (Mar 7, 2014)

Jane917 said:


> I am trying to figure out where I am going wrong trying to download Windows 10.  I clicked on the icon in my task bar. It tells me my computer is compatible and I will be notified when I can start the download. Then nothing happens. When I click the icon in the task bar again it takes me back to the window titled "Get Windows 10." This window tells me to reserve my copy and I will be notified when I can download. When I click around the Get Windows 10 window, it tells me a confirmation report is not ready. It also tells me I will be notified when the download is ready. How do they notify me?
> 
> I do not use my Dell laptop very much. I switched to a Macbook Pro about a year ago. Yesterday I installed all the updates I have for my Dell that I have missed in the last year. My Dell has Windows 7 installed in 2009. I assume that is about the time I have had the laptop, so it is at least 6 years old. Do you suppose it is just too old?


They're rolling it out slowly, so you may not be offered it right away. However, if you want it right away instead of standing in line, you can download it directly from:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10?OCID=WIP_r_Win10_Body_AddPC

It says in the instructions that it will ask you for your product key, but it won't if you are upgrading.

I installed it this way last night because I have to start supporting the Edge browser immediately for users, and I thought I might want to know how it works before I did.

The upgrade went fine, and I certainly like the interface better than WIN 8.1.

I've already found one strange glitch, though. It pins almost everything you've ever used onto the Tile menu on start (with all of the Microsoft apps getting preference). I needed to delete most of them so that I could readily see the ones I actually use. In the process, I accidently unpinned the tile for the command line (which is one I want all the time) when I was tried to move it. When I try to put it back, my only option was to unpin it from start. I was able to unpin and then pin it back, but yeah...it's a glitch.

I think overall it provides a few minor fixes for some of the biggest problems with WIN 8 (primarily when I would end up in tablet view when I had no interest being in tablet view), and I am thrilled that I can now install desktop Skype instead of having to use the metro version.

However, I won't be upgrading any of my Win 7 boxes to it. It doesn't offer any real improvements for me as a power user. And the Edge browser looks like it is going to become this tech's daily nightmare supporting users on our website. Sigh.


----------



## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

alawston said:


> I've been annoying my mates on Facebook with constant "Windows 10 is Skynet" gags, so I'll lay off here
> 
> I think I'll wait for the first major patch, though. On general principles.


"Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, Steve Wozniak Say No To Skynet, Call For AI Weapons Ban"
http://www.ibtimes.com/elon-musk-stephen-hawking-steve-wozniak-say-no-skynet-call-ai-weapons-ban-2026197


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Just installed on my desktop.  Only hiccup is I had to tell it to find the wired internet . . . and there's one older device that may not work . . . but, really, that's o.k. because I don't use it really anyway. . .. it's a musical keyboard that has an old midi connection.

I also noticed that Edge does allow importation of CHROME bookmarks -- I don't have that installed at all on my laptop which is, I guess, the reason it wasn't shown as an option.  One hopes they'll add Firefox at some point.


----------



## Jill Nojack (Mar 7, 2014)

Ugh. The only way to turn off Windows Defender is to use group policy (only available in Pro), or through a registry edit. Can't even turn it off in services like you can the Windows Firewall. I am already having to hack at the registry and I haven't had it for 24 hours even!

In other words, Windows is making their antivirus a "critical compenent" of the OS (like IE) and it may conflict with your prefered antivirus, so you don't need that anymore. I am not a fan of this. No, I am not.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

You can revert to 8.1 within 30 days of installing 10. -- settings/update & security/recovery.

I think you can revert to 7, too, if that's what you had.

check windows feedback (type it in the search block) for stuff others have figured out, or to provide info.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

I've just heard that Kaspersky wont work under win 10.

Since I don't trust Microsoft to do firewalls properly, its an automatic deal breaker for me. I immediately have no reason to go to 10, even if they are giving it away.


----------



## Chrissy (Mar 31, 2014)

I found a work around to prevent the automatic updates.  What you do is disable the service responsible for Windows Update. This will keep your computer from checking for updates, effectively opting out.

Here are the basic steps for doing this in Windows 10:

- Right click on the Start icon

- Click on "Computer Management"

- Expand "Services and Applications"

- Click on "Services"

- Scroll all the way down and double-click on "Windows Update"

- Change the "Startup type" drop-down menu from Manual to Disabled


You can then turn ON the service when you choose and let your computer update your system.  


P.S.  I'm still planning on sticking with the versions of Windows 7 & 8 I have on my various computers.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Chrissy said:


> I found a work around to prevent the automatic updates. What you do is disable the service responsible for Windows Update. This will keep your computer from checking for updates, effectively opting out.
> 
> Here are the basic steps for doing this in Windows 10:
> 
> ...


I don't think Win10 will install automatically if you are running 7 or 8. You have to initiate the install. So it's easy to not have it happen . . . just don't do it. If you didn't pre-reserve a copy, I think you even have to initiate the request for download. So, it seems to me, stopping updates in 7 or 8 won't help keep 10 out; it'll just help you forget to get updates that might be important. 

If you already have 10, it probably makes sense to have the updates come so minor bugs and glitches will get fixed as you go. You can, as usual, set this to happen pretty automatically, or set it to remind you to check or install automatically downloaded updates.


----------



## Jill Nojack (Mar 7, 2014)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I don't think Win10 will install automatically if you are running 7 or 8. You have to initiate the install. So it's easy to not have it happen . . . just don't do it. If you didn't pre-reserve a copy, I think you even have to initiate the request for download. So, it seems to me, stopping updates in 7 or 8 won't help keep 10 out; it'll just help you forget to get updates that might be important.
> 
> If you already have 10, it probably makes sense to have the updates come so minor bugs and glitches will get fixed as you go. You can, as usual, set this to happen pretty automatically, or set it to remind you to check or install automatically downloaded updates.


There are a couple of problems with the updates coming down automatically. Some updates can cause serious problems (such as the update to a graphics driver that broke some machines during the windows upgrade).

Yes, you can uninstall a bad update, but it will come back later if you do. That means that if Microsoft takes its time preparing an update to fix the broken update, your machine stays broken until they get around to the fix.

Plus, I use a mobile hotspot and pay for data by the gig. If I'm out in the woods writing and an update comes down without me knowing about it, it could cost me a pretty penny. This was a bad move by Microsoft. And the only way to prevent it is to turn automatic updates off. So I have. Which means I have to run them manually. Which means I won't remember.

This move reminds me of Vista, when MS first instroduced User Access Control (UAC). Your PC asked you so many times if you really wanted to install something or let this program do this or that that everyone just turned it off. While it was introduced to improve security, it ended up making things worse. UAC was implemented in a much smarter way in Win 7, and it is now a useful feature that does what it is supposed to do - prevent malicious software from installing itself without your knowledge.


----------



## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

TimothyEllis said:


> I've just heard that Kaspersky wont work under win 10.
> 
> Since I don't trust Microsoft to do firewalls properly, its an automatic deal breaker for me. I immediately have no reason to go to 10, even if they are giving it away.


I installed Kaspersky on a new Windows 10 laptop and it said it had been updated for Windows 10. No problems so far!


----------



## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I updated my netbook with some media tool thingy. It had windows 8 before. Much better with 10 than 8. 

Waiting with my main computer though, its a W7. I have older stuff hooked up that does not have drivers for it. I have some time to think about it.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

spotsmom said:


> I installed Kaspersky on a new Windows 10 laptop and it said it had been updated for Windows 10. No problems so far!


Was that a version specifically for 10? Or the current version for 8.1?

I had to download a specific 8 version when I got my tablet. If I have to do so for 10, I would.


----------



## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

After I upgraded to Windows 10 and opened Kaspersky (the one I bought for 8.1), there was a message that Kaspersky had been optimized for Windows 10.  That same day I installed Kaspersky (using my license from earlier this year) on a brand new laptop with 10 and it downloaded Internet Security 2016.  That's all I can tell you!


----------



## Scout (Jun 2, 2014)

I would never get in line for "Windows" anything.


----------

