Windows 10 - Are you switching?

[lvr181]

They haven't had a decent operating system since Xp

Really? I was a long time XP user (from Win 98 to XP) but found Win 7 (64bit) to be more up to date and relevant. Fortunately, I "missed" ME and Vista.

[BuddhistVirus]

Windows 9 was so bad it never made it to marketing.

No, 7 ate 9. HA!

[Pib]

They haven't had a decent operating system since Xp

Really? I was a long time XP user (from Win 98 to XP) but found Win 7 (64bit) to be more up to date and relevant. Fortunately, I "missed" ME and Vista.

Yea, I was a long time XP user also...used Win 7 for a long time also and still using it on two laptops...third laptop has Win 8.1 I found Win 7 to be better than XP in terms of features, stability, etc. (not to imply XP was bad as it wasn't).

[harrry]

Fairly quick install

Seems to run ok too...by mistake I had it on a vm with one processor and it was still running sharply.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I haven't seen/heard the answer to a pretty important detail:

When MS did the preview release for Windows 8, it was destined to die at a certain point and couldn't be directly upgraded to the final release version of Windows 8. Meaning any apps/settings installed under that OS were eventually going to get wiped out and have to be reinstalled.

So, I'd be interested to hear, for the technical preview of Win 10, will that ultimately be upgradeable to the release version of Win 10 with the appropriate license, or it too has a limited lifespan and isn't upgradeable to the final version.

[MJCM]

I haven't seen/heard the answer to a pretty important detail:

When MS did the preview release for Windows 8, it was destined to die at a certain point and couldn't be directly upgraded to the final release version of Windows 8. Meaning any apps/settings installed under that OS were eventually going to get wiped out and have to be reinstalled.

So, I'd be interested to hear, for the technical preview of Win 10, will that ultimately be upgradeable to the release version of Win 10 with the appropriate license, or it too has a limited lifespan and isn't upgradeable to the final version.

Too early to tell. Sorry.

[Chicog]

I haven't seen/heard the answer to a pretty important detail:

When MS did the preview release for Windows 8, it was destined to die at a certain point and couldn't be directly upgraded to the final release version of Windows 8. Meaning any apps/settings installed under that OS were eventually going to get wiped out and have to be reinstalled.

So, I'd be interested to hear, for the technical preview of Win 10, will that ultimately be upgradeable to the release version of Win 10 with the appropriate license, or it too has a limited lifespan and isn't upgradeable to the final version.

If it's a technical preview it is very far from the finished product, so I doubt very much it is intended for long term use.

[mikecat]

I am on Win 7 and like it, 8 is crap and dont expect much more from 10 but you never know until you try I guess.

[Chicog]

I cancelled it and downloaded it in FlashGet. Took about 20 mins.

Now waiting for Disk Cleanup to remove 24Gb of crap from my server before I install it.

:drums fingers:

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I haven't seen/heard the answer to a pretty important detail:

When MS did the preview release for Windows 8, it was destined to die at a certain point and couldn't be directly upgraded to the final release version of Windows 8. Meaning any apps/settings installed under that OS were eventually going to get wiped out and have to be reinstalled.

So, I'd be interested to hear, for the technical preview of Win 10, will that ultimately be upgradeable to the release version of Win 10 with the appropriate license, or it too has a limited lifespan and isn't upgradeable to the final version.

If it's a technical preview it is very far from the finished product, so I doubt very much it is intended for long term use.

Yes, obviously, the tech preview is not intended for long-term use.

But the question is, can a user of the Win 10 tech preview later install the final version on top of the existing tech preview install, or, have to start from scratch as was the case with the original Windows 8 preview.

In the prior go-round, a lot of non-techie users (me NOT among them) installed the Win 8 tech preview and then installed their own apps and used the program for months, accumulating documents, etc etc... only to later learn to their dismay that they'd have to wipe all that out and start over in order to install the final Windows 8 OS.

[borrfors]

Since the information regarding the benefits of the forthcomming Windows 10 is rather meager at the moment, I think you need to know more in order to answer this question.

But the general idea of making a uniformed OS for all kinds of hardware platforms such as PCs, tablets and mobile phones sounds promising.

But also bear in mind that Google and the Linux distributions also are working on similar aproaches. And Linux is free of charge...

[Chicog]

I haven't seen/heard the answer to a pretty important detail:

When MS did the preview release for Windows 8, it was destined to die at a certain point and couldn't be directly upgraded to the final release version of Windows 8. Meaning any apps/settings installed under that OS were eventually going to get wiped out and have to be reinstalled.

So, I'd be interested to hear, for the technical preview of Win 10, will that ultimately be upgradeable to the release version of Win 10 with the appropriate license, or it too has a limited lifespan and isn't upgradeable to the final version.

If it's a technical preview it is very far from the finished product, so I doubt very much it is intended for long term use.

Yes, obviously, the tech preview is not intended for long-term use.

But the question is, can a user of the Win 10 tech preview later install the final version on top of the existing tech preview install, or, have to start from scratch as was the case with the original Windows 8 preview.

In the prior go-round, a lot of non-techie users (me NOT among them) installed the Win 8 tech preview and then installed their own apps and used the program for months, accumulating documents, etc etc... only to later learn to their dismay that they'd have to wipe all that out and start over in order to install the final Windows 8 OS.

For the Win 8 preview, they made it clear right from the beginning that you would not be able to "license" it when the final version was released.

I've looked through everything I can find about this one and it makes no mention.

Personally I would err on the side of caution.

[Sarathi]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

So many people giving bad information here. I have been a registered Microsoft Developer for several years now. I understand that for most people reviews of windows can seem very vague and seem to focus mostly on the user interface. Also often by critics scared of change.

I look at Windows generations from a different perspective, I take the into consideration with current trends and hardware performance, this is the reason for metro in Windows 8, it was aimed at the touchscreen generation. Windows 7 contained massive CPU, GPU, and memory performance gains(DX11 and AVX(CPU instructions)). Very similar to XP. Vista was generated for its new look, and 'kernel'(Windows Core). XP and Vista are the only new operating systems microsoft has released since Windows 95.

Taking this into perspective on newer hardware running modern apps, upgrading will always suit you best, irrespective of what you opinion of the GUI is. That is what most here are debating. Apps will follow Windows trends and Windows will also follow the apps. I have seen apps introduce support for touch screen, this means larger buttons, pinch zooming and more, this of course affects the design and flow of the program. People have to catch up, this has always been the case in the IT industry. Retrain, retrain, retrain.

People would like to think that their PC will last many years. 2 - 4 is the max life of a PC for a modern user. During that time a user will spend about 50% of its value upgrading and repairing it. Microsoft works closely with hardware manufacturers, very closely. Processors, Graphics Cards, Motherboards and all the key components that make up your computer, smart phone, smart tv, tablet or games console for many generations have been designed for the "current OS" this is due to a mixture of driver enhancements and hardware improvements.

For example a modern Computer Aided Design program would work best on Windows 8, The ability to draw directly on the screen would have huge advantages, the user would then want everything else touch activated. Due to touchscreen technology now being normal the interface is no longer clumsy and much more easily accessed.

Then take it from a young persons perspective, who has only ever known touchscreen, from their phones and tablets. The leap for them is also welcomed. The mouse for these users is seen as a drag and unneeded. Microsoft just went a little early, not enough people were converted to touch screen, but microsoft was also targetting the highly lucrative touch screen market. Intel was reducing processor size and voltage, dell was miniaturising its form factor, ready for what you know as the "Ultrabook".

DX11 in Windows 7 was the reason for upgrading, it offered new graphics technologies such as tessellation, as well as a new shader model. New instruction sets were added though these didn't launch till SP1, giving huge CPU gains for Intel users. Users reported almost a 80% performance boost using Sandy Bridge CPU's or later.

All web browsers as of HTML5 are hardware unlocked. This means Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and such has direct access to the Processor, Graphics and other hardware internally. This is intended to give websites a boost, and does dramatically. Legacy hardware(old machines) suffer, as the Internet a place where a 15 year old laptop could happily go to any webpage is over. Upgrading your PC only for gaming, video/photo editing, CAD, and other performance hungry applications is disappearing, plus with more everyday users doing this without knowing, thanks to action cams and camera phones.

I would service lots of PC's domestically, almost all the users had similar requests for a home pc. Internet, work and social interaction. Any PC over 4 years today is going to struggle, for example watching a 1080p Youtube video whilst playing music, would cause a slow down. Your PC will seem 'slow' after 2.

Windows 10 targets a new problem. The diversity in hardware. Windows 8 and all previous were designed to run on 100% IBM compatible machines. Windows 10 however scales itself to device. Mobile phones, tablets, PC and all other Windows 10 devices will use the same kernel and cloud service. Meaning the windows on your phone will be identical to your laptop and mirrored. Transferring media will be a thing of the past, what's available on the laptop is available on the phone on vice versa. For those of us with multiple devices this is ideal. I am interested as to how it handles my films and digital content management. If draconian here they will fail before they begin.

In my experience under 30 - 35 prefer to go forwards where as above this tends to want same same. I think it is more an understanding on the younger people's part that this is only going to get faster, and as such never be same same. This is why technology is aimed at young people.It will be interesting to see if the age rises, or if my own friends start to suffer the curse.

Great perspective - thanks.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

What your comments above, re the younger users, fail to address is that one of MS's biggest and most important client segments is the enterprise customers, and they don't want new style OSs foisted on them every year or two, and they definitely don't want to "retrain, retrain, retrain," as you put it, for workstation use all the time.

As for hardware, I have older and I have new. But among the different items, I have a dual core, 7-8 year old Toshiba laptop that originally came with Windows XP from the store, and now runs Win 7 with 4 GB of memory just fine. Not only is the laptop still running, but it does everything I ask it to do -- web browsing, photo and audio editing, music and video playing, video streaming, etc etc. And I probably do more with my computer than most typical users here.

For the average non-techie user, the case for constantly upgrading PC hardware or OS seems to me to be much overstated. But then again, making arguments for that is how the tech industry makes its money, by selling people on the notion that there's always something faster and better -- whether they really need it, or not.

[Pib]

As for hardware, I have older and I have new. But among the different items, I have a dual core, 7-8 year old Toshiba laptop that originally came with Windows XP from the store, and now runs Win 7 with 4 GB of memory just fine. Not only is the laptop still running, but it does everything I ask it to do -- web browsing, photo and audio editing, music and video playing, video streaming, etc etc. And I probably do more with my computer than most typical users here.

Ditto...I got a 8 year old Toshiba laptop Celeron single core CPU with only 2GB RAM and a 7 year old Toshiba laptop Pentium Core Duo CPU with 4GB RAM both running Win 7 just fine. And I have a under one year old Lenovo i7 quad core CPU running Win 8.1 with 8GB RAM. I only got the Lenovo back in Dec 13 when my 7 year old Toshiba broke (GPU died) and spent a couple weeks in the shop to get fixed...during that period I just went ahead and bought a new computer....I then relegated my repaired 7 year old Toshiba primary laptop (only cost Bt1,500 to repair/replace the GPU chip) to backup computer status and my 8 year old Toshiba as backup to the backup computer. I put a SSD in my 7 year old Toshiba and boy it was like adding a turbocharger to an engine...made a very good performance increase and does some things just as fast a my i7 quad core laptop which I also put a SSD in. SSD's can add a very significant "real world" performance boost to an old or new computer, especially an older, less horsepower CPU/RAM computer.

[ford8]

Here is windows 9

[blindpet]

I will definitely be switching. It looks like it combines the strengths of both Windows 7 and the current Windows 8.1. Microsoft always seem to screw up every other major OS release.

[Chicog]

Haven't had so much as a blip out of it since I upgraded from 8.1.

It is definitely faster, but apart from the start menu looks identical.

Oh, and notifications are better.

[Farma]

http://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/windows-10-technical-preview-contains-a-keylogger/story-fnjwukfu-1227083359793

THE latest build of Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 10 contains a keylogger that sees everything that is typed.

Microsoft has admitted to monitoring file usage within the preview version of Windows 10, up to and including keylogging.

[Pib]

http://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/windows-10-technical-preview-contains-a-keylogger/story-fnjwukfu-1227083359793

THE latest build of Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 10 contains a keylogger that sees everything that is typed.

Microsoft has admitted to monitoring file usage within the preview version of Windows 10, up to and including keylogging.

I love one sentence from above article/weblink which goes like this:

"But before you work yourself into a frenzy and drop Windows for a tinfoil hat and Linux, Microsoft claims the privacy statement may change in the future."

[balo]

I always wait at least 1 year before I switch , but never liked Win 8 so I'm still using win 7 and will probably do so for a while after the win10 release.

[lvr181]

I always wait at least 1 year before I switch , but never liked Win 8 so I'm still using win 7 and will probably do so for a while after the win10 release.

I'm with you on that one. I have a desktop on Win 7, along with a laptop and another laptop on Win 8.1 (because that is what it came with). I learned many years ago NOT to be an "early adopter" (bling or must have is not my style) let other more enthusiastic people work out the bugs, I simply want a smooth transition update.

[Brit_Doggie]

Upgraded from xp to win 7 something like 6 months ago, took some time to get used to it but i like it now,as for windows 10 not interested but will probably upgrade in maybe 1 1/2 years when my friendly pb offers it lol.

[Gomyway]

Upgraded from xp to win 7 something like 6 months ago, took some time to get used to it but i like it now,as for windows 10 not interested but will probably upgrade in maybe 1 1/2 years when my friendly pb offers it lol.

LOL - maybe it would have been better to keep XP running...

Quote from Russian hackers about 'zero-day': "The firm began monitoring the hackers’ activity in late 2013 and discovered the vulnerability — known as a “zero-day” — in August, Ward said. The flaw is pres­ent in every Windows operating system from Vista to 8.1, he said, except Windows XP."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/russian-hackers-use-zero-day-to-hack-nato-ukraine-in-cyber-spy-campaign/2014/10/13/f2452976-52f9-11e4-892e-602188e70e9c_story.html

[canuckamuck]

http://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/windows-10-technical-preview-contains-a-keylogger/story-fnjwukfu-1227083359793

THE latest build of Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 10 contains a keylogger that sees everything that is typed.

Microsoft has admitted to monitoring file usage within the preview version of Windows 10, up to and including keylogging.

Well of course it has key logger. I have no doubts that the new version of Windows was designed under advisement of the NSA. Can you imagine how strongly the NSA desires an operating system with their type of mods. They already have back doors to most software. Now they they'll get the front door to the entire system.

Yes I wear a silver colored hat on this issue, so what? NSA is out of control, it can't be denied.

[adamtwilley]

What your comments above, re the younger users, fail to address is that one of MS's biggest and most important client segments is the enterprise customers, and they don't want new style OSs foisted on them every year or two, and they definitely don't want to "retrain, retrain, retrain," as you put it, for workstation use all the time.

As for hardware, I have older and I have new. But among the different items, I have a dual core, 7-8 year old Toshiba laptop that originally came with Windows XP from the store, and now runs Win 7 with 4 GB of memory just fine. Not only is the laptop still running, but it does everything I ask it to do -- web browsing, photo and audio editing, music and video playing, video streaming, etc etc. And I probably do more with my computer than most typical users here.

For the average non-techie user, the case for constantly upgrading PC hardware or OS seems to me to be much overstated. But then again, making arguments for that is how the tech industry makes its money, by selling people on the notion that there's always something faster and better -- whether they really need it, or not.

I can point you in the direction of several HTML5 sites which run very poorly on your machines. This would indicate that they cannot do everything you want them to do. BMW when HTML5 launched where quick to explore the 3D implications of this advance. The build your own BMW web app would be causing excessive load and produce a very slow and unacceptable frame rate, giving the user a very poor experience.

The notion of whether you need it or not would depend on your circumstances and experience. For example:

A user who regularly takes videos on his phone then uploads them would require the faster hardware all the time, without him realising. The camera in phone gets better and this has a knock on effect. The file size and resolution become larger, the encoding profile may differ and his use of software becomes more advanced the longer he does it.

All areas of the technology industry are constantly expanding and so they should. How far you come behind this and how much you are going to let it affect your performance is personal choice. Most users however have this choice removed, by purchasing something which is incompatible or there computer is just to old. In my post I covered how young people more readily accept this as a part of their life, for older people it is seen as a financial burden(speaking in general terms).

As I said, If you have a new PC. IE under 1 year old and using cutting edge apps, the new operating system will always run best, ALWAYS.

If you use legacy programs and legacy hardware the OS from the time of production will most likely suit you best.

If you are on new hardware running legacy apps, running a Legacy Windows in a 'Virtual Machine' is the best solution, using the current generation of windows.

Remember if you were someone who refused to go to Windows 7 on a Sandybridge CPU you were throwing away upto 80% of additional power just by being a dinosaur.

I think most people do not understand when, how and why to switch. The answers I have read carried one common theme. The GUI (Graphical User Interface) This tells me the average understanding of hardware and windows is quite low. I hope I am providing people an insight into areas they had not considered. They call computer programs applications for a reason, and the layer that application runs on can be just as important as the hardware itself.

[adamtwilley]

http://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/windows-10-technical-preview-contains-a-keylogger/story-fnjwukfu-1227083359793

THE latest build of Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 10 contains a keylogger that sees everything that is typed.

Microsoft has admitted to monitoring file usage within the preview version of Windows 10, up to and including keylogging.

Well of course it has key logger. I have no doubts that the new version of Windows was designed under advisement of the NSA. Can you imagine how strongly the NSA desires an operating system with their type of mods. They already have back doors to most software. Now they they'll get the front door to the entire system.

Yes I wear a silver colored hat on this issue, so what? NSA is out of control, it can't be denied.

OMG! Are you all really this stupid?

1) If microsoft wanted to access you computer, they can do so at anytime they wish! There are built in supervisor and hardware accounts which can be remotely connected to. This is to allow advanced networking functions and for remote assistance. You can turn it off by googling "disable remote assistance'

2) Windows monitors everything! It has to, its the job of the operating system. It makes file access faster, search results quicker and much more. It is predicting what you are about to do. Anyone who has an SSD should understand this, SSD owners must turn 'pre-fetch' off, to reduce SSD wear.

3) How can Windows not keylog? You want letters on your screen yes? You like predictive text yes? You like spell check yes?

I would love people to get real a little bit here. Microsoft already has ultimate power when it comes to Windows, they have no need for back doors. The EULA indemnifies them from it. They have to provide software which runs your computer at a hardware level and stores all you data. Just by installing Windows you are essentially trusting Microsoft with your information.

[canuckamuck]

Well I will admit up front that I am out of my depth in the tech forums. But I have no doubt that whatever holdouts we had to personal computing will die in the next wave OP's. Windows 10 will be a great system no doubt, but I really wish people felt their privacy was more important. I got nothing to hide, but I still don't shower in the front yard.

[adamtwilley]

Well I will admit up front that I am out of my depth in the tech forums. But I have no doubt that whatever holdouts we had to personal computing will die in the next wave OP's. Windows 10 will be a great system no doubt, but I really wish people felt their privacy was more important. I got nothing to hide, but I still don't shower in the front yard.

Think of it like this.

The only way for your computer not microsoft to know your intentions is for the computer to assess how you use it. This technology has progressed more and more. The more it progresses the more people will think it impinges on their privacy. The only factor which really matters is whether the people providing the technology can be trusted to use it honestly. For example, to stick to the policy of any information gathered will be read anonymous.

[canuckamuck]

Yes but we have no choice but to trust them and that makes trust irrelevant.

it doesn't matter anyhow. We lost that war already.