JeffL
2701
OK, I wasn’t going to install Windows 10 on my laptop (my only PC) and just get it when I am forced to get a new one, but since my wife’s laptop autoupdated to Windows 10 without her permission, I think I’ll install Windows 10 on my machine now, just so I can answer her “How do I…” questions.
I like Windows 7 a lot - is there anything I need to know or install before or after installing Window 10 today?
The keyboard shortcut Windows-X will be your best friend. That and using search on the start menu handles most of the “somebody moved my cheese” problems.
Going away soon for a while, I think I’m going to give the Win10 upgrade a miss. After a year following this thread on and off, it seems there are still plenty of issues. I usually wait a couple of years before installing updated versions of Windows anyway, and Win7 works perfectly fine for now and the immediate future, so that’s me sorted. I need a new laptop soon and I’m sure that’ll come with 10, so change is inevitable, but I can do without the hassle right now.
And never forget the awesome Linux (that improves all the time), you can now pretty much consider giving MS the heave-ho, outside of very specific work related software (and most games). For purely internet usage my time with Linux has been a revelation vs my previous MS OS, zero malware, and zero issues (this is not always the case so do research!), it’s been amazing vs where i was at having to babysit and fix malware related stuff under MS nearly all the time.
Top tips:
Always run a ‘Live’ version first (from DVD/USB etc) of whatever Linux you like the sound of. This allows you to test that version works ok on your hardware without changing anything on your system.
Always use the Linux distro’s forums to get advice and prepare properly before installing (partitioning the hard drive/SSD etc can be fiddle-some).
Never rush into installing any version of Linux, always do the first two things above well, and it will nearly always be as trouble free as i’ve found it. It is why i have zero concerns about not having to use Windows 10, i don’t want what that OS offers, and i don’t need it, i have a better alternative.
:)
Yeah, it’s the year of Linux on desktop.
It’s like Brazil. It’s the nation of tomorrow, and always will be.
Well, if nothing else, Windows 10 has made Linux look more attractive for a lot of people.
Got my update a week or so ago and it mostly went off without a hitch. The lack of a compatibility report that the upgrade dialog promised I’d get before the upgrade was a big disappointment so now for all I know some rarely used program isn’t going to work the next time I need it.
I also had Windows manage my auto-update times, and apparently it thinks 9pm on a Sunday is a good time to restart – and once it’s made up its mind there’s no delaying it. Needless to say I’m less than thrilled and have turned updates as off as they’ll let me, making my system less secure because Microsoft won’t let me put off an update. Thanks guys!
It can be, IF you follow the simple two step advice i gave, test your hardware first via a ‘Live’ disk/usb, prepare your installation properly (for dual-boot etc).
Certainly Linux is less polished, things like heat management and ‘efficiency’ of hardware use is less sophisticated vs Windows, but it works pretty well for a free OS that does not force itself (or the corporation that made it) on you. It’s an OS you use, not an OS that uses you.
I’ve been impressed enough to now not be looking back. Windows is now my gaming-legacy OS, and nothing else. It’s Linux into the future for all my builds and family and friends, it’s nearly that good to be that real an option. Zero malware in nearly a year, it just works all the time with very little management needed from my end.
Where i would not even pay MS for Windows 10 (and it’s future versions if they do not change track), i’m very happy giving some money for a free OS that does not even require i do that, and respects my wish to have an OS to use and not the other way around :)
I was very happy to pay MS up until the Windows 8 changes (GUI was my biggest complaint there, but you could already see the ‘Apple’ vision that Windows 10 represents), then they just got ‘Xbone’ crazy with Windows too. No thanks MS. Spy on your own willing citizens, but not this one. Reduce my ability to manage my OS and you reduce my desire to play that kind of Russian-roulette game with you, ‘game’ me, your end user and i will just refuse to play with you anymore. You make OS, and have made some great ones that are awesome tools. I am not willing to become the tool for your OS to use, sorry.
Clay
2710
You won’t have to wait that long, I guess…
I actually like Win10 – enough that I might switch to it as my primary platform at home (from OS X). The one thing that I hate, however, is the little pop up that keeps telling me to try Office365. No. Leave me alone.
You can uninstall the get office365 app and then that, at least, won’t pester you. Will still get the dumb start menu suggestions unless you turn off that annoyance too…
I also like Windows 10, but yeah - it was only a matter of time until something like this happened. Like many others, I also got an update I didn’t invite. I just went with it to avoid the hassle down the line because I was going to switch eventually. Mine worked out, but I’ve heard several stories of nightmares like the above.
Well get used to that kind of thing from New Microsoft, that is just the way they do things these days, although i expect it won’t always be just adverts but actual trials that are difficult to get out off ;)
In relation to that court case, a $10,000 win is nothing by itself, but this sets the precedent to allow the floodgates to open, and in this case i really feel MS deserve some beating down about how they approached things. The new CEO needs to take the rap for that.
Yeah I’ve noticed my Win 10 install on my main PC bugging me to upgrade my Office 2010 install. But on my 2nd older PC , Win 10 doesn’t seem to give a shit about the Office 2007 that is installed on it.
I just turn on quiet mode, and the alert and ad popups seem to stop.
As much as people tell me the interface of Win 10 is great, I still installed Classic Shell on both PCs.
My work PC Windows 10 upgrade happened overnight. Thankfully, all my files were exactly where I left them. I had totally forgotten how insane that screen is. Seriously, it pulsates blue for a good minute, exactly as if it were trying to hypnotise you into believing it.
Even an experienced user might think “Well I wasn’t worried about what happened to my stuff during the upgrade UNTIL NOW”
habibi
2717
So, I am thinking of getting myself a new CPU, thus a new motherboard and RAM as well. And I am not intending to do a fresh install (*) and so I am wondering will Windows 10 refuse to work if I just plug the SSD to a new mobo/CPU or it requires me to call a hotline or something.
(*) My Windows 10 is a free upgrade from a Windows 8, which is a free upgrade to the Windows Vista. So if I am calling MS, or if I do a fresh install, what is the serial number I should provide? I honestly have no idea. I don’t think I keep track of the Windows 8 serial number. I still have my Vista, though.
It will not activate automatically, but you can simply input your windows 8 product key to activate it. You will definitely need to track down that key.
Note that will only work until June 29th, when the upgrade offer ends. (Unless they decide to extend it, which I think likely, but certainly not guaranteed.)
If you can’t find your old key, call MS. Worst case scenario, kinguin sells win10 keys for like twenty bucks.
habibi
2719
That is what I feared. Ok, I think I will have to try and track this one down. And thanks for the kinguin tip, $20 for Windows key is certainly doable and will save me a ton of headache.
Isn’t there a tool or an app (or whatever it’s called these days) to extract your Windows key from a current install? Magic Jelly Bean finder or something like that?
Actually, after a bit of quick googling it turns out that Microsoft has gone from the ol’ Product Key management to some sort of digital rights entitlement. According to the article I saw, there is no ‘official’ product key associated with your Windows 10 install, so if you make large changes to your system (like, uh, replacing the motherboard) you have to call them to re-enable your copy. That’s according to this article from PC World.
