Quote:
Originally Posted by PCH
Oooops - I just saw Julian's post about how you can run it in W7 mode. That's good.
If you do that, does it retain any of the so called advantages behind the scenes (whatever they may be!)?
|
As far as I am concerned, there are no disadvantages in going to Windows 10, apart for the changed UI. That transition is now MUCH easier than was the shift from Windows 7 to Windows 8; I would put it more on a par with going from XP to Windows 7 - and most of us managed that without too much grief, and never looked back.
Advantages to using Windows 10 for me are that all of my upgraded computers boot faster than they used to, and are more power-efficient than they used to be. It has actually breathed new life into a couple of older (pre-Windows 7) laptops that I was on the verge of scrapping, as they now work better than ever. I have it running on a couple of 7-year-old 2-core budget laptops with "only" 2 GB of RAM, integrated Intel notebook graphics, and a 250 GB hard drive, and they work just fine. (Which isn't that big a surprise, as a typical current-generation budget Windows tablet or notebook will often have only 2 GB of RAM and a 32 GB solid-state drive, with an Intel Atom mobile processor, and they work perfectly under Windows 10.)
I now have the same user experience across all of my family's Windows devices, including a tablet and a convertible (tablet / laptop hybrid), which makes providing technical support much easier for me. If my 80-something-year-old parents can get used to Windows 10 (in desktop mode) on their HP all-in-one desktop, then I think anyone can!
While there was much to dislike about the implementation of Windows 8, for me, they have genuinely fixed all of that in Windows 10, and the elements of the "Modern UI" that do show up when you are in desktop mode are actually quite logical and useful - eg swipe from right of screen to display the "Action Center", which gives you one-tap access to recent emails and notifications, Control Panel, etc.
Other advantages of adopting Windows 10 are that it is still fully supported by Microsoft for patches and updates, and you can run the new Edge browser by default, instead of the execrable Internet Exploder (although I use Chrome browser by default, so that's not a big deal for me).
The only caveat for me would be that if you are running old peripheral hardware, it might be difficult to get some drivers, and it might be difficult t0 install some old apps. (The updater does a pretty good job of checking your system and installed applications before the upgrade gets under-way - if it runs under Windows 7, it will almost certainly run under Windows 10 - but your experience could be different.) I haven't encountered a single hardware / software incompatibility issue with any of the 10 or so computers I have updated to Windows 10 for my extended family.
Let's face it - you're going to HAVE to get used to Windows 10 some time - such as when you buy your next computer. For most people, I think you might as well get it now for free, rather than paying for it later.