MS took over my lap top with a forced upgrade to W10, couldn't stop it.
Discovered that in the first month you can delete it and re install W7.
Did just that, all good now.
Can't believe the crap they try to peddle.
Frank.
Hi Frank,
would you care to share what it was you didn't like about W10 please? Some here seem pleased with the new OS but I'm still hesitant.
My Mrs uses it at her work and says it the devils own job to find things when you've been used to W7.
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!)?
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.
By way of an update. After completing a full backup we went ahead with the upgrade on this laptop. Seems to be OK with the exception of one game not working properly. I haven't looked into this too hard yet.
I upgraded a few weeks ago on my Tough Book and I found it very good I have nebulosity 4 , PHD 2 , Ceil Cartes , a Sbig STI guider , and Sbig STF8300C all running on it and controlling the G11 as well .
so far has not crashed or no conflicts actually it is all running very smooth .
one thing I didn't know was that you can run it in desktop mode where do I find this selection ?
anyway I think it is quite a good OS and that is coming from someone that predominately use MAC .
clear skies to all
cheers Pete
one thing I didn't know was that you can run it in desktop mode where do I find this selection ?
Open the "Action Center" (tap the "Notifications" icon at bottom right of screen), and make sure "Tablet Mode" is unchecked (i.e. grey, not red, assuming you are using a default colour scheme).
You'll find several other tile icons at the bottom of the Action Center for one-tap access to other system functions, such as Wi-Fi, screen brightness, etc, as well as "All Settings", whcih gets you to the new-look equivalent of Control Panel.
I don't know whether the Action Center can be disabled (e.g. for people who REALLY hate the new Modern UI ), but I wouldn't recommend it, because it's actually really convenient, and worth getting to know.
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.
Hi Julian,
Thanks for the detailed reply, it's very much appreciated. I feel very much inclined to go for it after just a little further checking.
Firstly, I have a couple of quite old programs that I'd like to keep without upgrading if possible.
We have a 3 licence copy of Office 2007 and an old version of MYOB which we have no reason to upgrade.
Do you, or anyone else , know if those will be a problem with Windows 10? I certainly don't want to go to the new annual fee based MS Office!
Also, you mentioned about upgrading an XP machine if I read it right. Can we get a W10 upgrade for free for that? I don't get the W10 pop ups showing on that PC. Any thoughts?
Ok, that's it. Very thankful for your input Julian.
I like the classic windows 7 menu style so I install the free Classic Shell program on my win 10 machines . If I want to play with the new interface there is a button I can click from the menu to give me the Windows 10 interface.
I upgraded a 5 year old desktop and two notebooks without any issues .
Windows 10 doesn't include the media center which is bloody annoying. Does anyone know of an alternative. Running Toshiba with a "tuna"
Rom
Hi Rom,
You might want to look at Kodi - https://kodi.tv/download/
It runs on a large variety of platforms, including Windows.
It is open source and free. It includes support for scrapers
which can populate your music and movie collection with posters,
artwork and related meta data.
Another to consider is Plex - https://plex.tv/downloads
There is a free version which is very capable.
It uses a client server architecture and you can stream content throughout
the house.
We have a 3 licence copy of Office 2007 and an old version of MYOB which we have no reason to upgrade.
Do you, or anyone else , know if those will be a problem with Windows 10? I certainly don't want to go to the new annual fee based MS Office!
Also, you mentioned about upgrading an XP machine if I read it right. Can we get a W10 upgrade for free for that? I don't get the W10 pop ups showing on that PC. Any thoughts?
I can't guarantee anything, but our old licences for MS-Office were all still running fine after the upgrades (but they weren't as old as Office 2007), as were all the other installed apps. I can't speak for MYOB - sorry!
If I recall correctly, when you start the update process, it runs through a compatibility check of all your hardware and software, and warns of any issues. For the machines I updated, it downloaded a few driver updates etc, but we didn't get any reports of software issues, and none were encountered after the event.
As for Windows XP - no, the oldest machine I've personally updated started life on Windows Vista, which I updated to Windows 7 a few months after I bought it. (It came with a voucher for a free update to Windows 7 when MS released it a few months after purchase.) The free update to Windows 10 is only available for Windows 7 and up - for older OS, you have to pay for the update (if the machine is capable of running it), and everyone will have to pay if you delay the update until after July 29.
I reckon the fact that you have NO control over updates is the biggest issue. One only has to go back a few months ago when MS put out an update for Office that virtually trashed it on some users machines. If that happens with Windows 10, you are stuffed until they fix the update. At least with 7 you can make the decision whether you want the update or not. In 10 pro and upwards, you can defer some stuff, but for home, there is no such option. I reckon they have shot themselves well and truly in the foot on this one. They want to be in charge of everything one does on their computer, nothing like being big brother hey!! this just does not go down well with me.
You might want to look at Kodi - https://kodi.tv/download/
It runs on a large variety of platforms, including Windows.
It is open source and free. It includes support for scrapers
which can populate your music and movie collection with posters,
artwork and related meta data.
Another to consider is Plex - https://plex.tv/downloads
There is a free version which is very capable.
It uses a client server architecture and you can stream content throughout
the house.
Thanks, but I just want something that will use my inbuilt tuner... Why the hell is everything so over worked...
I was very sceptical, but based on experience on this thread, I just upgraded. It must have predownloaded, because the upgrade only took about 20mins. Everthing seems fine!. It is a welcome change from the cant-even-revert-to-factory brutal hard crashing upgrades ive had on Apple devices a few times.
...
We have a 3 licence copy of Office 2007 and an old version of MYOB which we have no reason to upgrade.
Do you, or anyone else , know if those will be a problem with Windows 10? I certainly don't want to go to the new annual fee based MS Office!
...
Cheers.
Paul
If for any reason after the upgrade to Windows 10 you find that Outlook 2007 can only receive emails but CANNOT SEND them (there'll be an error message that informs you of this issue) all you have to do is go into "Command Prompt" as administrator - you can right-mouse click the Start button and select "Command Prompt(Admin)" and you'll be in a black screen windows with the cursor blinking after C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32> - and type SFC /scannow and then "Enter" and after a while when the process of checking ends you exit the command prompt shell and return to Windows 10 and voila! your Outlook can send again!
), but I wouldn't recommend it, because it's actually really convenient, and worth getting to know.
