I'm part of the group that went from XP to Vista, then back to XP, then straight to Win 7. I like Win 7 and find it quicker to use in most cases than Win 8 or 8.1. Right now I use about 5 computers, 3 on Win 7 and 2 on Win 8 and can't really say I have a strong preference either way but do feel like I am more efficient on 7. So, I'll likely convert my 2 Win 8 computers to Win 10 and see how it goes. I don't really know much about Win 10, but feel like Windows did a fairly good job with Win 8, so I'm interested to use the newer iteration of the OS.
I stayed on XP until a hard drive crash forced me to reluctantly upgrade to Windows 7. I'll not be upgrading to 10 until 11 comes out. Hopefully by then they'll have all the security issues and bugs fixed. I've never seen any Windows release that didn't have serious teething issues.
I have W7 and will take advantgage of the free upgrade. I was one of the Vista victims. Loved XP though. This may have some interest: By Brooke Crothers Published July 27, 2015 FoxNews.com"Windows 10 is an exercise in rectifying the wrongs of Windows 8. That may be the only reason you need to upgrade. Microsoft is set to release Windows 10 on July 29. That will end an experiment in an operating system that tried to force-feed a touch interface to consumers who — for the most part — had no appetite for it. More specifically, with Windows 8, Microsoft tried to impose its vision of a touch-first ethos that wasn’t very well conceived. Let me touch on some highlights of what to expect from Windows 10. Start menu: This is probably the most welcome change. While the Start menu still has the familiar Live Tiles of Windows 8.1, it allows you to reduce the screen-consuming Modern (what Microsoft used to call Metro) touch interface of 8.1 to essentially a pop-up (albeit, wide) menu. And Modern apps can now run as a window on the desktop like any other desktop application. One of the most frustrating design gaffes in 8/8.1 for me is running a Modern Windows app. The app takes over your whole screen by default. While you can arrange Windows apps with Snap, it’s not the same as traditional windowing. But, wait — Windows 10 gets better. Welcome, the return of the Windows 7 Start, or, at least a key concept of the Windows 7 Start menu. That includes putting drop-dead common sense features like PC on-off on the menu, which is also present on the Windows 8.1 desktop menu, but was added later as an afterthought and not quite as accessible as the new Start. This brings me back to why Windows 8 seemed so ineffective to so many. Just turning off your PC could be a multi-step, trial-and-error process for the average user not steeped in the intricacies introduced (unnecessarily) into the Windows 8 redesign. Tablets: Ah, Tablet Mode. While there are shadows of the much-maligned screen that greeted you in Windows 8, Microsoft has done the smart thing by not making this the force-fed mode that burdened all PCs. The redesigned Tablet Mode is set aside for users with a tablet or, for example, a Surface product like Surface 3 or Surface Pro 3. Just detach the keyboard and you’re automatically in Tablet Mode. Edge Browser: this is the brand-new browser for Windows 10 that replaces Explorer. Its principle virtue is the speed it renders pages. Microsoft Edge also lets you take notes, write, doodle, and highlight directly on webpages. Action Center: this is the new way that Windows 10 handles notifications. The Charms bar apparently will be jettisoned from Windows 10. Instead, you will now have the Action Center, which is a bar that appears on the right side of the screen and includes notifications similar to those found on Windows Phone. It also includes Quick Actions such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth settings that are analogous to Apple’s iOS Control Center. Windows 10 appears to be good enough to keep the Windows faithful on board and may be even good enough to entice Mac OS X users (like myself) back to Windows. We’ll know for sure Wednesday when the real thing arrives.
So, when I got home today my computer prompted me to upgrade to Win 10. Which, actually, is kind of impressive in and of itself considering that they could be charging for the option. I decided "what the heck" and let the upgrade take place. I think the whole process probably took only about an hour - not really sure since I selected the option to switch to Win 10 and then only came back to check every once in a while. The upgrade went fine, you have to select a customized install to avoid the ad tracking etc and then go ahead and delete a few Apps and pinned buttons once everything is installed - I don't need ads and pages catering to me based on my browsing history, don't need a booking.com shortcut, don't need a quick access link to Spotify, and don't care to use the new Edge browser no matter how much better it is than the old Explorer, or to use a browser that connects me to Bing. After that, and after having played around with Win 10 for a while, my first impressions are that I would gladly switch all my computers over to Win 10. It's basically a combination between the soft looks of Win 8 and the efficiency of Win 7. Not bad at all. If you are annoyed by Win 8, I highly recommend Win 10. If you enjoy Win 7, at first glance, I don't see any obvious advantages with switching to Win 10, but it's a nice enough change that seems to work well.
You may want to check out my post in this other TSD thread. Some serious concerns on the upgrade via slashdot. http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/i-just-updated-to-windows-10.46224/page-2#post-867287
Just finished the update. In all about 40 minutes to download and install. It went smoother than I thought, much better than upgrading previous versions. So far no issues, just a little getting used to.
What concerns are you citing specifically? I don't use the cloud for sensitive info, so I'm not immediately concerned about privacy. And never found Windows Media Centre to be useful considering the myriad of better alternatives, so I won't even notice that it is gone. Of course, as much as I am asking you about Win 10, I'm very aware that your avatar is a penguin
I'm just passing along what I've read here and there... as noted, I have no intention of upgrading/using. I have to use Win 8.1 at the office, but all my real computers are linux or android. In any case, the main concerns noted seem to be privacy, lack of options/customization, forced / automatic updates. That sort of thing.
I will download the "Free" upgrade and wait to install it until all you Beta testers get all the bugs worked out. Reports are many websites are having issues and applications take awhile to catch up, so that could be an issue for older apps. Also there are default settings that will track a number of things like history, so make sure you adjust the settings.
I've been running 10 over a week now. It's very solid and runs better/faster than 8.1 did (both on ssd - super fast). During install you can opt out of all the data sharing for those concerned.
I was going to do the free upgrade but I realized they only have home or business now. I have windows 7 home premium and so it would give me windows 10 home. The home version forces you to accept windows updates. You can't choose to manually update like you can in all other versions unless you buy the business version. I for one refuse to have software updates crammed down my throat. I want full control over my software and refuse to get 10 unless I buy business version in the future.
When it runs, it does fine. However, I still have issues with very slow startups. I just turned off the sleep function. It seemed to just be a shutdown function because when it recovered, it was like a fresh startup and I had to relaunch my programs. Again it took about 10 minutes to get back to work again. I have reported it to Microsoft and they say they are working on the issue. Perhaps it will resolve soon. I hope.
