windows 10 WTF

In reply to foxtrapper:

Ah beta testing a multi billion dollar company's software for free. I'm waiting for ArsTechnica to say it's safe to upgrade then my system will get it.

Unfortunately the wifes new computer comes with it preinstalled so I'm sure I'm going to be hearing all about how much it sucks in a few days.

Stefan (Not Bruce) wrote: Here are some links to info on Windows 10 and its fallout, including previous discussions on this board: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/can-i-keep-my-settings-when-i-upgrade-to-windows-10 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/upgrade-to-windows-10-faq https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/hows-your-windows-10-update-going/104293/page1/ https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/free-windows-10/102280/page1/ https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/do-i-want-a-free-upgrade-from-win7-to-win10/103867/page1/ https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/latest-win-7-update/106558/page1/ https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/windows-10-password-issue/106257/page1/ http://www.howtogeek.com/223139/how-to-create-an-image-of-your-pc-before-upgrading-to-windows-10/ http://www.pcworld.com/article/2928286/how-to-upgrade-to-windows-10-what-you-need-to-know.html http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-prepare-your-pc-for-windows-10/ http://blog.acronis.com/posts/upgrading-windows-10-backup-everything-you-do Seriously folks, do just a little research before performing a major upgrade like this, especially with Windows as they never, ever go as well as they expect. I say this as a professional in the Windows Support world that has worked with supporting and using Microsoft products for well over 20 years now, Microsoft's constant screw ups and near total grasp on the business world has paid the bills quite nicely, but for my own sanity I use as few Microsoft products as possible when I'm not at work. Just not worth the headaches.

I can spend a quarter million dollars on a new piece of equipment and it will be new from the ground up. But I can get in and close my eyes and every control is intuitively where it should be. I can buy a new dodge or chevy or toyota and drive it without needing the instructions. Microsoft has been making operating systems for a third of a century. Its time to make them user friendly. If is is a new operating system and backups are required, surely a COMPUTER can do that for me? If I am required to help the process along, how about some simple drop down menus to help me through the process? You are a "professional in the Windows Support world that has worked with supporting and using Microsoft products for well over 20 years now". Great. I am not. I just want to sit down and get to work.

My various Linux systems have been working flawlessly and updating/upgrading since 2009. Just sayin'.

Did I mention it's FREE?

The0retical wrote: In reply to foxtrapper: Ah beta testing a multi billion dollar company's software for free. I'm waiting for ArsTechnica to say it's safe to upgrade then my system will get it. Unfortunately the wifes new computer comes with it preinstalled so I'm sure I'm going to be hearing all about how much it sucks in a few days.

It's not beta testing. Windows 10 is solidly out and works well. Quite an improvement over Windows 8.

It's the latest update from mid November thats had/causing problems. They tried to patch an upfate on the fly and it got messy. Just hold off on the current update, if it can even be downloaded. You can Google "Windows 10 November update" to see the info, including from Microsoft.

Otherwise, I've found Windows 10 to be perfectly useable.

In reply to foxtrapper:

It's beyond an RC yes but from what I experienced in September it wasn't ready for prime time yet. I spent a bunch of time fixing coworkers computers after they upgraded and ran into a host of problems from driver issues to connectivity issues to various application problems. It fixes a lot of what was wrong with Windows 8 but Vista was good too after it had been out a couple years. I'll take another look at it in February when I can upgrade again as I've heard a lot of good things about boot times and memory management improvements but my initial impression was pretty poor and you probably saw what that did to Windows 8.0.

Also there's that whole constantly phoning home thing that needs to be worked out yet.

The0retical wrote: Also there's that whole constantly phoning home thing that needs to be worked out yet.

All the versions of Windows have done that since the internet was made public.

Just go to settings and turn off auto-update if you don't like it.

foxtrapper wrote:

The0retical wrote: Also there's that whole constantly phoning home thing that needs to be worked out yet.

All the versions of Windows have done that since the internet was made public. Just go to settings and turn off auto-update if you don't like it.

It's not all new with 10, but it is worse with 10. Some of the Windows 10 privacy kerfuffle seems to be over stuff that was around in 8.

The defaults in 10 do things like sending records of your browsing to Microsoft so Edge can better guess what your next page navigation will be.

You can turn a bunch of stuff off, but 10 keeps talking to MSFT domains anyway, and last I heard, the reasons for the remaining chatter wasn't all figured out independently.

foxtrapper said: Just go to settings and turn off auto-update if you don't like it.

Except Windows 10 doesn't even give you that option anymore from what I understand. Is there a "Pro" version that does? The closest thing you can do to blocking auto updates is to set your network connection to "metered" so it allegedly won't download the updates.

Also, I work with computers (programmer) and I don't think it is acceptable for a brand new laptop to bug out this bad right out of the box. When I buy a new appliance, I shouldn't be required to try to figure out why it doesn't work and attempt to rewire it based on tips I find on the internet written in broken English. I honestly think this is the worst Windows experience I have had.

WilD wrote:

foxtrapper said: Just go to settings and turn off auto-update if you don't like it.

Except Windows 10 doesn't even give you that option anymore from what I understand. Is there a "Pro" version that does? The closest thing you can do to blocking auto updates is to set your network connection to "metered" so it allegedly won't download the updates. Also, I work with computers (programmer) and I don't think it is acceptable for a brand new laptop to bug out this bad right out of the box. When I buy a new appliance, I shouldn't be required to try to figure out why it doesn't work and attempt to rewire it based on tips I find on the internet written in broken English. I honestly think this is the worst Windows experience I have had.

IIRC, you can do it through group policy. You may be able to do it in the registry.

The local group policy editor and the ability to join a domain for domain policy are both Windows Pro features.

bearmtnmartin wrote:

Stefan (Not Bruce) wrote: Here are some links to info on Windows 10 and its fallout, including previous discussions on this board: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/can-i-keep-my-settings-when-i-upgrade-to-windows-10 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/upgrade-to-windows-10-faq https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/hows-your-windows-10-update-going/104293/page1/ https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/free-windows-10/102280/page1/ https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/do-i-want-a-free-upgrade-from-win7-to-win10/103867/page1/ https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/latest-win-7-update/106558/page1/ https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/windows-10-password-issue/106257/page1/ http://www.howtogeek.com/223139/how-to-create-an-image-of-your-pc-before-upgrading-to-windows-10/ http://www.pcworld.com/article/2928286/how-to-upgrade-to-windows-10-what-you-need-to-know.html http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-prepare-your-pc-for-windows-10/ http://blog.acronis.com/posts/upgrading-windows-10-backup-everything-you-do Seriously folks, do just a little research before performing a major upgrade like this, especially with Windows as they never, ever go as well as they expect. I say this as a professional in the Windows Support world that has worked with supporting and using Microsoft products for well over 20 years now, Microsoft's constant screw ups and near total grasp on the business world has paid the bills quite nicely, but for my own sanity I use as few Microsoft products as possible when I'm not at work. Just not worth the headaches.

I can spend a quarter million dollars on a new piece of equipment and it will be new from the ground up. But I can get in and close my eyes and every control is intuitively where it should be. I can buy a new dodge or chevy or toyota and drive it without needing the instructions. Microsoft has been making operating systems for a third of a century. Its time to make them user friendly. If is is a new operating system and backups are required, surely a COMPUTER can do that for me? If I am required to help the process along, how about some simple drop down menus to help me through the process? You are a "professional in the Windows Support world that has worked with supporting and using Microsoft products for well over 20 years now". Great. I am not. I just want to sit down and get to work.

and Microsoft has never, ever fixed the core of their product to be secure in the name of being backward compatible.

Apple threw away the core of their old OS and built new when they switched to Intel processors, now its built off of a Unix base. They were still able to keep their style and user interface while implementing new features.

Unix/Linux can be much more secure as it has more security built-in from the ground floor.

Microsoft has always been about providing solutions that were half-baked out of the box and woe is you for now putting it in the oven and baking it fully on your own because you've already paid us and we don't care anymore.

So in the case of your backup issue, I understand that it didn't notify you to backup beforehand, that's honestly one of the few things they do fairly well, but that said anyone who has used Windows since Version 3.11 should be aware that there is backup software built-in that you can and should use on a regular basis. You failed to use it and upgraded your system. I can't feel too sorry for you buddy.

If you want something that just works when you turn it on, get yourself a Chromebook or an Apple Mac

WilD wrote:

foxtrapper said: Just go to settings and turn off auto-update if you don't like it.

Except Windows 10 doesn't even give you that option anymore from what I understand.

No, it's readily available in the home owner version. Bear with me, as I'm not in front of my computer. Start button, Control Panel, Windows, Update settings. I think that's it.

If you don't want Edge to optimize or anticipate your searches, you can turn that off as well. Don't remember how, but it wasn't hard either. Hate to admit it, but I'm finding Edge to be superior to Chrome.

Biggest data hog is what's not being discussed, and that's how Windows 10 is being distributed. It isn't coming from the Microsoft servers, it's coming from all the machines out there running Windows 10. Basically, the default setting is for your machine to be a Windows 10 spam bot. Your machine provides updates or pieces of updates that go out on the web to be downloaded onto all the machines slowly getting the automatic update to Windows 10. You can turn this off as well, and I think it was in the windows update screen above. You can also go directly to Microsot and through their online port to directly and manually download Windows 10. But that may be temporarily turned off due to the problems with the latest update to Windows 10.

I've had almost zero problems with software or hardware compatibility and Windows 10. That even includes Windows 95 software, aol and other icky things. Only problems I've run into software wise is a Google Chrome no longer seeing a specific Epson printer, and an old Windows 95 program twain driver error for the scanner of that Epson printer.

You can still turn off most of the tracking yes, at least in theory or until the next update turns it back on but there is still some reporting done and it broadcasts the machineID which gives the appearance of impropriety. You also have to know it's there to turn it off in the first place.

One of my major pet peeves is that I have to opt-out rather than opt-in. I did do some reading today about the state of Windows 10 and by all accounts many of the things I didn't like initially have been fixed, which is good, however unless you're plugged into the tech world or understand what you are seeing you wouldn't know to go looking for this.

I'm going to have to upgrade eventually it's simply inevitable. I'm just trying to hold off long enough for many of the quirks to get worked out and see if Microsoft to capitulates to the people concerned about security considering the large number of breaches and the growing backlash from companies feeling that they have the right to aggregate data at all times and hide behind the 12000 words of service agreement lawyerese.

My old windows 7 laptop took a crap a few months back, so I built a desktop with windows 10. So far, aside from aforementioned security concerns, it has been really good. My work computer is 8.1, and 10 is a huge step forward from that. There are still a few windows 7 things that I prefer, but I'm starting to get over that as I get used to the new OS. No stability or performance issues so far, other than a driver that was my own fault for screwing up. It does seem like some settings are buried further than before in an effort to make it more 'user friendly' and simpler, like a mac I would guess. It's annoying, but not a deal breaker.

I do think I got it after most of the update and patch issues were solved, so that helps. As with anything with such a large user base, the internet has found ways around just about anything that I didn't like.