Windows 10 Upgrade Discussion: Compatibility and Features

[Kostas Tzim]

Oh thanks, what do you mean by: "I went the upgrade path since if anything went badly wrong I still would have the clean install option." ? do you mean you could go back to 7 and then clean install 10?

 

[rootone]

Yes. if you look back a few posts (#65) you will see that after 10 is installed it has automatically taken a full backup of your system, so you can return to as you were and go from there.
If you wanted to a complete install from scratch you would need to reformat a disk partition, (after having manually backed up important data of course), then install Win 10 fresh.
(I heard that MS have a disk image available which can be downloaded by people who would prefer to do that, it would be odd if they didn't provide for that option)

 

[StevieTNZ]

When I tried to reload them from the disks, I got an error message telling me that I did not have the authority to do that and should reenter as an "administrator". Since this is my own computer I was entered as "administrator" (I went to the "control panel" file to make sure of that).

Maybe you needed to run as administrator (i.e. right click > Run as administrator) -- even though logged in, in an administrator account?

 

[harborsparrow]

A word of caution. Microsoft recently installed an update (on Windows 8.1 at least) that puts a Windows 10 invitation in the system tray. If you do not want to upgrade to Window 10 yet, DO NOT request an upgrade using this icon. I did request the upgrade--just assuming it would allow me to decide when to install it. A few weeks went by and I got an email from Microsoft saying my upgrade was ready.

But then--it just started trying to upgrade whether I was ready or not, every time I started to get Windows updates. And I cannot allow that yet due to my work VPN (plus, I need more RAM). But now, I can't get any more Windows 8.1 updates; it offers only the Windows 10 upgrade instead.

This is evil. I have blogged about it here: http://harborsparrow.blogspot.com/2015/08/windows-10-is-trying-to-high-jack-my.html

So, be careful what you ask for. As I understand it, we have a year during which to get the "free" upgrade if we want it, so there should be no hurry. I'm still in shock at how this upgrade has taken over my machine and keeps on trying to install itself.

 

[HyperTechno]

I like this idea. If there's anything I hate it's having to update the learning curve every three years. I'd probably still be using Windows XP if they didn't stop supporting it. If it works, don't fix it

Same thing with Microsoft Word. It's a word processor, you type on it. As long as they have the cut and paste function, I'm happy. I used to type on the green monitors back in the day and use a dot-matrix printer. It doesn't take much to satisfy me. Why do I have to learn a new word processor every three years?

To be honest, though, I actually kind of like WIndows 8.1. I have an ASUS WIndows 7 laptop and a Samsung Windows 8.1. laptop, and I just recently found a sound driver on the Samsung that didn't put up that hearing warning sound every time you put the volume up over 42. It took me over a year to find this driver because I didn't want to use the standard Windows sound driver, which stinks. So, I'm finally comfortable with my setup and now this?

Plus, I read on their website that they plan to issue support for 8.1 through 2023? I'm set. Where's the compelling reason to upgrade? They really seem to be pushing it, though, every time I've logged in in the past week that little window in the lower right corner hasn't been dormant, it's been giving me a popup saying to get it while it's hot. Why are they so eager for this?

Well I very much agree with you. I upgraded to Win 10 From Win 8.1 and well I kind of liked it so much. Well the user interface is very pleasant and kind of familiar and easy to use and I was really surprised about it. But I had to revert back to Win 8.1... well I formatted Win 10 an had a fresh installation of win 8.1... because I found that Win 10 was really buggy and often crashed my PC... Stuck often and rebooted eventually.

This may be just in my installation but the OS troubled me and gave me a really bad time with it, which I had to admit that I could go much nicer with win 8.1 as so went back. Of course it's happy to hear that Microsoft will support it until 2023 so... I think I'll not miss much sticking with it.
In the mean time I'm thinking of Linux , especially Linux mint... I'll try that soon. I think I might switch to Linux after win 8.1.

 

[harborsparrow]

Well I very much agree with you. I upgraded to Win 10 From Win 8.1 and well I kind of liked it so much. Well the user interface is very pleasant and kind of familiar and easy to use and I was really surprised about it. But I had to revert back to Win 8.1...

I also loved Windows 8.1; it was fast, stable and well-behaved. I'm happy with the Windows 10 interface, but I hate that I cannot fully control when the updates decide to come down. This is a mistake on Microsoft's part. My older Dell laptop will sort of freeze sometimes; then I can be 99% certain that Windows is downloading a bunch of updates. I cope by going ahead and rebooting the laptop--which often takes extra minutes as the updates install themselves--but then the delays are alleviated. Very annoying behavior; in all previous versions of Windows, I could determine when they would download, or not. It's a serious loss of autonomy.

However, in defense of Windows 10, recent new updates just made the Start menu and other features even nicer to use, and it has finally settled down and become stable. I don't use the Windows 10 Start menu anyway; I use the StartIsBack third-party add-on, which makes my desktop act just about the same as Windows 7. The machine does boot quickly with Windows 10, and except for the uncontrollable Windows update issue, I am doing quite well with it. Hopefully, it will be the last upgrade in a long time. And it's nice to be able to run the latest and greatest on 5-year-old hardware (I just had to update my RAM to 8 Gb).

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Windows 10 has been seamless and easy. Easily their best OS since XP.

 

[sappho.poiesis]

My update never got to me :(

 

[Svein]

I have updated to Windows 10 in my standard way: Clone my latest working windows installation (Windows 8.1), make sure the clone runs exactly as the original (you now have multiboot of two versions of the same Windows), then upgrade one of them. Afterwards you can boot into the old windows if you are confused by Windows 10.

BTW: Windows 10 runs flawlessly for me. There were just two bugs (not in Windows, but related):

• Roland could not be bothered to update the driver for PC-50. I found a workaround on the 'net.
  
• One configuration file for a printer I do not have somehow got corrupted. I found a non-corrupted version in the Windows 7 installation and managed to insert it (not easy).

 

[HyperTechno]

I also loved Windows 8.1; it was fast, stable and well-behaved. I'm happy with the Windows 10 interface, but I hate that I cannot fully control when the updates decide to come down. This is a mistake on Microsoft's part. My older Dell laptop will sort of freeze sometimes; then I can be 99% certain that Windows is downloading a bunch of updates. I cope by going ahead and rebooting the laptop--which often takes extra minutes as the updates install themselves--but then the delays are alleviated. Very annoying behavior; in all previous versions of Windows, I could determine when they would download, or not. It's a serious loss of autonomy.

However, in defense of Windows 10, recent new updates just made the Start menu and other features even nicer to use, and it has finally settled down and become stable. I don't use the Windows 10 Start menu anyway; I use the StartIsBack third-party add-on, which makes my desktop act just about the same as Windows 7. The machine does boot quickly with Windows 10, and except for the uncontrollable Windows update issue, I am doing quite well with it. Hopefully, it will be the last upgrade in a long time. And it's nice to be able to run the latest and greatest on 5-year-old hardware (I just had to update my RAM to 8 Gb).

Sure, as you say, Win 10 interface is very pleasant and pretty and I don't have to complain about anything in on it except those really annoying crashes that occurred when I was running it. Reverting to Win 8 doesn't mean that I like Win 8 more than Win 10... but that was the only remedy for me... Well my PC too is dated and Win 8.1 definitely seems to be the LAST DESTINATION(WINDOWS) for my dear PC. But I'm glad to hear that you guys have had it stable.

 

[HyperTechno]

Windows 10 has been seamless and easy. Easily their best OS since XP.

Yeah... But based on my experience, you need better/powerful hardware for Windows 10 than Windows 8 to run it as fast as Windows 8...
Not a nice choice for an old PC...

 

[HyperTechno]

Hey,...how is that new web browser (EDGE)? ... What's best, Internet Explorer or the Edge? .. What do you like the most?

 

[cpscdave]

I found myself on almost a daily basis having some annoyance with Windows 8.1
Things just never worked they way they were supposed to.

Since upgrading to Windows 10 in August. I still have some annoyances but they occur maybe once a month instead of everyday.

They may have actually gotten it right for a change!

 

[jerromyjon]

They may have actually gotten it right for a change!

I was impressed as well! I even bought a windows phone! It certainly has some quirks but they also have ambitious plans integrating apps across platforms. I'd give it 9 out of 10 with a potential for 12! Apple being the 10...

 

[meBigGuy]

I have updated to Windows 10 in my standard way: Clone my latest working windows installation (Windows 8.1), make sure the clone runs exactly as the original (you now have multiboot of two versions of the same Windows), then upgrade one of them. Afterwards you can boot into the old windows if you are confused by Windows 10.

Can you describe your cloning methodology? Either here, or if you think it too off-topic, in a new thread.

Does cloning provide for shared data or executable?

 

[jerromyjon]

Does cloning provide for shared data or executable?

You can access all the files for either OS on either drive or partition but the executable files would likely need a separate installation from each OS with unique files.

 

[DaveC426913]

I found myself on almost a daily basis having some annoyance with Windows 8.1
Things just never worked they way they were supposed to.

Since upgrading to Windows 10 in August. I still have some annoyances but they occur maybe once a month instead of everyday.

They may have actually gotten it right for a change!

I recently bought a laptop with Windows 8.1 on it. It's really annoying for many reasons, not the least of which that it thinks my laptop is a tablet with a touchscreen. (Man, did I scrub my mouse cursor across the screen for the first week when it kept giving me 'helpful' advice about swiping from the edge/corner/butt).

It has been trying to get me to upgrade to 10 for weeks. Are you suggesting this would be good thing?

 

[jerromyjon]

It has been trying to get me to upgrade to 10 for weeks. Are you suggesting this would be good thing?

You would most likely be ecstatic with the results. The desktop is real again and you can put the "start page" back in the start button, If you like that "7" style interface.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Are you suggesting this would be good thing?

Windows 10 is the real deal. They got this one right.

 

[Svein]

Can you describe your cloning methodology? Either here, or if you think it too off-topic, in a new thread.

There are several tools available for this. I use Paragon Hard Disk Manager 15 Suite (https://www.paragon-software.com/home/hdm-personal/) since I am constantly fiddling with my disk setup.

 

[HyperTechno]

I found myself on almost a daily basis having some annoyance with Windows 8.1
Things just never worked they way they were supposed to.

Since upgrading to Windows 10 in August. I still have some annoyances but they occur maybe once a month instead of everyday.

They may have actually gotten it right for a change!

You may right. But for me, my windows 10 installation was a whole lot of troubles. It's nice , pretty, pleasant and all that... but I couldn't get a smooth ride at all. For some reason my windows 8.1 runs very smoothly and hasn't given me any problems ... ( besides 2 or 3 stucks a month)

 

[cpscdave]

It has been trying to get me to upgrade to 10 for weeks. Are you suggesting this would be good thing?

I as well was hesitant. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't. But it seems like the feedback has been mostly positive chances are good you'll see an improvement. Plus less snot on the screen from swiping with your nose can't hurt either :)

 

[1oldman2]

Good news for anyone still hunting for the win10 upgrade, recently I installed an optional update on my win7 system that automatically sets you up and installs the win 10 upgrade without your knowledge. As I already run 10 on my other two machines I didn't want to loose my last 7 OS, this seems a little invasive and I got rid of the update to retain 7. After installing and using win 10 since its release I do think its very good and will get even better with time. The only advice I can give regarding the install is with the default settings, win10 is possibly the most prolific meta data mining tool going right now. If your concerned about your data security, change your default apps and do not associate A windows live account with it. Please understand I'm no C++ guru but these are just things I have picked up from playing around with the new OS and doing some reading on it. I would encourage everyone using win10 to read up on settings and defaults since there is a lot going on behind the scenes there. All in all though I love 10 almost as much as 7.

 

[rootone]

MS seem to have made it a tradition to release a generally good OS followed by one which is naff,or medioche at best.
This is the latest good one (Windows 9 did not exist, Windows 8 wasn't anything special, 7 was the last generally agreed 'good' upgrade.
Seems like this pattern is to be ended now though, Win 10 will be continually upgraded and so I hear, there are no plans for any major new version at all.
It's just 'Windows' from here onward.

 

[1oldman2]

MS seem to have made it a tradition to release a generally good OS followed by one which is naff,or medioche at best.
This is the latest good one (Windows 9 did not exist, Windows 8 wasn't anything special, 7 was the last generally agreed 'good' upgrade.
Seems like this pattern is to be ended now though, Win 10 will be continually upgraded and so I hear, there are no plans for any major new version at all.
It's just 'Windows' from here onward.

From everything I have read your right, from now on its upgrades for win10 and we won't ever see a win 11. leaves me wondering how long before they stop supporting the older OS's.

 

[DaveC426913]

It's just 'Windows' from here onward.

That seems unlikely. New versions of Windows are at least as much about marketing and promotion as they are about technical advancement.
Pretty hard to market something that isn't new.

 

[1oldman2]

That seems unlikely. New versions of Windows are at least as much about marketing and promotion as they are about technical advancement.
Pretty hard to market something that isn't new.

I have to agree with everything you said, especially the marketing angle. However when I have looked into 'whats next for windows" all I come across is 10 is designed for patches and upgrades rather than replacement. Of course my record for predicting the future is a little spotty and we will all have to wait and see what's around the bend. one more thought on the "marketing angle" is MS is going to make far more profit from the info-mining that 10 is capable of than they would likely make from developing and releasing a new OS after 10. But as they say money talks so profit will undoubtedly be the deciding factor in 10 VS. the next OS, time will tell and we the consumer are just along for the ride. :-)

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

First big update a few days ago. Haven't noticed anything different.

 

[1oldman2]

The two machines I run 10 on updated also, one was sleeping all night last night the other shut down, When I woke the sleeping one up this morning the usual cool seashore pic was replaced by an even cooler desert scene of the milkyway and they asked if I wanted to keep it,the other computer that was shut down didn't have this option but I expect it soon (not sure what the trigger was) at any rate the only other thing I noticed right off was it changed my default apps back to MS default. If anyone notices any other changes I would love to hear about it.

 

[rootone]

One thing I found very noticeable is much faster shutdown and startup times

 

[1oldman2]

One thing I found very noticeable is much faster shutdown and startup times

True about the startup/shutdown times, I hear rumors about changes in kernel utilization and other things I'm not qualified to comment on but I'm learning day by day

 

[rootone]

Just an impression I get is that in this version they have disposed of old routines going back to the DOS legacy.
Stuff that really has no purpose today, unless one wants to be romantic about OS specifications.
Unix/Linux systems are going to have to face that too.

 

[meBigGuy]

Slightly off topic, but what Unix/Linux routines are you referring to? I ask because I use Linux everyday 98% at the terminal level.

 

[rootone]

Things like that a standard Unix definition assumes it's running on a 1960's style mainframe architecture with up to 16 TTY terminals.

 

[jerromyjon]

One thing I found very noticeable is much faster shutdown and startup times

That was the first thing I noticed. Well besides the 4+ hour install, after the initial setup and everything seats properly 15 seconds my AMD A8 Envy is off, and 10-12 second startup straight to desktop. I was floored. The bad thing was my fan quit and I've had the problem where you can't be fast enough to "catch" the startup hook to change startup features as in safe mode... seems like ages ago, windows 8.1... a blip in windows history. I think now they are going to gear up for pay to play as that is the new norm. They make far more profit giving the entire "program" for free and charging for "services" within it, as tablet apps pioneered...