Jump the line and get Windows 10 right now

[Rob van der Does]

I upgraded an old Windows 7 lappy and I must say: first impression isn't bad at all.

On an other lappy I have Windows 8.1 (which, after manipulating it a bit and using 'Classic Menu' to have a normal start menu) isn't bad either. In fact from a user point of view, it's quite similar to good old Windows 7. So I'm not sure if it's worthwhile to upgrade to 10 at all.

[ronand]

Windows 7 works well and software works well with it. I wouldn't dream of upgrading a machine to use 8 or 10 if your business or work depends on it. Windows 7 was out a while before I migrated from XP while driver problems and issues with serial ports etc were sorted out. There is nothing "better" about windows 10 - its just different.

[deleted]

After using Ubuntu since Microsoft came out with Windows 8, I finally switched back to Windows 10. I see no reason to not upgrade a Windows 7 machine. Everything works just as good and Windows 7 is starting to feel a bit "old" by now.

Of the 2 machines I upgraded to Windows 10, the driver support was better with Windows 10 out of the box, then it is with Windows 7/8.1. Every application I use works just as good.

I will not miss Ubuntu either, although still the most modern feeling distro to me, it is still old skool in regards to the UI. Every new release is paired with popups of something that crashed, until a month has passed and small bugs ironed out. Neither will I miss the fact that you're always the last kid in line, I'm still waiting for Google Drive... The file explorer... well... a phone has a more advanced one these days.

I know Linux can be adapted to everybodies taste and preference, but I'm not the kind of guy that likes to tweak his OS an entire day, to get started. It needs to be ready to go in under an hour after a clean install. Will have to wait and see how this will pan out with Windows 10 after a year of updates.

I will miss the Terminal however

I'm just talking about desktops here, on a server it's Linux all the way.

[twol]

I upgraded an old Windows 7 lappy and I must say: first impression isn't bad at all.

On an other lappy I have Windows 8.1 (which, after manipulating it a bit and using 'Classic Menu' to have a normal start menu) isn't bad either. In fact from a user point of view, it's quite similar to good old Windows 7. So I'm not sure if it's worthwhile to upgrade to 10 at all.

Agree, my WIN10 system with some tweaks looks just like my Win7 system - just boots faster.
... but at least I know now everything installed runs and that I shouldn't have to upgrade anything or pay out for any upgrades (whatever people like Acronis think ) - so coupled to my Ubuntu system I should now have stable and free software systems.

[kennyboy]

i think windows is ok got it on a partition so w7 on 1 and 10 on the other.

[Joe_90]

I've been on the Windows 10 builds since January. Works pretty well at this stage although I've had some issues with legacy drivers all through the betas. My PC, which was running Windows 7, now boots much quicker. However, the big issue for me is the level of "snooping" Microsoft does on my PC and browsing. We all love Google as a search engine, but it is very pervasive in how it snoops on your web usage. I'm afraid MS is doing the same now, except that they have control of your operating system, so their information is much more "granular". I think I will stick with Win 7 until I do some more in-depth research before I take the "free" Windows 10. My main desktop machine (on which I have all my forum identities) is a ubuntu 15.04 build.

[birdman]

Agree, my WIN10 system with some tweaks looks just like my Win7 system...

There are tweaks which seem to be missing completely. There is no longer any way to set the background colour for an application window (there wasn't in Win8.1 either). It's now all based on Themes - which don't let you set much at all.
Also - it now wants to leave window title bars the same colour as the window background! OK if you run applications in full-screen mode all of the time (as with, say, a 'phone or tablet) but is rather useless for a desktop with a large (24"+) screen where you want to actually see multiple applications (with overlapping windows) all at the same time, and now can't visually separate them.

If only the windows could be as configurable as they are in a Linux desktop....and the annoying thing is that all of the capability is there (including the ability to have the window with the keyboard focus not at the top of the window stack). But MS just doesn't supply anything to let you use this.

[twol]

I've been on the Windows 10 builds since January. Works pretty well at this stage although I've had some issues with legacy drivers all through the betas. My PC, which was running Windows 7, now boots much quicker. However, the big issue for me is the level of "snooping" Microsoft does on my PC and browsing. We all love Google as a search engine, but it is very pervasive in how it snoops on your web usage. I'm afraid MS is doing the same now, except that they have control of your operating system, so their information is much more "granular". I think I will stick with Win 7 until I do some more in-depth research before I take the "free" Windows 10. My main desktop machine (on which I have all my forum identities) is a ubuntu 15.04 build.

When you do the upgrade/install you have the option (in very small print) at the final boot to turn off most of the snooping

[twol]

There are tweaks which seem to be missing completely. There is no longer any way to set the background colour for an application window (there wasn't in Win8.1 either). It's now all based on Themes - which don't let you set much at all.
Also - it now wants to leave window title bars the same colour as the window background! OK if you run applications in full-screen mode all of the time (as with, say, a 'phone or tablet) but is rather useless for a desktop with a large (24"+) screen where you want to actually see multiple applications (with overlapping windows) all at the same time, and now can't visually separate them.

If only the windows could be as configurable as they are in a Linux desktop....and the annoying thing is that all of the capability is there (including the ability to have the window with the keyboard focus not at the top of the window stack). But MS just doesn't supply anything to let you use this.

Its available just google there are a few tutorials on the WEB

[Joe_90]

When you do the upgrade/install you have the option (in very small print) at the final boot to turn off most of the snooping

Yes - but when you're paranoid, you don't know if they REALLY have turned off the snooping
Now, where is my tinfoil hat...

[Joe_90]

@birdman - if you want a bit of retro feel, you could try out classic shell. I believe it works well on Win 10.

[twol]

Yes - but when you're paranoid, you don't know if they REALLY have turned off the snooping
Now, where is my tinfoil hat...

Now that I agree with! ... Because they say they do it ...... Its a bit like Google and Samsung now saying they are going to have a monthly bug fix .... But they can,t even get the last but one firmware update onto most peoples android phones and Samsung say that mines stuck with firmware 3 generations old ... So No, I don,t believe them either.

[Rob van der Does]

Classic shell does work well indeed.

[Ev0]

Yes - but when you're paranoid, you don't know if they REALLY have turned off the snooping
Now, where is my tinfoil hat...

There is loads of howto guides now showing you how to disable the snooping yourself.

But there is also a few 3rd party programs, that let you do it at the click of a button, google is your friend (assuming you have signed out, and set all the privacy settings to stop that tracking you)

[Joe_90]

Yes, but why start from a position where the intention of the developer is to snoop. No such thing as free, really. Like google, you have to give up something in return for the "free" download. Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-MS or anything - just this latest paradigm shift! I've played with the beta builds for months now and I find it doesn't give me a lot on the desktop environment. I may just stick with Win 7 as I use that box only rarely for stuff that doesn't run well on linux. My missus has a laptop with touch screen which is currently on Windows 8. That will definitely get the Win 10 upgrade, though as it works so much better than Win 8.