Are you loving or hating Windows 10? Need your feedback

Hi Peter,
First of all if you are happy with Windows 8.1,I would be hesitant to pay for Windows 10 at this point. I still think Microsoft is going to offer one more chance to allow the initial dissenters a chance to get on board. It may not be free, but at a reduced cost.

If you do decide to upgrade the only way to do it right is to download Microsoft's Windows 10 Media Creation Tool. With this you will install the Windows 10 bits and the Linux booting files on a USB flash drive. Then you will just install the drive while the computer is running and click on the setup file. Then you will go through the process to upgrade your Windows 8 to Windows 10. You can choose to keep you files or do a clean install. I would choose to keep your files. If all is fine when it completes and everything works, good to go. If you are having any difficulties your motherboard ID is now registered and you can do a clean install if you need to. Just boot the computer from the USB drive and do a clean install.

I have upgraded nearly a hundred units now and the only failures that I encountered were the ones that customers tried to do over the internet.
I have upgraded computers that had the user files folders moved to other partitions and even other physical drives and the upgrades where keeping the files was chosen all operations worked perfectly. In my opinion the variability of the internet is the main cause of most of the upgrade issues.

One thing to remember is that you need Windows 10 Pro if Group Policy Editing or encryption is necessary for you. Registry mods were able to partially restore gpedit to Windows 10 Home previously, but the version 1607 update has taken this option away, otherwise Windows 10 home does everything that the average user needs.

Regarding drivers, my experience with Windows 10 installing working drivers has been nearly flawless. Better than any of the previous versions of Windows. Yes I have had issues with older peripherals not having drivers installed. That isn't Microsoft' problem, that is the vendors fault because they refused to write drivers for Windows 10 or 8. In this case just install them in " compatibility mode" as either Windows XP or Windows 7, depending on which system the driver was written for. I honestly can't remember a driver that didn't have a Windows 10 version that I wasn't able to get working by installing it in compatibility mode.

Regarding how it works, many users are just paranoid about any change. You can do anything you want in Windows 10 that you did in Windows 7. Just right click the start button and there is everything, including your shutdown options. Miss the old Programs button that was on Windows 7? All you have to do is go into "change folder and search options" and uncheck hide protected system files. You need to do this to make the Program Data folder visible. Now just right click on the taskbar and choose new toolbar. Then open the C: drive and go to Program Data>Microsoft>Windows>Start Menu> Programs. Now you will have a double arrow tab on the taskbar and when you click on it the menu will look just like the old Programs menu
in Windows 7.

Maybe the outward appearance of Windows 10 doesn't seem to be significant, but the improvement to the OS itself is. Better color rendition, better networking, better security and the most stable Windows Kernel ever.

The changes in Windows is not going to cease. They will continue to correct security and operational issues and try to improve features, although the room for improvement to features eventually runs out as there is only so much that really is useful. Having Windows 10 puts us in a perpetual loop where upgrades don't cost us anything and that may be the best reason to upgrade to Windows 10 now, because I think that it is inevitable that operating systems are going to eventually go the route of other software, such as Adobe Creative Cloud, and will be available as a yearly subscription only. Eventually this will happen. I know all of the Linux people will say just switch to Linux, but there is a reason that Windows stays so relevant and even Apple can't really make a significant dent in Windows usage, and that is because if you have Windows, everybody writes their software to work with Windows because the market is so huge and they are reluctant to spend the money to develop for the limited market of Linux and Apple.

I used win 10 home version 1511 for more than a year and I loved it too much but as "feature update to windows 10 version 1607" downloaded to my laptop my agony started.This update downloaded over hours then failed to be installed on my machine to begin download again and fail to install and so on in a vicious circle,I searched many sites for a solution but in vain,actually I hate it and think to return to my original windows 7 Home.

when comes to non apple stuff, CNET will quote such thing like hating and feedback. Bet CNET will say 'according to our polls show that Mac has the best performance among others'

I bit the bullet and upgraded two Windows 7 Pro (laptop and desktop) on the last few hours of the free period. Both computers are less than 3 years old and could not use Windows 8.1 due to primary software I need for my business which did not run on Windows 8. So I purchased the 2 computers between the period where Microsoft cancelled windows 7 computer sales and then allowed it as so many users balked (or whatever other reason) at Windows 8. The upgrades took forever and then there were the separate upgrades and drivers for my nearly new printers and other software. My old version of WordPerfect would not work so I had to upgrade as I absolutely detest Word and Excel.

I wish Microsoft would make better software the first time. I had used Lotus 1-2-3 for years on a daily basis and Excel is a poor copy. Then discovered that Microsoft had purchased Lotus 1-2-3 and buried it. In my humble opinion, Lotus 1-2-3 was the best, most user-friendly software EVER. I have tried unsuccessfully to use my old 123 worksheets in Excel but have had little luck.

After the switch to Windows 10 (which took hours and the upgrade which took a big bite out of my workday yesterday), I still need to do 7 clicks to print anything on my 3 HP printers; what a pain. I need to do a lot of printing because of my business. It refuses to let me use Google as a search engine and I must use Edge rather than Chrome to get my Outlook/Hotmail email.

I also don't like Microsoft sitting on my shoulder watching everything I do - very intrusive. If I want to do anything that won't be seen, I will send it - handwritten - via USPS. I feel like a prisoner with no way out.

I don't mind upgrades and like to be up on the latest versions, but if the old version is working, I don't necessarily find that I need the newer one. My first computer was a TI 99-4A purchased in 1983 or 1984. It came with a keyboard and the 16K CPU. It was hooked up to an old TV and a tape recorder. My first spreadsheet was VisiCalc or Multiplan and it took an hour to sort 284 data entries (still faster than manual). Then I printed it on an old clunky dot matrix printer. I've lost track of how many computers I have owned since then for business and personal use. I also own 2 iPhones, and 2 iPads which supplement my PC. But they are much too slow for writing or spreadsheets and the subsequent printouts.

Summary, Windows 10 is probably better as I learn the tips and tricks and it had to happen. I just hate having it shoved down my throat. If Microsoft had such great software, everyone would want it and this discussion on "Loving vs. Hating" wouldn't be an issue.

I'm not what you'd call an advanced user. I installed Windows 10 first on my laptop to get a feel for it for a good while before upgrading my 2 desktops to it. I had been using Windows 7 on all of them. So far I've found 10 to be fairly stable and as for the look and feel of it I had a little problem adjusting to it, but not bad. I got the other 2 pc's upgraded just before the deadline. I am experiencing some problems on my newest pc, but I don't know for sure what the problem is. It could be hardware related or a driver issue. I've had a message come up that says something like, "Critical Structure Corruption" Windows must reboot. Last night it did that, but this time it automatically did a disk check and repair during reboot. Never did that before. My other older desktop and my laptop have been very stable under Windows 10. I'm also using the One Drive app on all, including my smart phone and finding that very useful. As soon as I save something one one pc it's available on all almost immediately. There may be other programs that do this, but this is my first experience with such a program. It works extremely well so far.

Windows 8 was perfect for me. It was fast and trouble free. My favorite game (Klondike) worked flawlessly and was easy to set and reset (not true with Windows 10). I looked at the time/date on the task bar about ten times a day. The time/date display isn't available on Windows 10. My old copy of Word 3 did everything I needed and worked fine on Windows 8 but not Windows 10. I usually find getting around the various settings, functions, and displays far more convoluted and indirect in Windows 10 than in Windows 8.

Call me pathologically independent but I react angrily and viscerally to big arrogant companies like Microsoft forcing us to do things their goofy way and charging extra for it once they've made us dependent on them. I'm ready to leave the Microsoft world forever if it's not too much hassle. Forget Apple which does the "Big Brother" thing even worse than Microsoft.

The big questions are does Lightroom 6 work on any flavor of Unix/Linux and will I be able to relatively painlessly and glitch free transfer all 3 terabytes of apps, data, and photos to the Unix/Linux OS? Which flavors meets these criteria best. I'm open and grateful to suggestions.

I am not a computer nut or a techie. I have used computers for 30+ years as part of my work. But nor am I a total novice and friends and family often ask my help to solve issues, many of which I manage to do.
I had upgraded my own PC to Win 8, and left my wife's on 7.
Win 8 was not a great experience and I regretted it, but not enough to take the trouble to backgrade. Win 8.1 was a bit better.
So when Win10 came out I decided to be an early adopter. The upgrade didn't go smoothly and I had to engage Microsoft's help online but they were very helpful and we discovered what was causing the upgrade to fail. They took control of my PC and fixed it. The process took a few hours and I could have been ****** about it but actually I think they were very fair - and by the way they didn't charge me.
SInce the initial upgrade the product has just worked, seamlessly. The occasional overnight automatic updates have once or twice taken a long time, and required a manual reboot, but other than that no problem.
I also upgraded to Office 2016 and that too was seamless and has given no trouble.
I don't, and never have, worked for Microsoft. But I think they get a bad rap. I don't think the money I pay them is excessive for the return I get from it. I don't think it's Microsoft's fault that so many people write hacking software to try to break security, and I don't object to paying a reasonable sum annually for great 3rd party security protection.
The notion that all this should be free is absurd. I make money while utilising Microsoft's tools to be more productive, so why shouldn't I pay for them?

The original Windows 8 was a cludge that attempted to convince us that a phone OS was the wave of the future. Windows 8.1 was a concession to the fact that the premise of Windows 8.0 was untenable, but it was just a patch on Windows 8. Windows 10 is the real deal: a desktop / laptop / tablet OS that is primarily keyboard oriented, but also conveniently supports touchscreens and other analog inputs. I have found it both efficient and reliable.
Given a chance to do a clean load of an OS, I would always prefer that to loading a new OS over an older one. There may be reasons to do the upgrade, such as saving money or avoiding a lot of hassle reloading programs, but the clean install guarantees that you lose old registry misconfigurations that may or may not get properly scrubbed in the upgrade. You might also lose some (but not all) malware that might be lurking in your system biding its time of which you might be unaware. Clean is always better.

Hello,
Thank you for the opportunity to share.
Two of us share this PC and as we discovered over time, both of us have the same reactions to Windows 10: not loving it; needs work; especially don't like that the latest update installed Windows Defender, which knocks out our Norton software (we changed back to Norton); and also particularly oppose the fact that our files have been reorganized. We like to control our PC, rather than have the PC control what happens with our data. We won't use Cortana.
We installed Windows 10 over Windows 7.
We all understand that change happens -- and we do embrace it when it works for us -- but when you are going to change things, perhaps you might find more adopters if you let us know what you're going to do with our software and our data and let us choose what to do with it. Hunting for your own data and files is not a fun pastime, as you might appreciate.
We look forward to updates and hope they will be terrific.
Best,
Laura

I don't dislike Win 10, the program. It has allowed me to maintain the Classic view and desktop that I like and find most efficient for me. I don't use many of the added "bells and whistles" - more gloss than substance.

However, although it probably is more stable, it doesn't feel it because of the way that MS Update now works. It seems to cause problems that are harder to avoid than in the past, it is inconsistent in how it behaves, and it seems to periodically cause the software to hang or go black screen for no obvious reason and without warning whilst at the same time indulging in heavy disk activity and or re-booting. MS, please go back to the old update model. I've recently retired and I'm glad I don't have to rely on this operating system in business - and I've used all MS systems since DOS 3.3. For the first time, I might seriously consider going to Linux.

Having used a computer extensively since the day they were invented, Microsoft and I, have oft been buddies and at other times come to blows, those occasions to be fair have been usually when they bring out something new and it hasn't been ironed out yet. The old adage of letting everybody else try it first is probably still true but I'm a gluten for punishment.
As to whether Windows has progressed through the years isn't really a serious question, as the difference to when they started and now, bears no relation whatsoever. Do I love or hate is also not really in my vocabulary. That perhaps comes from the fact that I am always writing programs in Access or Excel and you learn that if something doesn't work the way you want it, then you find some way to either work with it or change it or even to change the way you work with it.
Things that I require are a system that starts up fast, has few errors either in startup or in operation and enables me to do what I do in as fast and effortless manner as possible. I have 5 browsers on one of my desktop PC's, each doing certain tasks. It would appear Edge may well have the edge on all of them, once they get it fully operational as it seems faster than anything else and as to the Start screen, I'm afraid I just make it as simple as it can be and if you want to have something like Classic then go ahead. I used it initially but as I said above, I have moved on and the Start screen no longer bothers me.
At the end of the day it probably all comes down to what you do with your computer and ours are primarily work horses from which to run programs and Windows 10 does that very efficiently.

I like the overall concept of W10.
In my case however, my ASUS N550J Laptop booted up W10 and the W10 sound came on at full volume (ouch); all sound was distorted after that. The speakers including the external woofer had blown out. Then thought it might be the driver but checked the headphone jack and got clear sound out of that. Also, since installing W10 my web cam does not work, so I called ASUS support to see if there was an updated driver and they said there is something wrong with the device. I checked device manager and no webcam was listed. I was thinking that maybe ASUS stopped supporting the N550J and its drivers, but when the W10 Anniversary Update happened on my system (9/14/2016), it loaded a webcam driver that doesn't work for my webcam (at least it recognizes there is a device. [for anybody who is interested: camera app error msgs:0xA00F4271(0x80070002), 0XA00F4244(0XC00D36D5)]).
At work I use a HP desk top computer and W10 did its "I'm updating you to W10 whether you like or not" thing while I was in the middle of writing a report that got lost in the process; I could not stop it; that was not cool! The wireless mouse on this HP locks up the computer; I changed the mouse to a wired USB mouse and it still does the same thing.
I was hoping the 1607 build would fix every thing, but no. So, I don't love it, but I don't hate it; I just hope it gets stable... SOON!

I'm not techie at all, so I have to spend tons of time researching to do anything. Had a Dell with windows XP and never had a problem. Switched to a HP touchscreen with built in Windows 8.1 and never had a problem. Was told by a friend to upgrade to the 10 and I did it myself with no problems. Except that one of my printers and an external hard drive no longer connect. The major problems came this week when the computer did an automatic Microsoft upgrade. Everything runs slower, shortcuts on my desk top don't work. Edge won't open. I deleted the shortcuts and remade them and they worked for a few hours and then stopped. I'm using explore and Firefox because Edge keeps flashing open and then closes immediately. I hate the way Edge functions, most times I hit open in Explorer so that I can print. I do like the read function without all of the adds. I don't like the way apps are shown and much preferred to use apps in Windows 8.1 . I'm missing my sticky note app from 8.1. My Word program used to work fine but not it gives me three separate error type screens that I have to click on in order to open the documents I am working on. All in all, if I had to do it over again, I wouldn't upgrade. If it's not broke, don't try to fix it!

We did not upgrade our two desktops that are running Windows 7. I figured why fix something that isn't broken. We do not run any elaborate programs. In fact, our versions of Word and Excel art from 2003!
When I got my new laptop about eight months ago, it came with Windows 10. I did not run into any learning curve whatsoever. I reloaded the 2003 versions from my old laptop. They run perfectly. The only other programs I run besides chrome and Firefox are Dragon, and Dashlane. I keep Gmail and Yahoo mail open.

Win 10 had been great .. I have it on my HP laptop - Win10 64bit and on our desktop in dual boot. Win64 and win32 to test and compare the both .. so far win 64 has won.
Don

I've been using computers since before Window 3.1 and the experience has bee good for all versions except for ME, Vista, 8, and 10. I have an array of computers that I use for various projects. One of them still has XP on it in order to run some older peripherals. The rest have Windows 7. One still has Windows 10 installed. When Microsoft went into their hard-sell routine, I finally caved in and upgraded 3 of the Window 7's to Window 10. Everything ran slower on Windows 10 right from turning on the computers through running programming. Also some peripherals, including some printers, no longer worked. So I've reinstalled Windows 7 back on two of the pc's, which required formatting the drives and doing a clean install. I had gone past the 30 day limit Microsoft had for uninstalling 10. Those PC's both work good as ever once again. The reason I left Win 10 on the last PC is just so I can see what it does in the future.  It's a PC that I rarely need to use.  I see other individuals posting here that are quite happy with Windows 10. I'm not questioning their experience with it. When all support expires for Windows 7, I'll probably go with Linux.

Changed one computer soon after free version became available. Besides for the time it took, it has been worth it. Windows 10 is more intuitive than 8 but it took a little time to set the computer the way I like. This was more to do with 10 doing things in different ways.

Changed the other computer just before the free time ran out. Again not many hassles although the USB wireless network card did not have a Windows 10 driver. That was OK, the driver was from Windows 7 and I knew what to do after struggling with it when I installed Windows 8.

When the anniversary upgrade came out, two of my 4TB Seagate USB drives would not work on either computer. They happened to be my main drive and its backup on my SSD laptop. After days of trying to save them, they only worked when I took them out of their USB cases and put them in a caddy. Now both work fine. Something to do with the firmware in the Seagate cases? My older 4TB Seagate USB drives work fine.

Overall, very happy with Windows 10 - no loss in speed, more intuitive, I am up to date, currently no glitches, have been able to customize to the level I want, attractive interface, no ongoing issues I am aware of - what is not to like?

Have 3 laptops upgrade one to Windows 10.
I am leaving my other 2 on Windows 7.
WINDOWS 10 Sucks, Microsoft is trying to put itself out of the OS Business.
It’s so bad that I have staring looking at Mac's and I hate Apple.
I find that I am using my Android phone and tablet rather then ever boot up Win10

Oh let me count the ways & reasons
.
Let us start with that it will not install any of my old Win programs (which I had on my XP machine - not one (several grand worth and a couple no longer available graphics programs I miss
Secondly 3 shut-down for W10 updates in last 2 weeks ... apriximatelly one every 3 weeks for the year I have had laptop w/ 10 ... no way to stop them
Slow does nit describe it, though a recent update has shown some improvement ... a year ago I was willing to put my old AT with 95 up against this quad processor 8gig w/win10 and bet on the AT ... still takes forever (compared to Vista & XP) to switch programs
There,are a miriad of other glitches that are dificult to pin down if it's Win10, the PC or the 3rd party program (Microsift is desperatelly trying to demand MS programs only .. even though they keep buying good programs and destroying them . BUT one of those issues is 'window switches' ... semi-regularly , it will load the program, but leave it hidden behind the previously used program untill I minimize that program
.
So now that I have my Desktop back on XP (don't like 7 GUI and 8 was somewhat cool for tablets but same as 10, nether woukd run old programs I needed) , I am seriously looking at the laptop too

Things are hard to find, Microsoft tracks every key you type in, track all the sites you go to. The new office is bloated. Microsoft Edge is something else. It can't compare with Windows 7. Windows 7 is much easier to use and a better operating system, hands down. Windows 10 is nothing more that a bloated Windows 8.

Microsoft always puts new systems out long before the bugs are worked out. If you or I ran a business like Microsoft's software, we wouldn't stay in business long. It is like asking you to trouble shoot and fix your own vehicle without any support. Way do we have to pay for support, and jump through so many whoops to get any help with a problem?

I've been using W10 since it came out and I have no complains. It has worked fine with me. I have a Dell Inspiron 1545, bought when W7 came out believe in 2008, only had to upgrade it's memory to 4 GB.

After reading positive reviews in several forums and PC magazines,I installed Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit on my laptop in 4/2016 primarily for investigation. My experience, except for the "error free" upgrade installation from Windows 8.1 64-Bit Pro, was overwhelmingly negative:

1) Start menu failed to function too many times to record.
2) Default Edge browser was an embarrassment due to lack of features compared to IE11 and Chrome. For example, my favorites didn't import by default. This was annoying since I don't recall warnings that favorites needed to be explicitly exported prior to Windows 10 installation. After a few hours I reverted to IE11.
3) Cortana is a year long April Fool's prank, correct?
4) After just one week I reverted back to Windows 8.1 Pro, and, kudos to Microsoft, that task was smooth and error free.

With the release of Windows 10 Update and a few days from the free upgrade offer expiring, I decided to give it another go and installed the OS on my laptop. The second installation has been far less eventful, and Windows 10 Update has performed at a level very close to the positive reports. However, I haven't discovered a compelling reason to migrate my other 3 Windows 8.1 Pro systems to Windows 10. Essentially, I'm facing the age old challenge we encounter as engineers: "What problem am I solving, really?" As a result, I most likely will update my Windows 8.1 Pro systems to Windows 10 Pro when forced to do so due to Microsoft dropping support for Windows 8.1. The was the reason I upgraded my systems from Windows 7 Pro to Windows 8 Pro, which was almost as bad as early versions of Windows 10. Historically, Microsoft seems to require at least two major updates before they get it right. The exception seems to be Me, on which they just gave up. Well played.

I've always been on the odd releases! Went from W2000 to VISTA and have never been on XP so I may have an odd perspective.

I just bought a new system with Win10 a few weeks ago, and am slowly migrating 9 years worth of VISTA to it. Only a few things have really pissed me off. The worst is the idiotic naming convention of using the first five characters of my email address for my user partition. REALLY??? Why not just ASK me??? What's the big deal? It's MY computer and I'd like MY NAME on it, but Noooooooooo not gonna happen unless I start from scratch.

The other thing that's really made me angry is that Win10 won't use an ad hoc network. That's how I was really planning to port all my stuff from my terabyte VISTA system to the new one. I ported my W2000 to the VISTA like that, and it was fast and effective. Instead, I either have to share my old computer with the rest of the household which I am not inclined to do, or copy SLOWLY over the house wifi. Just an irritant...

On the bright side, I have the disks and keys for my Office 2007 suite and could just install it here! Yay! I don't have to deal with new crap I don't need!!! I also got my Photoshop elements installed without having to spend more money on any of this.

The menus and tiles and stuff will take some getting used to, but I learned to use my iPhone so I'll get used to it and get it all where I want. In the meantime, I can keep three browsers with five-ten tabs each up and running without tying the system in a nasty thrashing knot, which happened about every two hours on the old one. That part I'm loving, but it's the 16GB of memory instead of the 4GB that's the source of my joy.

I still hate that MS has hidden all the useful stuff under the new skins. I miss my VAX though, and I'll probably never get over that lovely platform.

As for "installing over" an existing other OS - that was done on the VISTA when I bought it and it took me over a year to figure out why I had some odd directories and folders that weren't really there. A clean install lets you put stuff where you want it. Unless you want to name your user partition yourself...

Unlike some people here, I am a tech and it's my job to sell, upgrade, and repair compiters,
First I need to mention that the best way to install Windows 10 is not by upgrading. If you upgrade and your current installation has faults, those faults can make the upgrade unstable. You may fail the upgrade, or you may find it corrupted, it it may work perfectly for weeks and then go bad with assorted problems. The best way to install it is to back up your data, use the Media Creator app from Microsoft and make a DVD or a thumb drive, boot from the new media and delete the old partitions. Then allow the setup program to make new partitions and perform a fresh clean install. If you don't know how to do this, either google it first or have someone who knows how do it for you.
Oddly enough this is still working. Windows 10 will still accept a windows 7 or 8 key. After the install you have to disable all the spy settings MS has put into Windows 10. Next you have to hunt down any missing drivers. Finally, if you have a working install you pray nothing goes wrong with it because the repair tools only work about half the time. The other half of the time you end up having to perform a reinstall again. Windows 10 is very delicate and seems to corrupt easily.
In our shop we have about 10 computers for various tasks and after getting extensive experience with W10 we have decided not to upgrade. Again, this is a computer/electronics repair shop. We are very experienced (25 years for me personally).
As for my very expensive gaming rig at home, after seeing the problems people are having, especially with forced updates that can brick your computer, I have decided to stick with W7. I did install W10 on my Dell tablet, and if it goes bad it's no great loss if I reinstall, but my personal system at home now off limits to W10 and Microsoft's forced updates.
If you have the pro version, you can delay updates, but you cannot choose not to accept some updates. This Is unacceptable, and a major deal-breaker. I will not upgrade my computer unless I am forced to. Microsoft can bite me.

I did the pre release testing with it and felt it could be an improvement, but when the final build was done last year, I'd gotten tired of it and problems, like activation that kept failing in a virtual machine it had worked in for a year or more.

I just use my Mint Linux now and leave the windows stuff alone. Never happier.

I have been a Microsoft user since DOS and 10 is the worst version I have ever used. Sure there are some nice touchy feely features but is is Very UN_USER Friendly. Not easy to make changes and every time I go into microsoft explorer the entire folder has to be looked at before I can use it. Very SLOW. I made the mistake to take 7 totally off my machine and have regretted it. I even removed lots of info to get over 35% of free hard drive space and still no change in performance.