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Friday, July 31, 2015

I bit the bullet and upgraded to Windows 10. For the most part it was smooth but there have been bugs.

I upgraded to Windows 10 on Wednesday. My previous operating system was Windows 7 Ultimate, and I felt like it was time to make the jump even though there was technically nothing wrong with my computer and the way it was running. I did reserve a copy of Windows 10, but I didn't want to wait for my upgrade prompt. If you happen to be one of the few that are still waiting (or just never received one) you can go HERE to download and install Microsoft's Media Creation Tool. You'll launch it when you finish. To be clear, this is only for people making the update and not doing a clean install.

And before you upgrade, you'll want to have your Windows 7 COMPLETELY updated with all Microsoft patches. I've done this on several computers now, and the update screws up if your computer has any malware on it or if you are missing some critical updates. For example, I just installed Windows 7 on a computer and made the jump to Windows 10 thinking that it would be quicker (rather than waiting for all of the updates to install) and instead a weird bug caused the "Settings Applet" to keep crashing. This wouldn't be all that important, however, the "Settings Applet" is now where the Windows Update utility is located. If you can't launch the Settings, you can't get important updates pushed out by Microsoft. So yeah, that didn't work. Lesson learned. Update the old operating system completely before making your migration.

Once Windows 10 is installed on your computer, there may be bugs (Microsoft did not put out a perfect product--big surprise, right?). Some that I've experienced are that my Norton Security Suite and Cyberlink Power DVD appear to have issues. There's an update for the Cyberlink Power DVD that I use to play Blu-Ray movies on my computer, but it costs $50.00, and I assume it's compatible with Windows 10. The old version I use (version 11) has some issues where it won't shut down once the app is launched and you have to restart the computer. I think I'll look online for a free Blu-ray player that has Windows 10 support (not that I use my player much these days as Netflix has everything that I watch). If you know of any, please let me know in the comments :). As for my Norton, it's offered free through my Xfinity subscription. Since it's so buggy, I just downloaded the uninstall tool and uninstalled it. I'm using Windows Defender now which actually seems to be pretty good and has no bugs at all (being a Microsoft product).

Then there's a strange bug that's happening with my Motorola cable modem. It sometimes loses its internet connection when I restart because it can't get an I.P. address issued from the computer and shows as an unidentified network. If I do a complete shutdown and then start up the computer cold, it will start working again. I'm not sure if it's some kind of compatibility issue with the new operating system or if I should see if there's some updated firmware available through Motorola. It's not too much of a big deal because when I upgraded my computer a year ago, I bought a Haswell system with a motherboard that included wireless and bluetooth capabilities. So when the ethernet goes down, it just automatically logs onto the wireless signal.

All the drivers updated to the new system pretty easily. If you don't know what drivers are, they are what make all of the hardware on your computer work. So when a driver isn't working, it's trouble for your pc. Gripes I have about Windows 10 include the following: 1) because Microsoft's servers are overloaded with people downloading and upgrading, your own computer automatically gets enslaved to the Microsoft botnet so that critical files can be downloaded to other people's computers (you can turn this off), 2) Microsoft saves your old version of Windows as a temporary file that you need to find and delete (mine took up 32 gigabytes and I don't need a backup because I got one on an external hard drive), 3) Microsoft trademarked "Windows 365," which means that they probably intend to eventually move Windows 10 to a subscription based model.

If you don't know what subscription-based software is, then think of Microsoft Office 365 with a recurring cost of around $10 a month. It's my opinion that there will probably be ads on the operating system at some point in the future if you don't pay. Either that or some features may not be available (like automatic updates). It disturbs me that every company is moving to subscription-based service because recurring costs are essentially like interest. You can't ever get rid of them and they will keep you in the poor house if you don't find a way to control all the subscriptions. Personally, I think recurring costs are the death of wealth. More and more we are a society where upward mobility is becoming increasingly impossible as corporate forces keep pushing us down.

If you are still hesitating upgrading from your trusty old Windows 7, keep in mind that Windows 10 has far better security and loads faster. It also has better multi-monitor support (which is fantastic).

15 comments:

  1. I haven't upgraded yet - will wait just a little longer for more bugs to be worked out.
    Scary to think that your files could be downloaded to other computers, especially if you don't know to turn that feature off.
    And I don't mind subscription services. My wife uses the Adobe one and it's much cheaper than buying the programs, especially when the yearly upgrades are free. (Microsoft might handle theirs differently.)

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  2. I was supposed to upgrade but it has been "Working On It" for 12 hours now.

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    1. Of course a minute later I restart the process and it works just fine, though now I don't have time until later to actually try it out.

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  3. What I don't like is the name. Windows 10 when there was no Windows 9

    and Xbox One being the third Xbox console

    does Microsoft have an employee who can count?

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    1. You could consider Windows 8.1 to be Windows 9. It was a pretty big update. I'm not sure Windows 7 was really even the 7th one. I mean you had Windows 1-3, 95, 98, Me, XP, and Vista. Maybe they don't count Me or they're just trying to erase the memory of Vista.

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  4. I'm tempted to bite the bullet too, but I am still a bit on the fence. So like Alex, I think I am going to wait a short while for the bugs to be addressed. I've never been an early adopter anyways; it took me more than 10 years to move from XP to Windows 7. I use a Lumia 520 phone though, so I'll definitely be upgrading that to Windows 10 the moment the mobile phone version becomes available.

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  5. I'm still using Vista (it's what my current laptop came with.) I only ever upgrade anything when my computer-savvy significant other tricks me into doing so.

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  6. I'm still using Windows 7...and I don't know. Usually I upgrade, but maybe I'm getting lazy.

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  7. Thanks Mike. So, you did not lose any Works documents or pictures in the upgrade? I've been worried about that. And subscription upgrades? Please, what about people who may not have steady income to have their devices use the features they upgraded. I am still pissed that I have to pay extra for HD TV when the box and TV were built for it!! Sometimes an upgrade is just another way to pinch quarters from people getting paid in pennies.

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    1. I didn't lose any information that I needed (documents, writing, pictures, etc.) I did notice that my Microsoft Word 2010 has a few glitches now...nothing that doesn't go away with a little scrolling. It's probably an impetus to upgrade my word processor to subscription-based 365.

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  8. My Mac is old but I don't relish the prospect of buying a new one.

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  9. Thanks for this, I'm waiting too, because I hated windows 8, do not enjoy touch screen, want the old fashioned and familiar.

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  10. Just another reminder that it's probably time to upgrade my laptop. It's on the list.

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  11. Thanks for the info. I'm still on 7 and XP. I have no use for 8. My mother wants to buy a laptop with 10 but I don't have a clue how to use it. And you know if she runs into a problem I'll be the one she calls.

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