Installed Windows 10 last night

jdandy

jdandy

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I was going to wait a few months to let Windows 10 mature a bit but last night I caved to my curiosity. I installed Windows 10 on the desktop PC in the studio control room. I have two desktop PC's and two laptops operating on Windows 7. The studio control room PC is the machine that gets the least use so I thought it would be the best machine to use as a trial guinea pig. I reserved my Windows 10 download a couple of days ago and last night I got the message it was ready to be downloaded on that PC. I clicked on the button and away it went. Naturally I performed a backup of the PC a couple days ago just in case things didn't go as planned.

The Windows 10 download and installation completed without a hitch. Once the installation was complete I spent an additional hour making adjustments in the Settings menus to tailor the privacy and sharing settings to my personal preference. I turned off WiFi sharing, Cortona, and the Microsoft tracking (spying) features in the Privacy menu. I also turned off the "Personalized ads in this browser" and “Personalized ads wherever I use my Microsoft account". This disables Microsoft's ad tracking features. I downloaded and installed three available updates. I will likely make additional adjustments as I learn more about the new operating system.

Windows 10 maintained access to all of my software programs on the computer that operated with Win7. Windows 10 moved them into the new
operating system along with my email account and my secured wireless router and settings. My wireless router was discovered and the WiFi connection made without any problem. I was happy to see my Favorites menu from Internet Explore now appears in the new Edge browser. Windows 10 also kept my taskbar icons and links intact and functioning, plus the correct driver for my Canon IP4200 printer was downloaded and installed without issue. My Pictures files and Documents files remained intact as well. Microsoft Office programs continue to function properly and all of those files installed properly. The new Windows 10 operating system upgrade was painless. I had anticipated it would be more difficult but it went smooth as silk.

I didn't have the energy left by 3:30 AM to spend time playing with the OS, but I did try a few commands. I like the Start Button, albeit a new Windows logo icon at the lower left of the screen. When clicked the familiar Start menu appears. The new design layout of the Start menu is fresh and intuitive. The jury is still out on the live tiles on my desktop screen. The live tiles on my home screen may or may not remain. I plan to leave them until I've had time to use them and pass judgment on their value. They can be easily unpinned from the desktop so keeping the ones you want and removing the tiles you don't want is an easy task. During the time I spent with Windows 10 last night it appeared to operate faster and the new Edge browser seemed quicker and less cluttered than Internet Explorer.

So far my impression of Windows 10 is good. I imagine there will be some bugs that will be addressed through Windows Update but my initial reaction is positive. My plan is to keep Windows 10 installed only on the control room computer until I am confident the upgrade from Win7 doesn't present any unwelcomed issues. Once I am comfortable with Windows 10 and feel secure it represents a valuable upgrade I will probably take the leap and download Windows 10 on all of my PC's. Right now I am keeping my fingers crossed.
 
Congrats Dan.... Well done. I'm glad you decided to move forward from Win7 (which was a great stable OS).

Windows 10 will open up many new possibilities. The choices will be yours to make.
 
Dan:

I also have been curious about Windows 10. I am glad to see you try it. Please share your experience after using it for a while.
 
Hi Dan,

Nice little write up about your experience installing Win 10 Dan, thanks for that.
I’m a little nervous about WIN 10. I am going to wait at least 6 weeks before installing it on one of my PCs. I might do it on my laptop first since I use it the least. Then I may wait at least 4 months before doing the rest. Yes, I got my downloads now, but have not clicked on them even though it says one of the steps is to choose when to install, I don’t trust it, so I will click when I’m ready. We have a year anyway.
I got to talk to MS directly about WIN 10 and got a few concerns cleared up, just basic stuff like “what if I need to fix something and it tells me to put in a CD I don’t have” and stuff like that.

I reserved my upgrade early, which is unusual for me. I usually wait until a year before the OS is to expire before adopting whatever the next one is. For instance I adopted XP one year before it went bye-bye. So yes, the whole reason I did not do that this time can be summed up in one word, “free”. For the first time, I don’t have to spend a couple of hundred for my OS.

It’s nice to know that things went smooth though. I’ve been reading up on it and I seem to recall that there may be a way to at least restrict the info gathering the Cortina lady does, I’ll have to check. I’d kind of think that is a neat feature being able to talk to one’s PC, but I won’t use it at the cost of giving up what is left of personal privacy, etc.
I’m going to back up just my data (docs, spreadsheets, bookmarks, records and CDs in my database…oh, that would be the worst loss just because of the hours into days I’ve spent on it), before I install Win 10 when I do.

Oh yeah, did you also burn an ISO to CD? You are going to need that later should you need to repair something or revert back to Win 7. That’s your hard copy of WIN 10 otherwise you will need to spend $100 to $200 for a copy. If you did this, when do you get to do it? Before you install or after?

~Eric
 
I spent a little more than three hours playing with Windows 10 today. I dug deeper into the features like Mail, Live Tiles, Windows Defender, and installed newer versions of Microsoft Office and Norton 360.

I deleted many of the live tiles from the Start Menu. Unnecessary things like news feeds, financial feeds, and tiles that redirected me to the Microsoft store for games and such were unpinned from my desktop. Setting up the one tile that accesses my Microsoft account and Outlook.com or Hotmail.com accounts was a bit of a chore. I set the Mail tile to access two different email accounts. After using it this afternoon I discovered I prefer accessing email through MS Office Outlook. I prefer that program to the sparsely featured Mail tile offering. That is what drove me to have to uninstall Microsoft Office Standard 2007 and install Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010. The older version of Outlook in Office 2007 gave me difficulty in accessing my IMAP/SMTP email server. After installing Outlook in Office 2010, setting up my email accounts was a breeze and both accounts sync'd with my home network.

I had been using Norton 360 with Windows 7 before installing Windows 10 on the control room PC. Today I discovered the Windows 10 installation disabled Norton 360 in favor of Windows Defender and its own firewall. I also discovered Norton 360 for Windows 7 had compatibility issues with Windows 10. The Norton 360 icon disappeared from my desktop and the link to Norton 360 in the All Programs menu did not open the program. I logged on to Norton Security's website and after some digging around and reading about the Windows 10 issue I downloaded a small program from the Norton site that removed Norton 360 and reinstalled the Windows 10 version of Norton 360. During this process the Norton remove and replace software was smart enough to capture my Norton product key and properly maintained my subscription date. Windows 10 then popped up a window asking if I wanted to continue to use Windows Defender or Norton 360. Once I selected Norton 360 my desktop icon for Norton 360 reappeared and the program opened without issue. That whole process was a bit frustrating and time consuming but I am now protected with software that offers many more useful features and protection I trust more than Windows Defender.

I spent some time using Photoshop Elements 9 and Adobe Premier Elements 9. I wanted to make sure there were no issues with moving, editing, or storing photos. I opened a number of Microsoft Exel files and Office files, all without issue. I played several music files and surfed the web for an hour using the new Edge browser without a single problem. Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers opened without issues as well. I am pleased to report I had no frozen screens and no reboots were required to keep the operating system running smoothly. It appears Windows 10 is quite stable. Once again, so far so good.
 
Dan-
Good to hear that it's "so far so good". MS claims this OS to be the best yet, personally in my opinion I think that is BS judging by my experience with Win 3.1, 95, 98, XP and 7. (I may have left one out). Anyway, in my opinion things started getting bad after Win 95.
So we will see what Win 10 really ends up being. I'd like it to succeed once and for all, but who knows. What I do not want to see is a rental system established where one pays a monthly fee to use one's own PC. I see that coming down the road I fear.

I'm not a fan of Explorer and I don't know many who are, but we all know why. When I install Win 10 though I will certainly check out Edge.

As for Office, the latest version I have is Office Pro XP. I can't afford the current version even if it was $20 because I don't purchase files. If I'm paying something I want the physical item, in this case give me a CD of Office not something called a "Keycard"....I don't even know what the hell that is!
I'm seriously thinking of trying OpenOffice. I tried it a long time ago and it was awful. To me it was a train wreck at best. However I have been reading up on the latest version of it and things have supposedly changed a great deal.

The thing I like so far about reading your dealings with Win 10 is that other programs seem to have no issues at all with Win 10, this is very good news.

I hate Norton....my opinon. I used to run their stuff and the footprint is enormous and it doesn't catch stuff other programs can. We run it at work too and it is not that good.

~Eric
 
Eric.......I spent most of the afternoon on the Internet with the new Windows 10 Edge browser. It is lean and quick. I had no issues with the browser no matter where I surfed. Like you I have had many years using one iteration or the other of Microsoft Windows all the way back to Windows 3.0. It wasn't until Windows XP that I felt Microsoft had made the operating system stable, and even with XP the blue screen of death would occasionally pop up. I remember going to the mall in late 2009 to get my copy of Windows 7 the day it was released to the public. Win7 has been the best and most stable Windows operating system I have ever used. That is the primary reason I am reluctant to replace it on my other PC's. It works and it is stable. I find that Windows 7 has far more features and depth to its capabilities than I will ever put to use so I have no burning desire to leave it in the dust. My primary concern is the end of life cycle event that will take place in 2020 when Microsoft will cease to support it. It was my curiosity about the new Windows 10 that moved me to download and install it on my studio control room PC. It has been interesting but other than a new facelift, some streamlined features, and the new Edge browser I see no major reason to abandon Windows 7. I guess if I ware fully vested in Microsoft tablets, phone, detachable laptop PC's, and touch screen monitors with the required touch screen implementation and synchronization across platforms, I might see greater value in the Windows 10 architecture. That is what the new OS was actually designed to capitalize on, touch screen and cloud sync to multiple devices. It's Microsoft trying to catch up with Apples business model. For an old guy who is pleased with a simple windscreen monitor, standard keyboard functionality, and an optical trackball, Windows 10 seems more like glitter than substance for my particular needs. Others may have a greater need than me for the other features I will not be using. None the less, having Windows 10 installed on one machine allows me the ability to come up to speed at my own pace for what certainly seems inevitable.

As for Norton 360, I like the product. I have used Norton Internet Security for decades. It used to be a huge resource hog and bogged down performance but that isn't the case these days. With faster processors, more RAM, and larger hard drives the Norton products have improved dramatically over their early products. Norton 360 offers a number of useful tools that I like that can be manually implemented as necessary and it's ability to block malware and other security intrusion issues is on par with the majority of the other programs available. The reason I don't mind paying for Norton rather than rely of a freebee security suite is Norton's continuous research and virus signature codes that are updated automatically to my PC's. I feel comfortable knowing Norton security software has a large team that supports its primary function. I have read quite a bit about various paid and freeware security software programs and their head to head comparisons. They all have advantages and disadvantages, and none provide 100 percent security. I pay my annual fee and keep my fingers crossed. I can say this, in 26 years I have not been infected with a computer virus or malware. Between Norton and SpyBot Search and Destroy I have kept my PC's healthy. I am not so naïve to think I am immune from such attacks but I feel the protection Norton 360 offers serves as a decent first line defense beyond my ISP's firewall and my router's firewall. It can be an ugly world out there. We all take our chances every time we log onto the Internet.
 
Double-D said:
I spent some time using Photoshop Elements 9 and Adobe Premier Elements 9. I wanted to make sure there were no issues with moving, editing, or storing photos. I opened a number of Microsoft Exel files and Office files, all without issue. I played several music files and surfed the web for an hour using the new Edge browser without a single problem. Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers opened without issues as well. I am pleased to report I had no frozen screens and no reboots were required to keep the operating system running smoothly. It appears Windows 10 is quite stable. Once again, so far so good.
Click to expand...


Great news Dan. May I ask what's the configuration of your desktop? #cpu's, speed, how much memory?


Ha, I think I'm still on Windows XP on my Dell Desktop.:blush:
 
socfan12 said:
Great news Dan. May I ask what's the configuration of your desktop? #cpu's, speed, how much memory?


Ha, I think I'm still on Windows XP on my Dell Desktop.:blush:
Click to expand...

Allen.......The control room PC has an Intel Core 2 Quad CPU @ 2.4Ghz, with 8GB of memory.
 
Thanks, Dan. Hmm, my dell is single core, 3.xGhz, and like 2-4GB of RAM. Don't think it would survive W10. :P
 
Allen.......Here are the published minimum requirements for Windows 10.

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster.

RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)

Free hard disk space: 16 GB.

Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver.

A Microsoft account and Internet access.
 
I would like to say that Microsoft's major strengths are with its comprehensive backoffice architecture. i.e. Server products and the Azure platform. Platforms which are progressively being exposed to a wider market other than the business community. With the advent of Windows 10, the consumer level services delivery model is being emphasised more than ever before.

Windows 10 not only unifies PCs and devices, the client platform ties the entire Microsoft eco-system together. The consumer also has choice.

I disagree with the Apple comment above as Apple do not have anything remotely like this, nor do they offer freedom of choice when it comes to services and integration. Apple with Jobs at the helm may have conceptualised and captivated the mass consumer market initially with flashy devices and a consumption model. Times have changed and IMO, the tortoise with the big shell always wins the race.

Many Microsoft products and services can be used on Apple devices including Windows 10. It is also this any device initiative that will see Microsoft reclaim lost ground in this device/services era.
 
Steve said:
I disagree with the Apple comment above as Apple do not have anything remotely like this, nor do they offer freedom of choice when it comes to services and integration. Apple with Jobs at the helm may have conceptualised and captivated the mass consumer market initially with flashy devices and a consumption model. Times have changed and IMO, the tortoise with the big shell always wins the race.

Many Microsoft products and services can be used on Apple devices including Windows 10. It is also this any device initiative that will see Microsoft reclaim lost ground in this device/services era.
Click to expand...

Steve.......I understand the points you make. My comment was more to point out that Microsoft finally got it's act together at the consumer level with cross-platform integration. Windows 8 was a feeble first attempt but it appears Windows 10 is going to make it simple and easy.
 
Double-D said:
Steve.......I understand the points you make. My comment was more to point out that Microsoft finally got it's act together at the consumer level with cross-platform integration. Windows 8 was a feeble first attempt but it appears Windows 10 is going to make it simple and easy.
Click to expand...


Dan....Agreed. I think Microsoft have learnt a few hard lessons over recent years too. I do like the shifting attitude and their efforts towards addressing sentiment. They certainly still have hurdles to overcome in the device "App Store" space by convincing more of the main players to invest their development effort onto the platform. Hopefully, the singular Windows 10 device model will prove compelling enough. It's a "Start" :)
 
With Windows 7 being so deeply entrenched among all Windows users some might ask what's so special about Windows 10 over Windows 7. One of the big concerns that rises to the top is Windows 10 and privacy. There is no doubt about the new operating system's ability to gather, store, and use personal information in Microsoft's effort to serve themselves while at the same time making Windows 10 interactive capabilities a personal experience tuned to each particular user. Fortunately, the Windows 10 privacy issues can be minimized with a diligent setup that allows users to take advantage of the opt-out options available. It does require digging to locate all the switches that you might wish to deactivate. If you are not concerned and want to take full advantage of Cortana's interactive contributions to your computing experience it can be accomplished with minimal setup changes required. We all understand that despite our best efforts there really is no fully private computer experience when connected to the Internet.

The expected general performance boost associated with new operating system upgrades seems to be delivered with Windows 10. If you are looking for reasons to upgrade consider some of these primary difference between Window 7 and Windows 10. Load time for Windows 10 is quite a bit faster than Windows 7 and better hardware acceleration means navigation feels faster. In addition, if you are a gamer, Windows 10 now provides DirectX 12 which will add a performance boost to game software.

The redesigned Start menu and the reappearance of the Start button missing in Windows 8 is a welcomed feature. The ability to add or remove tiles in the start menu, including live tiles for news and weather, without having your desktop overwhelmed with tiles makes navigation easier. The overall look and feel of Windows 10 is fresh yet pleasantly familiar.

There is a new Search Bar as part of the Task Bar that remains accessible. It provides system and web search functions plus access to Microsoft's Store. If turned on, clicking on the Search Bar will deliver sports scores and weather among other things, and access to Cortana, Microsoft's new interactive personal assistant. None of these features are available in Windows 7.

Windows 10 now provides a Notification sidebar that pops open when you have notifications pending such as messages from applications and updates. Notification in Windows 7 is tied to the Task Bar and delivers less information in the associated popup windows.

Windows 10 has improved support for multiple monitors. The taskbar can now be view on multiple monitors instead of just one, Pictures can be spread across all monitors, and the Snap feature that allows multiple open pages on a monitor has been improved to support snapping to four corners, not just side to side.

Touchscreen implementation and cross-platform integration with desktops, tablets, and phones is another big difference Windows 10 offers over Windows 7. Many users will be pleased to be able to sync all their Microsoft devices easily with the new cloud access that is seamlessly incorporated into Windows 10. Windows 7 does not offer these functions.

There is lots more that makes the new Windows 10 operating system an improved user experience. As we learn how to use these new features and incorporate them into our daily tasks I'm sure we will come to wonder how we lived without them. So far my personal experience with the single desktop PC I have Windows 10 installed on has been positive. Being able to download the new operating system as simply as an update is ingenious and the process worked seamlessly for me. A huge plus, Windows 10 is free. You certainly can't say the same about Windows 7. Like any new operating system, I am experiencing a learning curve. There are many new features I have yet to discover. After five years I haven't maximized all of Windows 7 capabilities either. Since I have plenty of time on my hands, I find it an interesting challenge to dig into Windows 10 at my own pace while at the same time feeling comfortable doing so with the intuitive yet improved user interface. Windows 10 is impressive.
 
I find Win 7 to be a mixed bag myself. I agree that Win 98 and especially XP were not all that, for sure. However I have experienced the same amount of BSODs in Win 7 as XP. That said though, I much prefer it over Win 8 (which I did not want and did not try), XP, 98, Vista, etc. I think I liked 3.1 and 95 because they were more of an overlay of DOS rather than a complete OS (95 to a certain degree) in and of themselves.
I agree, the more I read about Win 10, the more I wish to stick with Win 7 longer. I also see it as more fluff than advancement. I will still install Win 10 on at least one PC down the road a bit, no harm in trying it as long as I can go back to Win 7 should I want or need to. I may decide to keep one HDD at Win 7 until 2020, but it would cost me $200 to do so if I wanted to go to Win 10 then, so I may not do so.
There are some features of Win 10 (will one actually) I would like to try for fun, (Cortina) to a point, but I'm a little concerned about security and privacy regarding it. Still looking at it.

As for Norton, it has been years since I used it so no doubt it changed. However, AVG and Avast are not strictly free. They both have paid versions structured like Norton, I'm just choosing to use the free versions. That may be a fool's errand, but maybe not. I abandoned Norton after 6 years of use not just because of its footprint at the time, but because it missed a boot sector virus that AVG free version no less, caught and eradicated. That told me everything I needed to know.
Both anti viruses I use free or paid keep their databases very up to date.
I've tried other anti virus programs that I agree were questionable at best and not worth the time it took to install.
I also run Spybot and Malwarebytes. Plus I have a hard firewall in my router.
Your absolutely right though in not being naive these days. I figure these days its like what I call the car theft game. If somebody wants to steal your car they will no matter what alarm you have. It's merely a time deterrent. So the same with computers. If some hacker wants into your system they will get in, it's just a matter of time. The harder you make it though the more they will move on to easier targets, just like with cars.
I've already had two attempts of network theft a couple of weeks ago, both were unsuccessful at doing anything. At least I know my measures are working.
Yes, we have to be extra careful on the internet, more now than ever before. I don't even open emails, even from folks I know, until I have inspected the header first.
 
Double-D said:
With Windows 7 being so deeply entrenched among all Windows users some might ask what's so special about Windows 10 over Windows 7. One of the big concerns that rises to the top is Windows 10 and privacy. There is no doubt about the new operating system's ability to gather, store, and use personal information in Microsoft's effort to serve themselves while at the same time making Windows 10 interactive capabilities a personal experience tuned to each particular user. Fortunately, the Windows 10 privacy issues can be minimized with a diligent setup that allows users to take advantage of the opt-out options available. It does require digging to locate all the switches that you might wish to deactivate. If you are not concerned and want to take full advantage of Cortana's interactive contributions to your computing experience it can be accomplished with minimal setup changes required. We all understand that despite our best efforts there really is no fully private computer experience when connected to the Internet.

The expected general performance boost associated with new operating system upgrades seems to be delivered with Windows 10. If you are looking for reasons to upgrade consider some of these primary difference between Window 7 and Windows 10. Load time for Windows 10 is quite a bit faster than Windows 7 and better hardware acceleration means navigation feels faster. In addition, if you are a gamer, Windows 10 now provides DirectX 12 which will add a performance boost to game software.

The redesigned Start menu and the reappearance of the Start button missing in Windows 8 is a welcomed feature. The ability to add or remove tiles in the start menu, including live tiles for news and weather, without having your desktop overwhelmed with tiles makes navigation easier. The overall look and feel of Windows 10 is fresh yet pleasantly familiar.

There is a new Search Bar as part of the Task Bar that remains accessible. It provides system and web search functions plus access to Microsoft's Store. If turned on, clicking on the Search Bar will deliver sports scores and weather among other things, and access to Cortana, Microsoft's new interactive personal assistant. None of these features are available in Windows 7.

Windows 10 now provides a Notification sidebar that pops open when you have notifications pending such as messages from applications and updates. Notification in Windows 7 is tied to the Task Bar and delivers less information in the associated popup windows.

Windows 10 has improved support for multiple monitors. The taskbar can now be view on multiple monitors instead of just one, Pictures can be spread across all monitors, and the Snap feature that allows multiple open pages on a monitor has been improved to support snapping to four corners, not just side to side.

Touchscreen implementation and cross-platform integration with desktops, tablets, and phones is another big difference Windows 10 offers over Windows 7. Many users will be pleased to be able to sync all their Microsoft devices easily with the new cloud access that is seamlessly incorporated into Windows 10. Windows 7 does not offer these functions.

There is lots more that makes the new Windows 10 operating system an improved user experience. As we learn how to use these new features and incorporate them into our daily tasks I'm sure we will come to wonder how we lived without them. So far my personal experience with the single desktop PC I have Windows 10 installed on has been positive. Being able to download the new operating system as simply as an update is ingenious and the process worked seamlessly for me. A huge plus, Windows 10 is free. You certainly can't say the same about Windows 7. Like any new operating system, I am experiencing a learning curve. There are many new features I have yet to discover. After five years I haven't maximized all of Windows 7 capabilities either. Since I have plenty of time on my hands, I find it an interesting challenge to dig into Windows 10 at my own pace while at the same time feeling comfortable doing so with the intuitive yet improved user interface. Windows 10 is impressive.
Click to expand...

Great info Dan! Thanks! However, my problem is that I will never use any of those "improvements or advantages". For instance my start up time now is less than a minute to come to full whack, so I'm not suffering there. It sounds to me like Win 10 is always on-line, I'm not too keen on that.
I wish I could try Win 10 on my XP machine instead if potentially sacrificing one of my Win 7 machines.
 
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