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Kavawuvi

Windows 10

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Six years ago, Windows 7 was released. It was just as secure as Windows Vista, and it generally worked at least most of the time. Nobody wished for Windows 8 or for the loss of the Start menu, and Windows “8.1” did nothing to help. Windows 10 was released in 2015, less than a year ago, and is not only supposedly the successor to Windows 7 and 8, but also be the final version of Windows. It also has the Start menu.

 

System Requirements and Installation

 

The system requirements to Windows 10 is almost exactly the same as Windows 7 and 8’s system requirements, likely to encourage upgrading.

RAM: 1GB if 32-bit and 2GB if 64-bit
Disk space: 16GB if 32-bit and 20GB if 64-bit
GPU: Capable of DirectX 9 (or later)
A Microsoft account is optional (see note)

 

Note: A Microsoft account is listed as a requirement by Microsoft, but only to get full functionality out of Windows 10. It’s not required to use Windows 10, and you won’t be nagged to add one. However, features like Cortana and the Windows Store may have a bit less functionality.

 

Most prebuilt computers from as early as November 2007 will probably not have any problems with these specifications as long as they use the x86 architecture. Some computers from 2006 should work, too. If anything, a RAM upgrade should fix most problems, which probably won’t cost more than $15 for 2GB of DDR2 or DDR3. You’re better off getting a new computer if you can if you're actually using an old PC.

 

Microsoft ships DVDs and USB drives, but you can actually download a tool to create an ISO, instead (the tool is Windows-only; if you're not on Windows, you download the ISO directly) and use your own USB drive or DVD. Even if your computer has a DVD drive, you should first try the USB drive method if your computer supports it, because DVDs are extremely slow. If you create your own USB drive, then you can use the tool provided by Microsoft, or you can format your USB drive with a MBR partition map with the first partition being FAT32 (most USB flash drives already come like this), then extract the contents of the ISO onto the flash drive. This is how I put the Windows 10 installer on my flash drive, and it took a little over a minute to copy onto the flash drive.

 

The installer is pretty much the same as Windows 7 and Windows 8’s installer. You click next a few times, enter your product key, reformat the hard drive or solid state drive, and wait for it to install. Using a flash drive will give much better installation times than a DVD, especially if it’s USB 2.0 or newer, but it only matters when copying files. When it’s done installing, you will have to wait for it to do things like update or set things up for your accounts, then install drivers if it was a fresh installation.

 

Windows 10

 

Using Windows 10 is like using Windows 7, but with a few differences. You can search your computer and the Internet (via Bing) using Cortana, a feature that is very similar to OS X’s Spotlight feature. Cortana can also check the weather, display the GDP of your country, solve math problems, and do tons of other cool stuff. The best part is that if you don’t want Cortana visible on your taskbar all of the time, then you can hide it until you open your Start menu and begin typing. That’s actually very good. However, some features setting reminders require access to your microphone and a Microsoft account and can’t just be typed in. Strangely, some things like viewing the prices of stock also requires a microphone, which makes no sense. Cortana with the microphone is usually accurate, but it may get a few things wrong.

 

Unfortunately, Cortana has some silly issues on its own. Finding files with it can sometimes be a pain, as it might not even list the file you're looking for. Reminders are also an hour off when switching between daylight savings. They aren't terribly major issues, but these issues are not present in, say, Spotlight on OS X.

 

Another useful feature that many have wanted for years is the ability to create separate desktops and organize those desktops. This allows users to have even more room without the need for another display or third-party software. Desktops can be divided for different uses, such as one for work and one for play. I’m not sure how many desktops can be used at most, as I’ve managed to add over a hundred desktops. Unfortunately, there is no way to label these desktops at the present, so their names are stuck at “Desktop 1”, “Desktop 2”, etc.

 

Also, Microsoft Edge is installed as the main web browser. It’s very fast and has a very modern appearance, and it works pretty well. Flash Player comes pre-installed in Windows 10, which some may appreciate. Personally, I hate Flash Player and wish it were dead in 2016. Remember that Internet Explorer 11 can be still launched from within Microsoft Edge if needed. It’s obvious that the old, obsolete browser has not aged very well, as it looks more like it would belong on Windows 7.

 

The Start menu now has Tiles which can actively display dynamic information like the weather or allow you to quickly launch programs. However, the only programs displayed on the Start menu itself are your recent programs, so the only customizability you can really have are Tiles.

 

Another annoyance is that there are also some links in various windows like “How do I customize taskbars?” that look like are designed to help the user. When clicked they open a web browser with a Bing search for “how to get help in windows 10” rather than actually answer the question. Basically, you can’t get help in Windows 10 if the operating system itself is also asking that question. This is incredibly lazy of Microsoft.

 

However, any issues are nothing compared to the most annoying part (and potentially deal-breaking part) of Windows 10. Updates are non-consensual and will occur without warning you, by default. I was in the middle of something, and I left my computer for maybe three or four minutes. When I returned, I saw the logo for my computer’s motherboard followed by the Windows Update screen. I logged in and saw that everything I was doing was gone. After some research, I found that there is an option to make it not do this but it's not the default, so be sure to change this setting when you can.

 

Final Thoughts

 

Windows 10 is powerful and beautiful. Cortana makes using the operating system more enjoyable. Separate desktops are a great new feature that’s been missed for years. It also has many performance improvements that Windows 8 had, and will boot pretty quickly, even on a hard drive.

 

However, if it’s going to toast everything you were doing without asking you just to update, then I'll have a hard time recommending Windows 10. Yes, you can tell it to not do this, but I still hold it against Windows 10 for having this be the default and "recommended" option. Hopefully Microsoft will finally decide to revise their concept of "Windows as service" rather than use this horribly aggressive updating model by default. Otherwise, Windows 10 is not bad.

 

Pros:

  • Easy to install
  • Very lenient system requirements
  • New features like Microsoft Edge and Cortana
  • Fast boot time even on a hard drive
  • Can create separate desktops

 

Cons:

  • Cannot rename desktops
  • Lazy help links in some dialogs
  • Cortana is kind of buggy
  • Updating is aggressive and may update and restart without notifying you by default, despite saying otherwise

 

Alternatives:

  • Windows 7. It's outdated, but it will still be supported by Microsoft until the middle of January 2020, and it will also be supported by software vendors for several more years. However, you have until the 29th of July 2016 to upgrade to Windows 10 for free before you must pay $119.99 (Home) or $199.99 (Pro) to upgrade.
  • Windows 8. It's also outdated, and it's a lot more annoying to use on a non-touch screen device, but it'll be supported for 3 more years than Windows 7. Like Windows 7, you have until the 29th of July 2016 to upgrade to Windows 10 for free before you have to pay to upgrade.
  • Linux. You can download many different distros such as Ubuntu for free, though you may not be able to run all of the software that you could on Windows. Still, it might be worth the savings.
Takka, WaeV and AlissArcana like this

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Tiddy-bits:

Windows 8. It's also outdated, and it's a lot more annoying to use on a non-touch screen device, but it'll be supported for 3 more years than Windows 7. Like Windows 7, you have until the 29th of July 2016 to upgrade to Windows 10 for free before you have to pay to upgrade.

Quibble: Windows 8 ("8.0") is now unsupported, whereas Windows 8.1 is supported.

 

Great review!

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Just a note i thought i should add to this, If you are installing windows 10 on any kind of tablet or mobile device, be VERY careful when updating things like drivers. There are some hardware manufacturers who don't have full support of windows 10 yet, and updating to a driver that's not compatible  has corrupted the operating system in some cases (this happened to me with an ACER tablet about 2 months ago).


Who am I but myself?

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You completely missed the huge issue in regards to privacy on Windows 10.

 

http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2015/07/29/wind-nos/
https://bgr.com/2016/01/05/microsoft-windows-10-spying-2015-user-data/
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=windows+10+privacy

 

Windows Update in Windows 10 utilizes P2P by default, most likely the same P2P technology used by Pando Media Booster. Essentially it turns your PC into a zombie host server, wasting your bandwidth serving updates to other computers. This also means Windows Update might be utilized later to spread malware through the P2P system via 0days.
https://archive.is/Tqv7s
https://archive.is/s3BjC
https://archive.is/Yy9JB
You cannot turn off "Telemetry" unless you own Windows 10 Enterprise Edition.
This means your computer will continuously leak unspecified information to Microsoft and there's no way of turning this off.
https://archive.is/3yo92
You cannot turn off "Real-time Protection", aka Windows Defender. Even if you do it will turn itself on again after a while.
This means you cannot prevent your PC from sending random files and information to Microsoft for "analysis".
https://archive.is/Dln44
Cortana has zero local storage functionality and does not function unless you have a Microsoft Account connected.
It will even inform you about this if you try using it on a local account, and then shut itself down.
https://archive.is/2Vw55
Windows 10 start menu will have "Content suggestions" which are on by default, which means you'll be seeing ads.
https://archive.is/0ltgw
Windows 10 "Wifi Sense" will be begging for your Facebook account details so it can get to know you better.
It will also be sharing your Wifi password with all your Facebook/Skype/Outlook friends, their friends, as well as Microsoft.
https://archive.is/9HETF
https://archive.is/mO3aH


4chan on Windows 10: https://i.imgur.com/9DoVoix.jpg

Thread on AFKMods (Skyrim modding forum) about Windows 10: AFKMods Windows 10

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This also means Windows Update might be utilized later to spread malware through the P2P system via 0days.

This seems specious to me. I've not heard of vulnerabilities in the P2P system.

 

I wish the P2P update delivery mechanism was used to make updates more bandwidth-efficient -- computers on a LAN could share updates, for example. But instead of optimizing for bandwidth, they seem to have optimized for download speed.

 

You cannot turn off "Real-time Protection", aka Windows Defender. Even if you do it will turn itself on again after a while. This means you cannot prevent your PC from sending random files and information to Microsoft for "analysis".

Not true. Defender turns itself off if you install a different antivirus program. In fact it can be difficult to get Defender to turn back on, once you've uninstalled that other AV program!

 

Cortana has zero local storage functionality and does not function unless you have a Microsoft Account connected.

It will even inform you about this if you try using it on a local account, and then shut itself down.

Is this any different than Google Now or Siri?

 

Windows 10 start menu will have "Content suggestions" which are on by default, which means you'll be seeing ads.

For the curious, these aren't arbitrary ads like you find on the web, but suggested apps. It looks like this, and can be disabled.

startmenusuggestionsinaction.PNGWindows-10-Start-Menu-Turn-off-Suggested

I do turn a lot of the defaults off, so sometimes I forget about these pain points. Checking the "advanced" options is basically second nature, lol.

 

Thread on AFKMods (Skyrim modding forum) about Windows 10: AFKMods Windows 10

Lulz @ not trusting Microsoft, but trusting whoever developed "Ultimate Windows Tweaker 4" to run their mystery-meat program as administrator on your machine.

If you're concerned about privacy and security from random hackers, Windows 10 is a fine choice. Use the now-included Bitlocker to fully encrypt your hard drive, stay up to date with the latest security patches, and benefit from architectural improvements in Windows 10.

If you're concerned about privacy and security from the NSA or other organizations with nation-state resources (God help your soul), then you should probably use something like OpenBSD or Qubes, and restrict yourself to running programs with fully-audited source code.

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This seems specious to me. I've not heard of vulnerabilities in the P2P system.

I don't think he was referring to vulnerabilities but rather the fact that Microsoft has an easy way to install basically whatever they want on your PC, and subsequently peers, quickly.

 

Considering the fact that some computers updated on their own to a whole new OS on normal terms, think how easy it would be to do lesser things with a fast track.


Umh7x1l.gif

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You completely missed the huge issue in regards to privacy on Windows 10.

 

I didn't find any issues myself, and I can neither confirm nor deny this, so it would have been inappropriate to put it in a review. Sorry about that.

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I don't think he was referring to vulnerabilities but rather the fact that Microsoft has an easy way to install basically whatever they want on your PC, and subsequently peers, quickly.

Okay, I can see that. But they've always controlled the operation of the OS and update stack, so I don't see how this is new.

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Okay, I can see that. But they've always controlled the operation of the OS and update stack, so I don't see how this is new.

I'm assuming what people don't like are that you can't opt-out of updates. You are trusting Microsoft that their updates won't kill your computer when you update, and because you can no longer turn off Windows Update, you're just going to have to hope that your computer won't be broken next week. That also means that Microsoft technically has the exclusive permission to put whatever they want on your computer at any time, though I doubt they'll actually put malware on your computer.

 

I've had bad luck with Windows Update before where it's broken the trackpad driver on my laptop, it's broken video support for some of the games I have, and it added an additional 5 minutes to every boot that should normally be only 10 seconds simply because it kept failing to update and had to roll back every time it would restart.

 

I haven't had any issues with Windows 10 updating so far, but I've only used it for a week or so. I've heard horror stories about Windows Update corrupting the touch screen drivers on tablets, which worries me, though. Microsoft seriously needs to address their quality control.

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