Windows 10

[Mark J]

So, should we or shouldn't we? Probably too early to tell its impact on our racing, but sure like most of you, am getting the offers for a free upgrade to it. I am still on windows 7 as I couldn't stand win8 in its gaudiness and front end. The tempting aspect for me is that my PC has got to that bloated windows stage after several years where a fresh reinstall would probably speed it all up again. But the flip side is I have so many heavily modded sims on my PC that it would be a major ball ache reinstalling it all.

[Wiltshire Tony]

+1

Microsoft and free does not compute

[55steve55]

Am running win7 too. In fact I bought my current PC only recently, making sure it didn't run on win8. As it also doubles up as the family computer, I would be reluctant, at this point in time anyway, to upset any apple carts with any MS recommended upgrades, free or otherwise. Having said that, I suspect we will need to do something further down the line if the usual support etc is, as it usually is, withdrawn.

So am happy to keep things as they are ftb.

[spanner]

I had spent months trying to find an ultrabook type laptop running windows 7 without a touch screen. Every laptop now has touchscreen which i cant see the point of, but they are cheap and it would mean i would have to install win7. In the end i would have to look at older, less efficient laptops or spend near 1000quid for the early ultrabooks. However having to set up my parents laptop, once you set it to default to the desktop and internet explorer to desktop version then it becomes quite manageable.

In the end i mananged to find a new Asus laptop that was offered without touch and i could upgrade the SSD.

The most annoying things i find are that any settings seem to be distributed around compared to Win7, so you need to search for the options you know are there somewhere. especially the network settings, which i need to access when switching between wirlesss and usb ethernet.  The annoying and stupidly named charms bar is activated by moving you cursor to the bottom right corner, which is what I normally have to do to click on the down scroll arrow!
 
I'm not sure i want to use win 8 on my main PC, but everything i've heard about win10 sounds positive and knowing ints coming out this year also help me decide to go with my win8 laptop. I intend to swithc when i can. Then i'll decide to see if its worth upgrading my gaming PC.

[Simon Gymer]

I will be upgrading as soon as possible. i am currently using windows 8.1 at home and work and would not go back to 7 despite the UI I not being as easy to work with. Tbh if you ignore the store apps and just use desktop apps the main difference on windows 8 is that the start menu is a start screen but you use it exactly the same way so it's not really an issue despite what some people say.

[Walter Conn]

A family member has Windows 8, and they ask me for help whenever anything is awry. I have reluctantly adjusted to the interface, but it seems like Microsoft is trying to hide features that used to be in a simple menu. Sometimes you have to use the search to find what you are looking for. Of course, there are other things that irritate me about it. Such as Win 8 did not allow me to create a system restore disk on a DVD-RW (However, I am starting to question my memory now of what happened).     

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

I had been playing with the 10 insider preview and came to the conclusion that it was just 8.1 rejigged to make the start screen look more like the old W7 start menu on desktop machines. Everything worked fine... right up until the final build - the one which is supposed to be the RTM release - when it suddenly broke Money 2001 (yes, 2001!).

I wouldn't upgrade any W7/8 'Home' edition machine though until the relent on the no opt-out for automatic patches. I've had W7 updates break machines and there's no way I'm going to let them just push whatever carpy changes they like without an escape hatch!

[Simon Gymer]

I had been playing with the 10 insider preview and came to the conclusion that it was just 8.1 rejigged to make the start screen look more like the old W7 start menu on desktop machines. Everything worked fine... right up until the final build - the one which is supposed to be the RTM release - when it suddenly broke Money 2001 (yes, 2001!).

I'm using Money 2005 and ever since XP I've had to do hacked installations and registry editing to get it to work properly, but then that's what happens when you use old software that wasn't written to be installed on anything but XP. I wish MS had never stopped making Money as I would have bought new versions!

[spanner]

There are a number of programs that give you the old start menu. I had to use them as they are hidden all over the place wheres W7 had everything in one place.

[Simon Gymer]

Can I go back to my previous version of Windows if I don’t like Windows 10?
Yes, while we think you will love all the features of Windows 10, you will have one month after upgrading to revert back to the previous version of Windows on your device.

Can I reinstall Windows 10 on my computer after upgrading?
Yes. Once you’ve upgraded to Windows 10 using the free upgrade offer, you will be able to reinstall, including a clean install, on the same device. You won’t need a product key for re-activations on the same hardware. If you make a meaningful change to your hardware, you may need to contact customer support to help with activation. You’ll also be able to create your own installation media like a USB drive or DVD, and use that to upgrade your device or reinstall after you’ve upgraded.

[Wiltshire Tony]

I wouldn't upgrade any W7/8 'Home' edition machine though until the relent on the no opt-out for automatic patches. I've had W7 updates break machines and there's no way I'm going to let them just push whatever carpy changes they like without an escape hatch!

My Windows 7 Pro always asks if I want to download the latest weekly patches etc. Does this feature not apply to the Home versions?

[picnic]

Today's W10 bug - !Too many Start menu apps BREAK it"

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/29/windows_10_bug_alert_start_menu_breaks_512_entries/

[Simon Gymer]

LOL, still going to upgrade my work machine JUST to piss off IT cause they have no control over me! 

[Simon Gymer]

The Windows Update stuff does have Advanced Options where you can choose to "Notify to download" rather than automatically download, just like Windows 7/8.

[picnic]

Is this a recent addition due to the nvidia driver update fiasco from a couple of days ago?