Posted on 08/14/2015 6:33:41 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
So it looks like the Windows 10 launch was a big success if early adoption numbers are to be believed. The Register drops some data from StatCounter showing that Windows 10 already accounts for over 3.5% of desktop operating systems, up from just under 1.4% the week before. More interestingly, The Register says, “the biggest loser looks to be Windows 8.1, which dipped from 16.45 per cent share to 14.93 per cent,” while “Windows 7 went from 54.41per cent to 53.8 per cent and Windows 8 dropped from 3.6 percent to 3.46 percent.”
Of course, Windows 10 has some key advantages going for it that ensured it would see faster adoption among Windows users than any of its predecessors. Upgrading to Windows 10 is totally free for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users, which means that the only thing it will cost you to install is disk space and time. Microsoft has also been making a bigger push for users to upgrade to the latest software than it has in the past, which is also giving Windows 10 an important boost.
All the same, the overall reception to Windows 10 has been night-and-day compared to the early reception for Windows 8, which turned out to be a highly polarizing operating system that frustrated many longtime Windows users. Now it seems that Microsoft has really hit the sweet spot by building an operating system that will work well for people who use a keyboard and mouse but that also offers the kind of flexibility Windows 8 wanted to offer as a tablet OS.
Mirroring might be the only solution, but even that has its problems. I love the SSD on my Pro 3—very fast. I bought an Alienware beast that I have yet to fire up using its SSDs, but would expect it’d be awesome as well.
I have no experience with W 8. I know I am happy with W7, it seems to have a nice ability to fix itself from freezes if they are not too bad....and I need to have lots of windows open, sometime 20-25. I just keep hearing these horror stories about W10, and of course, I recognize that I am being influenced by a piling on of media reports and all that. There are just are not many things I find unworkable about W7 at all. (And yes, I said that about XP) Yes I detest that it completely obsoletes my scanner. That really pisses me off! There is a workaround but it requires enough hours of work so that if you were paid minimum wage, you could buy a new scanner.
Reply of the decade!
I have Windows 7 on one computer and XP on the other. Both serve me well.
How about all the problems people have had with the update/install? How many people have since used the uninstall / revert back?
How about the fact that Win10 allows microsoft to scan, copy, look at your files whenever they want?
And the joke of windows 10? It basically still is Windows 8. I installed it, and uninstalled it already. It has the 100% Drive use error like Win8 does and the aforementioned issues. And whoop-te-doo you have a start menu button that opens up Win8 app page, but in small form.
Windows 7 and no further.
Actually I still run XP on most of my machines, but compatibility issues (security, TSL vs SSL) forced me to upgrade.
Windows 10 is just spyware. And they’re not even quiet about it.
That is great advice. I will keep backups of my work.
Everything is a compromise at some point. Gaming is like racing: speed is more important than safety. Damn the torpedoes, RAID 0 all the way!
For your ping list. . .
There are two types of computer users : Windows users and Apple users. No further comment other than as a retired Engineer, Windows and Windows software developers (e.g. AutoCAD) since the early 90s tracked the technical needs of the engineers and science crowd much more flexibly and efficiently than Apple, at reasonable prices..
No further comment is necessary.
As an aside, with the fast evolution of the last ten years of main processor chips, the speed and efficiency of the most modern chips it's a shame that the main attraction of early computers has been abandoned : The use of a simple programming language that everyone from children to working professional engineers could master relatively quickly and develop their own software solutions. Even interpreted BASIC could run blazingly fast, today, yet that facet of the technology has been abandoned, and left to the "professionals" who more often than not haven't a clue (e.g. touch screens and cell phones, (Windows 8). The phone app thing comes close, but it is still beyond the interest and/or ability of the common person.
Most adults avoid messy touch screens, there is no way to avoid the human natural oils, no matter how clean our hands may be. I am in the group that prefers a mouse and keyboard for computer use.
There generally are three types of Windows users : 1)Those that want to buy a machine, load programs they like, keep up with updates and use a good anti-virus/Trojan program, use it regularly and not bother with the geeky stuff.
2)The Geeks. they want the cutting edge of everything and enjoy a Sunday disassembling the equipment, and doing things never intended for the faint of hear. and
3) All the rest in of us in between the two extremes.
I happen to fall in the third group, so that is my perspective. The main use for my computer is for on-line banking and bill paying, Reading the news daily and discussion groups for politics and general knowledge. Google is my best friend, when dealing with culture, the arts, history, science and technical help of all kinds.
Back to the main issue, Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10...
My most-used desktop computer, a Pentium 4 desktop running Windows7Pro finally started dying. It was originally a Windows XP machine when new. I bought a Windows8 machine as its replacement and stuck it in a closet. I also own an i5 Win7 computer purchased as a game machine, but that's a separate problem for a different discussion.
Ye Windows8 came out of the closet about a week ago and it's been a project in progress since then. First it had to be updated from Win8 to Win8.1. The next big step, moving on to Windows 10 is not a trivial move, and I am among those who choose to wait.
The most immediate problem in moving from Win7Pro to Windows 8 is software. ALL of my most used software, which ran in Win7Pro in compatibility mode, will no longer work in Win 8.X.
Some have been updated, but must be purchased again. Some can't be purchased at all, but must be used by subscription. I hate that trend.
Some very useful, simple software is no longer available at all, having been replaced by absurdly complex versions. Like purchasing a semi to run local errands. It is maddening. A good example is a simple photo manipulation program, Compupic/Compupic Pro which worked in compatibility mode through Win 7, although it was abandoned 5 years ago for bloated versions which are expensive and few people actually want.
Another good example is AutoCAD in a simple, intuitive 2D version for the every day man which he can actually afford.
Windows 8.1 will not run any of those excellent programs, and there are no contemporary reasonably priced, simple substitutes which can run in Win8.1 OR Win10.
Do I hate Microsoft? Yes and no. I have enjoyed excellent software from them, and horribly bloated garbage. Microsoft fails to listen to feedback from users, and rely on computer geeks which represent a minuscule percentage of their customer base.
How else to explain the abominations, Vista, and Windows8?
I suspect that that is due the millions(?) of XP units in use in industrial and embedded machinery word-wide. It certainly should be a robust very stable O.S. by now.
Me to, I am waiting to hear how to best install it without all the spyware infestation I am reading about.
You think that smarts?
I worked for myself for 5 years in the late 90s and bought an HP large format inkjet printer.
Windows 95 era.
I still have it, but no one I know of ever managed to write the necessary software to use it with any subsequent Microsoft OS. Even if someone did, I doubt that HP still sells the cartridges than run the beast. It was a great printer-plotter, excellent resolution for anything, B&W or color.
I tried just the usual restart to install upgrades, and it’s in the blue screen now. Just great. I’m not sure what that upgrade *was*, since the customer-saavy intellects at Microsloth never tell me.
Thanks to Swordmaker for the ping!!
I hear this a lot from Windows users. Yet, they still keep returning to the same company.
I'm afraid I don't understand it.
Losing the legacy software is the hardest thing (followed closely by hardware such as scanners and printers). I had a couple of software titles I still needed to use and ended up going the virtual machine route.
While I’m basically a road warrior and hence need a laptop for my day to day, I found a good deal on a desktop machine that I could bump the RAM to 16gig (memory is so cheap these days!). I tried Microsoft’s HyperV and then Oracle’s Virtualbox. I stuck with Virtualbox because it could let me do “Hackentosh” - run Apple OS’s on Wintel machines.
I have several virtual machines that let me host those old applications just like the “good old days”.
You forgot the worst abomination of all: ME.
I’ve tried the new browser- it’s junk. I’ve found that Waterfox, a 64-bit build of Firefox, gives the best overall performance.
I've tried Linux and it works great, too.
One the best thing about W8 is how all the machines are linked to Family Security (took them years to get THAT right) and I can, if need be, make changes and add permissions from work if my sons need to get to a site that is not on the approved list.
I bought a W8 laptop that doesn't have a touch screen but it screams in movie conversions and photo editing.
I won't install W10 until they give the user control over the updates.
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