Windows 10 turns three years old today: Here's how it's evolved

NeoWin ^ | Jul 29, 2018 | Rich Woods

[dayglored]

Let's see if this thread can be a celebration of the good things about Windows 10, rather than the usual hate-fest. We all know the things we don't like about it -- they get plenty of attention.

So how about the things we DO like about Win10?

[dayglored]

Windows 10 turns 3 years old... PING!

You can find all the Windows Ping list threads with FR search: just search on keyword "windowspinglist".

[dayglored]

> ...Windows 10 launched, and it was promised that there would never be a Windows 11....

You can just hear Steve Ballmer screaming:

"It's the last Windows you'll ever need!"

[Vendome]

Things I like about Win10?

[chrisser]

Nothing that we didn’t already have with 7. I wish I had never allowed it into our organization. Biggest mistake of my career so far.

[Carriage Hill]

I’m still using Win-7 Pro on this main box, and have an identical unit downstairs. I have nothing derogatory to say about 10, but since I’ve not used it yet, nothing positive to say, either.

[George from New England]

I am writing you all on XP. The best of the best, in its day.

I tried a win7 box five years ago. I hate that machine. My desktop is still the 15 year old XP.

[PAR35]

So how about the things we DO like about Win10?

I like that I don't have Win10 on this machine. I'm using 7, which is almost as good as XP.

OK, I'll be nice now. Windows 10 is the third best consumer operating system to come out of Microsoft.

[dayglored]

Can’t see your graphic, seems to be some magic thingy none of my computers can decode.

[HangnJudge]

Our very large organization is still running 7

I have no experience with 10 yet
Typed on iPad

[Dalberg-Acton]

Windows 10 sucks super hard. Even the preparatory updates disguised as “security updates” mucked up my Windows 7 so bad I wiped the drive and installed Linux Mint.

[George from New England]

Am I correct in the following assumption ?

When my XP machine loses a hard drive or video card I am likely doomed ? XP was the first O/S that was keyed by an activation code to the hardware in the box. So significant hardware changes always needed a new authorization process, now shut down for years.

Nothing like perfectly good software killed by hardware change-out.

[dayglored]

> I am writing you all on XP. The best of the best, in its day. I tried a win7 box five years ago. I hate that machine. My desktop is still the 15 year old XP.

If your XP machine is installed "on the metal", I hope you have fulll-image backups, so that when it has trouble, you can restore it?

I have an XP virtual machine (VM), and so restoring it is just a single file copy. I'm pretty much done installing Windows on the metal any more.

[George from New England]

Can I make that full image backup with the utilities that came with XP ? Or are you citing some other tool you recommend ?

[upchuck]

So how about the things we DO like about Win10?

Wish I had a list. But since I'm using Windows 7 Pro 64, I don't.

Everytime I'm put in a position where I have to use Win 10, it's a total turn off for me. But I'm just an old curmudgeon, perfectly happy where I am.

[yesthatjallen]

The search function is horrible.

When I use my computer search I want to find out what's on my computer not what's on the web.

[IndispensableDestiny]

Not much to like. It spies on you and there is no way to keep it from spying on you. Run a pack sniffer and see. The only way around it is to use the Enterprise Edition and have group policies set to keep it quiet. It’s my understanding that this can also be done with some educational set ups. Forget about Pro, it spies.

[dayglored]

> When my XP machine loses a hard drive or video card I am likely doomed ? XP was the first O/S that was keyed by an activation code to the hardware in the box. So significant hardware changes always needed a new authorization process, now shut down for years. Nothing like perfectly good software killed by hardware change-out.

I recommend that before your XP machine's hardware dies, you get another hardware box, put free Linux on it, install either free VMware Workstation Player or VirtualBox virtualization software, and run a "P-to-V" (physical to virtual) conversion on your XP hardware. That will make a copy of it that is a VM (virtual machine).

At that point the old hardware doesn't matter -- you run the VM on your new hardware.

Yeah, it's a somewhat technical process, but it will save your XP computer, and then backup and restore are simply a file copy (of the VM image). You'll be glad you did.

[bigbob]

I’ve avoided it on my 3-yr old i7 but just bought another similar machine and it came with 10 installed. So far I’m pleased, other than fighting my file associations until I told it who’s boss it’s been fast and stable. I always banish the horrid Metro UI in favor of Classic Shell so with a few downloads I’ve got what I really wanted - a faster and more capable machine that feels like Windows 7.

[dayglored]

> Can I make that full image backup with the utilities that came with XP ? Or are you citing some other tool you recommend ?

No Microsoft OS has ever come with an adequate backup utility.

I've happily used Acronis TrueImage (home edition) for years with no problems. Highly recommend it. About $50 depending on where you get it, it's often on special sale.