Today is the thirtieth day after I finally gave in and allowed Microsoft to put Windows 10 on my machine. That’s an important number for Windows 10. If you change to Windows 10 and decide you don’t like it, you have to do a roll back before 30 days have elapsed. After that you’re stuck unless you have a backup of your previous OS (of course I do).
Unfortunately, Microsoft found my Achilles heel in the form of new technology. If you want to upgrade to the latest in processors, graphics cards or storage, you’ll have to be using Windows 10. Unlike most people, I don’t buy new computers, I buy new technology and upgrade my system. With the deadline for a free upgrade looming ever closer, I decided to give Windows 10 a try.
I believe I’ve made it perfectly clear how I feel about Windows 10. Somewhere out there I hope there’s a lawyer preparing a class action lawsuit for all of us having to put up with Microsoft’s antics in trying to get us to upgrade. I won’t be returning to Windows 7 but after thirty days, the promise of new technology support is the only reason I’ve found to stay with Windows 10. I’ve offered to support my wife if she decides to migrate to Windows 10 but I certainly can’t recommend it.
Windows 10 has failed to impress me. It doesn’t boot faster, it doesn’t run faster. Coming from Windows 7, it feels like the designers tacked a tablet operating system on top of Windows 7. Without a touch screen all those extra features just get in the way. Most of the programs that I used under Windows 7 continued to function with no problem. A few required me to reauthorize the license and some of them, although they still perform their basic functions, seem to have lost several features.
For enduring this pain, I gained access to Microsoft’s app store, a standing invitation to create a Microsoft account, “to use the more advanced features of Windows 10” and a menu system that seems intent on preventing me from making anything but the most basic of changes to my system. Oh, I also gained Microsoft’s live tile system that they introduced in Windows 8. Fortunately, you can customize this to suit your tastes. I think I have five tiles left and none of them are live.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t use the tiles. I still use the shortcut icons from my home screen. Shortcuts take up much less space.
Let’s not forget all the fun you have telling Microsoft you don’t want to share your life experiences, contacts, location, browsing history, favorite programs …. I think I clicked no to almost twenty different options all designed to allow Microsoft to spy on me. I’ve already said that I like targeted advertising but Microsoft’s antics in trying to strong arm me to migrate to Windows 10 have totally destroyed their credibility. I can see their ads now, “As a special service to all our Texas residents, we’re providing an advanced sunscreen kit for only $200. You need to do nothing more, we’ve already deducted the money from your bank account. Should you be so stupid as to go outside without our sunscreen, here’s the names of three melanoma specialists in your area. Simply press CTRL, ALT, J, F9 and left click simultaneously to acknowledge your stupidity and decline.”
I do miss Freecell. Microsoft did a new and improve on it. Now you need a Microsoft account to play it. They were kind enough to let me try it as a guest but like I said, they had done a new and improve on it. The new version only made me miss my old version more. There’s a bright side here though, I’ll waste less time playing Freecell and spend more time writing.
If, like me, you constantly update your computer then update to Windows 10 now. It’s a pain and it won’t make your life any easier but you will save $90 and be familiar with this version. If you hold onto your computer until you’re forced to buy another one, Microsoft gives you no reason to upgrade. It’s simply not worth the frustration and the off chance that one or more of your programs won’t work with Windows 10.
While I was using Windows 10, I ran across two issues worth sharing. When I upgraded, no, strike that, Windows 10 is hardly an upgrade. At best it’s a sideways move but I digress. When I put Windows 10 on my computer, my Internet response became very slow. Slow enough that I was positive moving to Windows 10 was a major mistake on my part.
It turned out that the Windows 10 installation reset my DNS (Domain Name Service) preferences to retrieve the DNS address from my provider. I get my Internet from AT&T and on a good day they have problems. Letting AT&T also select my DNS was just asking for problems. When I pointed my DNS preferences back to Google, my browsing got much faster. Not surprisingly, this simple operation solves a lot of problems.
My wife was fully aware that I was testing Windows 10 but she panicked when Microsoft finally managed to trick her into accepting an upgrade to Windows 10 (really, where is that class action lawyer?) she asked for my help. Despite all the dirty tricks they use to get you to install Windows 10, if you answer “No” to their user agreement, they uninstall Windows 10 and restore your previous Windows. True, I found this out by accident and desperation but I still allowed my wife to think I was a genius for saving her computer.
Windows 10, the best I can say for it is that it represents what Microsoft has become, muddled, disorganized and sadly, not as good as it used to be.
Update July 4, 2016: I tried to live with it as long as I could but I finally went back to Windows 7. I was tired of trying to work inside an online presence for Microsoft. I was tired of how slow Windows 10 was to respond. My boot time had doubled and I was forever getting domain not found errors. All that went away the moment I went back to Windows 7. Windows 10 brought nothing to the table except a faster method of giving money and information to Microsoft. RIP Windows 10.
© 2016 – 2019, Byron Seastrunk. All rights reserved.
