Windows 10

[Abertawe]

Free upgrade expiring soon. I currently have 7, do I upgrade? I would try that Linux that Pagtotheell swears by but whenever I asked for his advice in how to set it up he ignored me. I'm worried (and I dunno if this is bull) that 7 will stop being protected by microsoft thus putting me at risk of viruses/hacking etc? Will I be able to get by with 7 or is 10 the way to go?

 

[Meadow]

Mainstream support for Windows 7 has finished although extended support carries on until 2020. I liked Windows 7 although the computer it was loaded on clearly struggled (bought second hand originally loaded with Vista). Miy late father gave us a computer that had been upgraded from 8.1 to 10 and I do like it. It certainly has the best of 7 & 8. What I don't like is that you have no choice of what updates you can install although you can configure when those updates are installed. There is the worry that Microsoft are snooping more than they were before but I guess that's the same with any operating system. Personally I like Microsoft so I'm happy to live with it and I do like the configurable tiles.

Viruses/hacking? A decent AV/firewall and malwarebytes should do the trick.

Your best bet is run a combatibility check to see if it will work properly on a Win7 machine. http://www.thewindowsclub.com/manually-run-windows-10-compatibility-appraiser

As for Linux? We tried it a few years back and although reasonably tech savvy, we couldn't get it to work for us.

 

[SALTIRE]

I'm sticking with Win7.

 

[Baz]

10 is actually pretty smooth if your machine has the capabilities to run it properly. The only real issues I have is that when they force through updates, it does randomly crash my machine on reboot. Have reported this countless times and told them if it happens again i'll be demanding for all updates to be manual and not pushed haha, not that they'll listen but it's worth a shot right?

 

[spireite]

Linux just isn't worth the hassle. It's very secure, but fuck all works with it, you need to relearn what you know about desktop OS's, need to start prattling around with Windows emulators just to use stuff you take for granted. Unless you know what you're getting into, I really wouldn't give it a 2nd thought.

You'll be fine with 7 for now, just make sure you have a half decent anti virus suite that keeps its up to date and runs regular checks. Your router should have a firewall on it that does the job. If you want to take the free upgrade you'll be fine with it though, so long as your computer isn't shit, mainly the memory

 

[Dirk]

Free upgrade expiring soon. I currently have 7, do I upgrade?

Same here. Still 4 Days to decide if I stick to my old WIN7 on my old laptop (now 5 years old) or upgrade to WIN10. I know that you can switch back to WIN7 within 30 days. But nonetheless I am reluctant to do it. Knowing me, it will be the last day possible when I try it (...or not)

I would try that Linux that Pagtotheell swears by but whenever I asked for his advice in how to set it up he ignored me.

I am no Linux expert either. But I have an UBUNTU Linux on an USB Stick and sometimes I boot it instead of WIN7. Just to see how it works and it's ok. But I don't have the time to look stern into LINUX so I do only basic things with it.

 

[Pagnell]

Linux just isn't worth the hassle. It's very secure, but fuck all works with it, you need to relearn what you know about desktop OS's, need to start prattling around with Windows emulators just to use stuff you take for granted. Unless you know what you're getting into, I really wouldn't give it a 2nd thought.

This is mostly bollocks, although it depends on what you want to do with it. If you want a computer for playing games or to run some hi-spec bespoke software that is only available on Windows (graphics design/CAD for example), then you're perhaps out of luck with Linux. If you want a computer that can do pretty much everything else, including office productivity and internet activity etc, then there is no reason a decent Linux build can fulfil your needs, and with far more security. Also, the days of needing to be a command line expert to get anywhere with Linux are well gone, although it still helps to an extent. As you touch on, if your system has enough horsepower, most Windows applications can be run in a Virtualbox environment or on Crossover. For example, when I used to use Newgroups, Crossover ran Newsleecher with no issues whatsoever, plus numerous other applications. And that's on a 6 years old i5 laptop.

Personally, I've got the best of both worlds, with a dual boot of Ubuntu and Windows 10 and that is the setup I'd recommend to anyone. If Windows has to be used I'd advise Windows 10, as it incorporates the best bits of both Windows 7 and Windows 8 and then some. Just make sure you turn off all the spying shit Microsoft includes by default, which is easy enough to do.

 

[spireite]

Bollocks? You just said yourself you need a virtual box or wine or something to get shit working. Aint nobody got time for dat, especially the average user. As I say, too much hassle.

 

[Pagnell]

Bollocks? You just said yourself you need a virtual box or wine or something to get shit working. Aint nobody got time for dat, especially the average user. As I say, too much hassle.

Yes, bollocks, as in your claim that fuck all works with it. Like I said, if you're talking about Fallout 4 then yes, it won't work with it. But if you're talking about a free and compatible version of Microsoft Office or browsing/using the internet then there is no reason Linux can't be used. It depends on what you want to do with the computer.

As I said, dual boot is the way to go. Linux for secure activities (internet banking, online purchases etc) and Windows to play games or run applications that only work on Windows if the five minutes to set it up on Crossover is too much hassle or too difficult for someone.

 

[spireite]

Oh that's ok then, Excel works for you Aber. Thank fuck for that! Just when the day looked lost there Office suite saves the day.

Look, it's understandable you'd champion Linux builds seeing as you're a Unix engineer, but you can't expect anyone else to share your enthusiasm for an OS that is so niche and incompatible that you need to use 3rd party links to get pretty basic apps and games working. Pretty much nobody will see the point. And this is from somebody who needs a grasp of Unix for my job. Companies own security protocols are pretty good these days anyway if that's what you're worried about, with banks using RSA tokens and stuff. It's just so redundant, unless you're using it to prove a point and that's it.

 

[Pagnell]

Oh that's ok then, Excel works for you Aber. Thank fuck for that! Just when the day looked lost there Office suite saves the day.

This pathetic use of exaggeration and sarcasm does nothing for your argument.

Look, it's understandable you'd champion Linux builds seeing as you're a Unix engineer, but you can't expect anyone else to share your enthusiasm for an OS that is so niche and incompatible that you need to use 3rd party links to get pretty basic apps and games working. Pretty much nobody will see the point. And this is from somebody who needs a grasp of Unix for my job. Companies own security protocols are pretty good these days anyway if that's what you're worried about, with banks using RSA tokens and stuff. It's just so redundant, unless you're using it to prove a point and that's it.

It's not a question of championing it, I'm well aware of its shortcomings, just as I am with Windows given that I've worked with both for over two decades. It's a question of pointing out the inaccuracies of your initial post, which you appear to have taken exception to. Linux use is on the up thanks to it's open source nature and lack of cost, and more and more software is becoming available for it which means that the gap between Windows and it is getting smaller by the day. Linux is no longer as niche as you clearly appear to believe, and which you're basing your argument on. I suspect part of the issue here is your view of Linux being years out of date leading you to effectively say that it's unusable and should be avoided by all mainstream users. That is bullshit in my opinion.

I suggest we agree to differ or we could end up in circles here.

 

[spireite]

Neither did a 'this is mostly bollocks' statement, only then to mention 1 thing I said about compatibility, which is as real an argument as you can get when it comes to Linux builds. I think Linux build market share is about 2 percent, that's the literal definition of niche. PCs are as much gaming platforms as productivity platforms these days, probably more so, and Linux hates games, so I'd imagine the home market share to be less than 1 percent or something.

Yea, we'll leave it there, I don't think I've ever seen you concede ground in an argument and I'm probably just as bad, so not much point!

 

[T.A]

This is like when mum and dad argue.

 

[claret50]

I took the free upgrade to 10 about a year ago and have no issues with the system, it's user friendly and functional which is all I require.

 

[AFCB_Mark]

Windows10 is absolutely fine, once you patch it up and configure it to minimise how much of your data is slurped by Cortana, the evil Microsoft super computer. With only a modest spec PC it boots and runs very nicely. The inbuilt drivers library is excellent and will recognise almost anything you can throw at it without having to faff around downloading and installing anything. It's what Windows8 was supposed to be before it got rushed out the door half baked.

The only issue is if you have some old games, which I do, which come from the time when DRM was all the range. Windows10 will not support those. As a result I dual boot Windows10 for everything productivity and internet related, and Windows7 purely for those old games for the odd 10 minutes a week I might get to play them. And crucially it's not connected to the internet.

 

[spireite]

This is like when mum and dad argue.

If you're mum and dad are as sad as us two I'd be very worried

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

QUITE. I think if I encountered my folks arguing about operating systems I'd be deeply concerned as they'd obviously been replaced by some DEVILISH ALIEN IMPOSTORS who'd done something DASTARDLY to my real parents

 

[mistermagic]

I recently bought my laptop who already had W10.

 

[G.B]

DirectX 12 is W10 only. Other than that I see no reason to get it yet. Had it for a few days and it loved crashing games/apps.

 

[mowgli]

Never had any problems with Windows 10 myself.

 

[mnb089mnb]

It's not a question of championing it, I'm well aware of its shortcomings, just as I am with Windows given that I've worked with both for over two decades.

Which is why it doesn't take you too long to get an install of Ubuntu running on your PC.

I've used Ubuntu on an old laptop I wanted to use for internet/word processing and it was great, gave an old laptop a new lease of life as Windows is a bit bloated. But to expect a standard PC user to set up Ubuntu on their PC is asking too much. It IS too much hassle as hassle for ordinary people is spending longer than 60 seconds trying to solve a problem.

As soon as you say "download Ubuntu and put it on a memory stick/CD" people have got bored. Quite rightly to be fair.

 

[Techno Natch]

Yeah I've used Linux/Ubuntu a few times and really liked it. It allowed me to access a system that had a blue screen of death so that I could get most of my files off. Despite that though I couldn't really be bothered to use it all of the time and there is no way your average computer user will want to spend time setting it or even learn to use it. Most would probably rather just buy a new machine and start again with Whatever Windows version is on there.

As for 10 it's not to bad. The tiled menu does seem pointless on a computer and the whole app store etc is also not needed imo. I also seem to get the bug where my whole tool bar is sometimes inoperable but apparently that is easily fixed I've just not got round to it. Beyond that it's been better than 8 which was awful.