Four hours after I finished installing Windows 10, I restored Windows 7 Professional. Why, you ask? How fair an assessment of the operating system could I make in only four hours?
Well, for a start, the boot time on Windows 10 is a return to the bad old days. Remember when you could turn on the computer, make dinner, eat dinner, wash the dishes… and when you got back, maybe your system would be ready to go? It’s that bad.
I’m not talking about a little bit slower. I mean a solid five-minute plus boot time.
There are lots of bells and whistles on Windows 10. I deleted as many of them as I could, but I couldn’t get rid of nearly enough. This is supposed to be a professional system, yet its loaded down with music, movies, TV, games, more games, travel sites. Everything is entertainment-oriented. Nothing useful for work. Nothing.
We all use our systems differently, but there’s a reason I have had the professional versions of Windows.
Microsoft still hasn’t recovered from their belief that every computer should contain a party that never ends. Assuming a party is what I want, I’m entirely capable of finding it. I hate bloatware and Windows 10 it full of it.
The one thing in the package of ‘goodies’ I liked was the Solitaire Pack. I miss solitaire, but I can live without it. All the other crap? The addition of Xbox does not compensate for the loss of “preview” in the right-click pictures context menu. I don’t need special tiles for television, movie, news, maps, weather and the Microsoft store. I can easily make my own links to those sites in whatever browser I use.
Maybe all this crap is why the system is so abominably slow to boot?
As usual, they’ve scrambled the menus. Typical of software designers, if they can’t make something better, they can at least make stuff you need hard to find. I had to go hunting for the power controls (Restart, Shut Down, Hibernate, Sleep, etc.) and the Control Panel. They moved the Startup controller to the Task Manager which was merely annoying. What was wrong with where it had been for the past 20 years?
The Windows 10 audio controls are even less intuitive than they are in Windows 7. Some of them are — far as I can tell — missing. Maybe they’ve moved them elsewhere too.
Good things? Yes, a few. It’s a huge improvement over Windows 8. If I had Win 8 on my computer, I’d be thrilled with Windows 10.
My Adobe applications open and load faster in Windows 10, and the WiFi connection seems more stable. The task bar icons are nice and streamlined. I don’t know that they’re better, but they are different.
Windows 10
I started installing Windows 10 at 10:30 am. I finished at 3:10 pm. Just short of five hours including errors, restarts, and many reboots. Although 99 % of the installation is automatic, the other 1% is critical. Had I not been there, the installation would have crashed and burned, likely leaving me without a working operating system.
It took just 15 minutes to restore Windows 7 Professional. No one can say I didn’t give it a try.
Windows 7 Professional
The deal-breaker was the extremely slow boot time. It was this slow with an empty startup file and after deleting as much bloatware as I could. If they had less junk on the system, it would probably move faster. It couldn’t move much slower.
I am pretty sure it would have run well enough after booting, but I do not like the hybrid “Start Menu.” It has pieces of the classic Start Menu, plus those hateful tiles they couldn’t give away in Windows 8. What makes Microsoft think something I hated in Windows 8 would be more lovable in Windows 10?
Although the version of Windows 10 I installed was officially the professional version, my best guess is that it’s identical to the “Home” edition.
Will I try it again? Not soon. Maybe if they assure me they’ve dealt with the problems by first acknowledging there are problems. I’m sure there’s an up side to Windows 10 (especially if you are coming from Windows 8), but for me, it doesn’t outweigh the bloatware and slow boot time.
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Categories: #Photography, Computers, Operating System, Software, Technology, Windows
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
I guess I will continue to relish my Vista…
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Vista? Golly. Well, if it’s running and the computer is happy, I wouldn’t change it either. Computers don’t necessarily like new operating systems.
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Thanks for the heads-up! I’m babying my Windows 7 while I can… 🙂
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I gave it a shot. I don’t think it installed properly. It didn’t feel right and with an operating system, either it’s fine or it’s sick. There’s no middle ground. I’m glad I tried. I’m glad to be back to 7.
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I’m having trouble with Win10 on my laptop too. Keeps freezing and turbl connecting to wifi. I have no yen late with it on my Surface 3 tablet. Will do the same and go back to Win 8
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I could just feel that it wasn’t “right.” It was taking much too long to load. I didn’t like the way it was handling graphics. It was heavy with junk applications for which I have no use, not enough stuff I use all the time. Too many silly changes with no significant value added. It was an easy choice to go back to 7.
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Glad I read this cos I was thinking it was my laptop giving me grief.
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Maybe your laptop, like mine, doesn’t like it. Operating system upgrades are a big deal. Every component in your computer has its own piece of software to make it work. There are loads of potential compatibility problems.
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I know . I had windows 7 and a techie guy cleaned it up for me and put Widnows 8 thinking I would be happy but I was not cos I no longer have my Sony hardware updated, cant even print screen…grrr…techies who change according to what they want are not always the best but I will have to keep asserting myself with him cos he is dirt cheap.
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I am very careful about “upgrades” these days. Too many times, it turns out to be a downgrade and I wonder if the techs who do these installations would put them on their OWN computers. Always a question worth asking.
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I think they wait until we say we want a new computer…my next one is going to be a Mac as it will probably be my last new computer before I retire and leave this planet. They last forever…I bought one for my daughter 10 yrs ago and it is still running.
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This computer is likely to be the last for a long time. I bought it when I did to grab Windows 7 while I could. Assuming I live long enough to need another one, I think it will run Linux … or be a Mac … or something that hasn’t been invented yet.
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You are too funny! I can’t recover back to Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. I may have to start from. Scratch….grr…tomorrow…I want to watch a movie and relax on a sick I took to get some tests… still no family doctor in 6 years and they only work on one part of your body. I hate our system here. I should write a post to just rant.
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I thought it was just me! 😉 G-uno
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Apparently a lot of people have had problems. No, it isn’t just you. Not at all.
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After reading the post and then all the varied comments, I think I will just stick with what I have. No sense fixing what isn’t broken! Sorry you had to go through all that crud to figure out it wasn’t worth your while.
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Sometimes, you have to try. I tried. I would have always wondered if I hadn’t given it at least a real shot. But I can’t see any advantage to it unless your current OS isn’t doing the job for you.
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When I brought this computer I got Windows 8 on it – and I hated it. So I couldn’t wait to update to Windows 10 and I am happy with it. But like you I did have problems finding the power off etc and the control panel. My son was highly amused when I had to ask him where it was. But then again he is studying computer systems at our local community college.
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Not being able to find menus is not unusual with a new operating system. But that extremely slow boot time … and the feeling that it wasn’t able to find it’s way from “off” to “loaded” was not good. I’m pretty sure all the download and installation errors were the problem. Of course, if I had been running Windows 8, anything would have been an improvement. 8 was a terrible system.
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Very informative review, preview would’ve been better. Today Angloswiss has also installed windows 10. I am waiting for Tarun to come back in the meanwhile windows 7 will keep me entertained.
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I uninstalled Windows 10 not long after installing it. I think my computer didn’t like it.
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Thanks for the review, Marilyn. Peter is still trying to decide whether to go for it or not. I read your details out to him so he’s still mulling it over.
Leslie
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It has a lot to do with what you’ve got IN your computer. Lots of issues with graphics boards … so if it’s got a high end graphics boards — well, I’d think twice. It didn’t destroy my computer, though I think it would have if I hadn’t dumped it. But it also wasn’t “right.” It wasn’t a happy operating system on this machine.
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Good to find that out now.
Leslie
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Maybe after a while, they will fix some of the issues they aren’t even acknowledging yet.
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He can wait.
Leslie
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I can wait too! I’m perfectly OK with Windows 7.
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Windows 10 is great, if you update from windows 8. Most people from windows 7 update and go right back to windows 7 after just a few hours.
Personally…I am in love with Ubuntu…beats everything else. Sorry you had a bad experience.
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I was hoping for better. I suspect there are too many computers for the one size fits all approach. Ubuntu is great, and if I thought it would do what I need to do, I’d be very happy to use it. BUT — I’ve got a big investment in Windows based software which I can’t afford to replace.
LINUX is a fine system and a breath of fresh air in a polluted world. Good for you!
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I just wanted to add that if you’ve got Windows 8, you haven’t got a lot to lose. 8 is an awful operating system.
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I wouldn’t be able to write to you if I would have windows 8, because I would have thrown my computer throw the windows into our yard a few years ago. 🙂
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I had a tablet with Windows 8. I gave it to my daughter in law which is pretty much the same thing as throwing it out the window. I really HATED it.
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You must like her a lot 🙂 🙂
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Oh, yeah. Tons.
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Laughter here…thanks I needed that.
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Laughter is good. I approve.
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Oh dear 😦 I still like it! There’s something wrong with the install I think to give that long a boot time. Mine boots up from cold in less than half a minute and is instantly ready to log in with no lag. It’s faster than Windows 7 even, which was pretty good. I don’t have all the high end graphics hardware and such, though.
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It’s the NVIDIA graphics board. During the install, the system threw a fatal error when it got to that piece of hardware. I had heard there are compatibility issue between Win10 and NVIDIA hardware. That was the primary reason why I was so reluctant to try it.
So I tried anyway and here I am, back where I began.
I’m inclined to agree with you. The installation wasn’t right. It crashed three times during installation and although it recovered, I suspect the damage was done. These gaming laptops are touchy and temperamental. At least I could roll it back. Not a tragedy … just a long day watching paint dry 😁
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Well, you tried 🙂
So, NVIDIA. The biggest and best-known purveyor of graphics card in the universe. Used by the renowned battlefleets of Zorgflap to calculate and display four dimensional space/time battlefield updates. But not compatible with Windows 10.
Well done, Microsoft!
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They won’t admit it, either. Even though it’s a well-documented problem. When it threw that fatal error, I was pretty sure I was cooked, but since it soldiered on and recovered, I figured I’d give it the old college try. But it felt all wrong from first boot and I was deeply relieved to go back to 7. They need to fix it. First, they need to admit it needs fixing. This computer was very expensive and I can’t afford to screw it up. Not like Microsoft will replace it or something.
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Yep. Boots up as you say and shuts down similarly. Mail’s working fine. Zaps compared to Windows 7. Loving it so far 😀
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Bet you don’t have a fancy NVIDIA graphics board or high-end graphics stuff.
This is a gaming laptop. It run Windows 7 Professional — NOT the home edition. It really IS a different system. I wanted it to work. That’s why I spent an entire day installing it. I didn’t do it because I had a spare day to waste.
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But don’t update your graphics hardware, apparently! I don’t like that they’ve “hidden” the control panel, and I would like more control over Windows Updates (like “no, don’t reboot now, I’m using you!”), but apart from that, it’s all good!
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I still can’t get the mail app to work. I have switched back to Mozilla Thunderbird for my mail.
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I didn’t try all my apps. I think some worked differently than before … better and worse. I had to reinstall Audible Manager. Lightroom was pretty funky too, but Photoshop was fine.
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Thanks for confirming what my computer guy had told me. When I asked him to what to do about that Windows 10 icon that appeared he said- IGNORE IT!!! Glad I did
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If what you’ve got is working well, installing a new operating system is a big deal — at least from the computer’s point of view. I think most older machines don’t like that big a change … and machines like mine are temperamental and picky about the OS. I tried. If Microsoft had real customer service and I could talk to someone, maybe it would have gone better. Maybe I wouldn’t have even tried. I’m glad I could roll back to Windows 7!!!
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I sympathize with you Marilyn. You are well aware of the agony I just went through with my iMac and El Capitan. It not only cost me $289 to have professionals rescue my hard drive but hours on the phone with technical support from various software installations that crashed during this ordeal.
To me computing is all about speed, or should be. I entered the market when DOS was king and Microsoft just an upstart software vendor. With each successful increase of processing speed and power Microsoft added more crap to slow it right back down. Can you imagine how fast home computers would be if they were still running DOS 5.0? Searches would be instantaneous. Spreadsheet could figure out the national debt in a blink of an eye. Pong, solitaire and pool would still be fun games to while away the idle time you spend on computers instead of first person killing games that have out teens shooting up schools for real.
If you want to know what’s wrong with computing these days just follow the money trail. Microsoft is still controlling every PC to hit the market, still making billions in endorsements by loading crap into its operating systems. Microsoft wrote the definition of the term monopoly and the government turns a blind eye to their skullduggery.
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Not to defend Microsoft, but they are no more predatory than any other corporation. Apple isn’t exactly giving away their products in case you didn’t notice. No one is giving anything away, except Linux and that is a very rare exception in a profit-driven world. Whether or not you prefer one set of products or another is a different issue. There’s no morality involved. Just money and personal preference.
I remember DOS. It was an ugly system. No WYSIWYG. Most of us couldn’t design anything on DOS, much less edit photographs … or design a book or website. All of that was made possible by Apple and Windows. None of us is going back to a pre-WYSIWYG world. All the things we take for granted are based on knowing that what you see on your monitor is what you’ll get in the printout.
I blame Microsoft for producing some bad products and making some awful marketing decision … not to mention trying to rule the world … but fact is, they gave away the system to many manufacturers which is WHY there are so many PCs in the world compared to Apple. Apple wanted to retain control of their operating system and hardware. That’s what they did … not because they are “good guys.” It was a marketing decision. In recent years, they have started to loosen the reins and have begun to pick up market share. It’s not because they are the nice guys and Microsoft is the evil empire. It’s because Microsoft were smarter about marketing than Apple. And more effective at selling their products.
You want something that works well and won’t cost you the earth and moon, Linux/Ubuntu is it. If my software would run on it, I’d switch and be rid of corporate control.
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Microsoft only controls distribution of their operating system. They have zero control over the hardware on which it runs. That is exactly why Apple didn’t want to license their OS … because they would lose control over the hardware. Now, they’ve gone (partly) the other way and you can buy the operating system and install it on any computer — but Apple won’t warranty it.
Microsoft does NOT control all those computer manufacturers. Manufacturers just buy the operating system (and license) from Microsoft. The only company that’s actually owned by Microsoft is Dell (and it’s a recent acquisition) … which may be why Dell’s machines are usually good.
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Mr. Swiss had 8.1 and also a newer smaller Windows 8.1 computer so he tried Windows 10 on the new computer and found it was OK. He got rid of the tiles already on windows 8.1 so I don’t even know if they appeared on windows 10. It was then that his older repaired computer forced him to upload windows 10. After a couple of hours he reverted it back to windows 8.1 with the problem that everything went too slowly. I read somewhere that this is a typical problem, because the room for windows 10 is getting cramped. OK, I don’t understand this thing, but what I do understand that I would no way upload windows 10 onto my windows 7. If, I really need it I would buy a new computer with windows 10 already installed and my fist step would be to remove the tiles. In the meanwhle Mr. swiss has windows 10 on two computers and is quite happy with it.
Yesterday I uploaded the new Apple programme El Kapitan. It took about 4 hous, but afterwards worked perfectly. I do not even know if I would buy a new Windows machine. I am happy with my apple. If at all I would buy a new apple with more capacity (new machine has 1 Tera or whatever) My Acer was suffering from the missing letter sydrome, but since I returned from London it is working perfectly, so why get a new computer when the other is not broken.and definitely not upload something I don’t really need.
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I really think it isn’t the size of the system, but that Windows 10 doesn’t work with some hardware. That’s why you get so many different results. The incompatibility with NVIDIA is well known, but I had hoped that it was only incompatible with the more common, cheaper versions. Apparently not.
Whether or not you like Windows 10 depends on a few things including the age and components in your computer … and what you want to do with your system. If you’ve got Windows 8, there’s nowhere to go but up. If you’re an Apple-user, why switch if you’re happy with what you’re using? If you’ve got a Windows 7 computer that’s working fine, whether you want to change or not? Flip a coin.
Many people are very happy with 10. I don’t think it was working properly on this machine. It was a dodgy install from the get-go and I don’t think it would have worked for long. I think it would have locked or crashed … soon.
This computer isn’t going to run properly on the current version of 10. If they make some adjustments, then I’ll reconsider. For now, I’m staying with 7. It’s not broken so I’m not going to try to fix it again.
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I thought I was only person on earth still using 7 pro. You have cheered me up immensely! I’m thinking I might be due a new computer soon. If so, I’ll reinstall 7 and count myself lucky.
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I think how well it works has to do with your hardware as well as your software. I’ve heard that some people have Win 10 and it has speeded up their boot time. NVIDIA graphics hardware is not really compatible with Win 10. I’ve heard this from multiple sources and during installation, when the software encountered my super duper NVIDIA graphics card, it threw a fatal error. It overcame it, but there were subsequent freezes and errors that made me think all was not quite well. I think this computer was set up with 7 Pro for a reason and what they called 10 pro was about as professional as a playground. But hey, what do WE know, right?
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No preview window? Hrmph. Not thinking of changing the PC over any time soon from 7… but the 8 on the laptop might go…
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We have the preview window; we can even view videos in it (we like the new music and video players). Maybe you need to fine-tune some of those facilities.
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I removed it. There is NO preview for pictures. It may be an incompatibility with the NVIDIA graphics hardware and software, but pretty much all Dell computers have NVIDIA boards … and there is a LOT of information out there about this problem. During installation, my computer threw a fatal error about the graphics board and I’m pretty sure that’s the problem. But I’m not going to risk my very expensive high end computer to install an operating system that slows down boot time to the levels I got from my old 486 – 25 years ago.
I didn’t say PREVIEW WINDOW. I said “preview” on the right click context menu in pictures. That’s very specific. Yes, it will preview by opening a window in Paint, but that’s NOT what I’m talking about.
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If I had 8, this would be a very good alternative. It’s much better than 8, but not as good as 7.
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I think pretty much anything would be an improvement on 8….
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I agree. 8 is a horrible OS.
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And that’s putting it mildly .
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I’ve posted about it a few times. Microsoft seems to have lost their way. I don’t know who they think their customers are, but we have always been a work-centric group. I’m baffled by their direction.
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A choice of packages would be nice… simple and work-based or all entertainment…
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Ever since we installed the free Home edition of Windows 10, the booting and shutting times have zapped up! Great improvement on our previous Windows 7 Home edition. We still use the desktop view which can be toggled with the other view. We don’t use all the other stuff bundled with the OS and that’s ok. We like the “instant opening and closing” though; saves us so much time.
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Well, sure wasn’t instant around here. Ridiculously slow. My son had the same experience. It seems to have something to do with your hardware, not just the software. Especially your graphics boards. NVIDIA seems to be a sticking point.
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