Is it just me?

[YUKEVENMORE]

I'm relatively new to Windows 10. At 72 years old I've had time to be exposed to the product from the mid 80s till now. Think my favorite was XP Pro, then came along Win 7 which was an easy transition. After 6 years of owning a Dell XPS (a monster PC) I elected to get a new Inspiron which came with Windows 10. I'm going on 2 weeks now and, out of respect for what my Dad always hammered into me, if you can't say something good about something, don't say anything at all.

So the only thing I'll mention is that on most other sites my username is "I'm Hooked" - obviously I could not use that when speaking of Windows 10.

This thread requires no response but I'll certainly continue reading the posts, maybe I'll learn something that will change my thinking.

 

[xandros9]

I'll be honest, your dislike wasn't clear and I got it just from connecting the dots.

Alas, if there are issues, that what most of the site is for.

I'll admit that while 10 is a net gain, there's still things I miss from 8.1 like its solidity.

 

[Bobvfr]

Not sure the OP made the stop at the 8/8.1 station so has gone from 7 to 10 with nothing in between.

Give it more time is my advice, I think 10 is a fantastic OS, you don't need to use the Metro tiles, you can just use the menu and desktop, the tiles are just shortcuts that many of us find handy, but the main thing is it allows the desktop to morph into tablets and mobiles, devices with touch screens.

You don't mention other devices, just desktops so you should set up your device to suit you, I am sure you can make it look and feel very 7 like, as it is a very configurable OS.

 

[Steve Thackery]

I much prefer the UI design language of W7 over W10, and although I use W10 on my hybrid, I've reverted to W7 on my workstation.

The problem with W10 on a desktop computer is that it simply isn't as optimised for mouse and keyboard as W7 was. A lot of the common controls have gone and been replaced with big, ugly (but touch-friendlier) alternatives. (Have you seen the appallingly ugly File Save dialog in Office 2013?) These touch-friendlier controls in W10 are irrelevant and a backward step for computers with big (but non-touch) screens.

The Start menu isn't as good, because you can't pin icons to the right hand side - only tiles. And for traditional W32 apps the tiles are less informative than the "old-fashioned" icons. Quite honestly, live tiles are pointless when they are hidden in a Start menu which only appears fleetingly.

As I say, I am a big fan of W10 on my laptop/tablet hybrid, but for heavy duty workstation use, it's just not as good as W7.

 

[slivy58]

IMHO W10 is a very inconsistent and at times, an unstable OS, every day I fire up my PCs the experiences vary from satisfactory to downright irritating, have multiple computers with a wide range of hardware so we’re not comparing just one PC/device here.

Some annoyances/what I don’t like:

* Upgrade/install, fresh install issues, haven’t had a Windows OS or any other OS give so much grief as W10 has, “Fall Update” was a crapshoot for me with the cumulative updates being sketchy too at times, frozen PCs, updates quit responding and so on… Forced reboots in some instances and thankfully they recovered except for one, total redo there.
* Inconsistent boot-ups or logins, sometimes fast and reasonable then at other times, sluggish/slow, was the best and most consistent w/build 10240
* Poorer browsing experiences, use IE, Firefox and Edge (all PCs) and some days I just want to toss the puter(s) across the room, “Central” sites have been the absolute worst with all their scripts and the like running.
* Store, leaves a lot to be desired as one never knows if something went awry or just taking its sweet time to D/L and update, little info on app updates and many a time errors which require multiple refreshes to resolve, too much user intervention required when it should be automatic.
* Updating the “Store” closes it yet does not automatically reopen, you’d think once updated it would reopen especially when other apps still require attention.
* Cluttery and unorganized feel to store.
* Notifications or errors which lack detail or substance, there’s usually no question when something screws up but as to the “why”, that’s usually the big question MS feels in their own mind needs little clarification.

So, that is just a few of my irritants. Today I updated one of my PCs w/latest cumulative updates (whichever they were) along with others, upon the request to restart and my intervention to do so we were met with an error, something about “it couldn’t”, no longer was I able to check for updates or even open the store as a “click” resulted in zero activity, ended up going to the “start menu” and restarting from there. A few days back on another PC performing same updates, after a reboot computer just hung w/no activity (froze) so a hard reboot was necessary but thankfully it recovered as well, both these particular machines had fresh installs of W10 and not upgrades with one having two refreshes due to a “Fall Update” fiasco, have no clue what when wrong here but it rendered it useless in a big way.

Because I’ve gotten so much invested on the PC side of things (hardware, software, etc) it is not so easy to jump ship but believe me, it has crossed my mind, I still stand by my statements mentioned elsewhere that W10 is the worst Windows OS I myself personally have ever encountered especially when it comes to the upgrade/install process, all too often I hear myself saying “what were they thinking”… Just to relieve the pressures I fire up my MacBook or Linux machines LOL.

 

[YUKEVENMORE]

I can relate to most all of the very kind responses to my initial thread "Is it just me" - obviously it ain't just I. What I do determine from your responses is that Ten is more geared toward tablets and the syncing of other such devices - I didn't get that before, now I do. Ninety five percent of my computing world is done on a desktop - the laptop (s) and one iPad serve more as dust collectors than anything more viable. I really miss the ease of creating shortcuts (for local and internet apps) - Ten takes what used to be easy to something much less easy. Clicking on Computer or Control Panel or System Properties was just too easy. I have been transitioning to newer Windows OSs since the mid '80 with very little difficulty or complaint, until Windows Ten. I understand now that for many folks this a long desired system, but not so much for me. I did gripe when, on my previous computer, I allowed myself to be talked into Outlook 2013 (from 2007), Lord I hated that, so after a month I went back to the 2007 version. So that being said about Outlook, I'm toying with the idea of reverting back to Win 7 on this new PC but how long do you suppose MS will support it? If only a year or two longer I might just have to take the big gulp and tolerate Ten. No doubt the MS team is driven to make changes for the company financial good, but wish they would leave alone things that are proven to be widely accepted. Older folks still use computers and their learning curves are not that of the typical nerd and his/her devices - just saying..

 

[YUKEVENMORE]

Apologize for my lack of clarity - for sure I was probably having a moment of senior frustration but I did post a general reply a few moments ago. But I do now have a question. I favor EarthLink for my default browser and I have figured out how to pin the browser to the start tab, but when I drag it to the desktop it changes immediately to Microsoft Edge. I don't even know what "Edge" is all about but I don't like the fact that it seems to want to dominate my desktop. When MS came out with "Bing" I quickly formed a hatred for it as it seem to perpetuate itself everywhere I went, when a program takes or attempts to take away my choices, then I do my best to distance myself from them. What is Edge? Do I need it? Can I un-install it?

Thanks Moderator - great forum you have here!

 

[Greywolf1967]

Edge is just the fancy and new Internet explorer ( many times refereed to as "The Big Blue E on the desktop" ).

I am not sure it can be uninstalled

However if you view your PC/Laptop/Tablet in the traditional style, just right click Earthlink and pin it to Taskbar

 

[Guytronic]

I'm an older user in my 60's
Win7 was definitely a win in my eyes and I hung with it till the freebie 10 offering showed up.

Win10 does have a new curve and I've learned to be at peace with it.
It's never blue screened on my aging desktop PC like W8.1 had done so often on my notebook.

My major reason for frowning with 10 is the start menu
Too many steps to find things I want to look for it's just too complex for my taste.
The app tiles aren't really attractive in my opinion.
I would just like a simple listing of my programs.

For me Edge is the go to browser using the hosts file ad blocking trick.
It's speedy now and gives me what I'm looking for 98% of the time.

The W10 updates will occasionally trash things like Skype for desktop and OneDrive.
Usually another restart will bring function back.

Perhaps I'll need to spend more time learning.
W10 should be easier...
...more like an old friend instead of an unfamiliar adventure.

 

[YUKEVENMORE]

Got it. I did manage to remove Edge from the Start menu but I'm sure its lurking in the background somewhere. Since my last post (not that long ago) I have, for the first time, downloaded Firefox and, in these past few minutes, have come to like it - we'll see what time brings with this experience.

So what happened to "Program Files"? I'm not seeing it in W10.

THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A RESPONSE TO GREYWOLF - I'LL TRY AND PAY MORE ATTENTION IN THE FUTURE.

 

[YUKEVENMORE]

MODERATOR - I should probably change my username before I get too much time invested here. I'm not really the negative person that my selected username depicts. I was having a senior moment when I was asked to select same - is this doable?

 

[xandros9]

MODERATOR - I should probably change my username before I get too much time invested here. I'm not really the negative person that my selected username depicts. I was having a senior moment when I was asked to select same - is this doable?

Contact accounts AT mobilenations DOT com with your top three desired usernames.

 

[Greywolf1967]

I hear you about program files in the Start Menu !!!!!!! I am catching up to you in age 50 now, but I cut my teeth on 95 and Windows CE.

All your apps and programs and what have you now list alphabetical ( exploded out of folders into a giant mash of everything).

Best rule to know is if you know the name of the program you want, you know what letter it starts with.

For example...lets say I want to play a DVD movie.....I need Windows DVD Player ( now an App), so I click on Start. then all Apps, then on the letter A........the list will now hide behind the alphabet list.......I click the W and it now lists all apps that start with W......... or next to the Start button is the Search icon.....click it and type Windows...it will now show in a list there.

So basically Microsoft gave us many ways to do 1 thing........ progress

Now to do things Old School as the young folk say.......from Start list you can right click the app tile and in More > you can "open file location" then use the old Right Click/ Send To/ Desktop as Shortcut

 

[YUKEVENMORE]

Contact accounts AT mobilenations DOT com with your top three desired usernames.

I just tried that - evidently you can amend everything BUT your username so guess I'm stuck with it - no problem.

 

[Guytronic]

I hear you about program files in the Start Menu !!!!!!! I am catching up to you in age 50 now, but I cut my teeth on 95 and Windows CE.

Started with 3.1 here

I guess getting to the scrollable list isn't difficult with the left click on "all apps"
Be nice if clicking/tapping the start icon would just pop up the list.

 

[Guytronic]

I just tried that - evidently you can amend everything BUT your username so guess I'm stuck with it - no problem.

This takes a while usually about three days for the username change.
We wish it was quicker.

 

[YUKEVENMORE]

Started with 3.1 here

I guess getting to the scrollable list isn't difficult with the left click on "all apps"
Be nice if clicking/tapping the start icon would just pop up the list.

Too far back to remember the version I started with but I do recall that it took a certain knowledge of DOS to navigate it. First computer was a Comodore 128 - thought I was poopin in tall cotton back then until I advanced to a blazing 10hz Turbo XT with a huge 30k hdd.

 

[Steve Thackery]

I'm toying with the idea of reverting back to Win 7 on this new PC but how long do you suppose MS will support it? If only a year or two longer I might just have to take the big gulp and tolerate Ten.

I think it's until 2020, although someone will be along to correct me if I'm wrong. Even then it won't stop working. The only reason to abandon it would be if someone discovers a major security hole which MS won't fix and thus renders W7 unviable. In my view that is most unlikely. After all, XP continues to provide good service for lots of people. But in any case, we're talking about another four years of support, and lots can happen in that time. I suspect W10 will be a very different creature by then.

Oh, don't forget: if you are OK with W10 apart from the Start menu, then you should look at this:

http://www.stardock.com/products/start10/

It's a cracking piece of software.