Thoughts about Windows 10

I just want to see what other people think of it before I install it. Windows 7 does everything I need it to (like I said, it's not my main OS), so I don't even really need to upgrade. I guess support for DirectX 12 is probably the biggest reason I would install it, if I do end up installing it. I think at the very least, I'm going to wait for the official release. I'm not against running beta software, though. I have the OS X 10.10.3 beta on my MacBook Pro.

 

I haven't used Windows 7 in 2 years, but I think I can safely safe say that Windows 10 is much faster overall. The bootup time is very small, it opens everything faster and it's overall a nice OS.
My favourite thing about Windows 7 was the simplicity. No stupid app stores or start menus.

 

When it's new Laptop time, It'll have windows 10.

Hell if I make an Emulation Box with a Raspberry Pi it'll have Windows 10 on it.

 

havent played with windows 10 yet.... tbh i really like 8.1.... well aside from the adding the start button back cause people cried too much its still there just gotta right click the corner *doh* but w/e little things...
anyway its quicker than using 7 for me...find myself slower on older versions. *shrugs* ....10 looks like a mess....they squeezed the metro into old start menu pretty much didnt they? u.u think there regressing... plus the mention of os level ads... yuck.

 

You described KMS activation, which is used for Windows 8 piracy & that won't allow you to get a free Windows 10 upgrade because anyone using KMS is going to be entitled to run Windows 10 anyway. I don't know why you'd use KMS to pirate Windows 7.

Windows 7 piracy was mostly achieved using OEM activation either by running a hacked BIOS or a loader which puts the signature into RAM & each manufacturer used a single key for each addition. If your machine was shipped with Windows 7 Starter then you could do an any time upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate using a generic key. Microsoft don't know the serial numbers of all the machines each manufacturer shipped with Windows 7 and which edition.

I don't think it was speculation, someone from Microsoft did appear to say it. AFAICT what they meant was they aren't able to check Windows 7 OEM. They would have to either make you order the free upgrade through the manufacturer or get the manufacturers to provide software that read the serial number and a list of serial numbers and deal with the extra support problems that come from incorrect details. The follow up comment about it not being licensed was more about the legal situation and nothing to do with activation.

They could try to use the oem key, but I can't read the one on my laptop anymore and they stopped using them years ago because people were writing down the keys from computers in a store and then activating them at home.

Microsoft do know each machine that is licensed for Windows 8 OEM activation and that is one of the reasons you can't pirate it this way.

It will be interesting what they do. Allowing the pirates to upgrade does have some advantages in terms of market share and it is unlikely to create a huge ongoing problem. It's limited to the first year and only to people who are already pirating one of their products, or is willing to spend the time to do so.

I wasn't aware of MSDN licensing changing for operating systems anyway. I heard the MSDN keys aren't valid for the free Windows 10 upgrades, but with an active MSDN subscription you will be entitled to Windows 10 keys anyway. MSDN operating system licenses are a bit of a grey area though.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/cc150618.aspx

"Many MSDN subscribers use a computer for mixed use—both design, development, testing, and demonstration of your programs (the use allowed under the MSDN subscription license) and some other use. Using the software in any other way, such as for doing email, playing games, or editing a document is another use and is not covered by the MSDN subscription license. When this happens, the underlying operating system must also be licensed normally by purchasing a regular copy of Windows such as the one that came with a new OEM PC."

But they don't check that when you send an email that you have an operating system license for that.

 

You can use the same Windows 8 upgrade key over and over again, I have installed the same key about 20 times and activated it on the phone.

Same deal with Win7.

And yes, a MS rep did say it - then they apparently backtracked with PR people.

 

Until Windows 10 launches and Microsoft show their hand then I'm still assuming the rep meant that just because you get a valid key out of Microsoft using pirated windows 7, you should still feed bad about running a pirated Windows 10 because it's not legal. The same way you aren't licensed to be running the pirate version of Windows 7 in the first place.

There is speculation that if Microsoft can make Windows 10 store generate enough revenue then they'll let everyone have Windows for free/cheap anyway. Giving it to pirates now, who will likely figure out a way of pirating Windows 10 as well, is not that big a deal.

They could "bite their nose off to spite their face" but new Microsoft don't seem to be making those kinds of mistakes recently.

 

I'm running it on an upgraded Lenovo X61 (Intel Centrino vPro, 4GB RAM), and it's fairly responsive for such an old device, it also runs really well with Wacom tablets as well. I'm really liking how it flows, although in the latest beta, I really don't like the new Recycle Bin logo. It looks really corny IMO. However, once it's released, I intend to upgrade.

I'm also considering getting one of those Raspberry Pis that support Windows 10, since it'd be a great device to play around with, considering I have C# knowledge.

 

Does anyone know if there will be a cheap $20 upgrade from technical preview builds to final like with Windows 8?

 

I'm not sure. There are some indications that you might be able to get the free upgrade from the preview. But that is from off-hand comments on Technet. I don't know of that being official anywhere.

 

So if you install Wndows 10 when it becomes available at the end of next month, you say "free for the first year", currently, you have an OS that you keep as long as you want it to be and is supported; what is the difference with Windows 10 ?

 

It won't be free for everybody. The headlines saying "windows 10 for free, even for pirates" isn't true. Majority of those who run pirated Windows 7 are using a blacklisted OEM key from the Windows Loader.
I'll be heading onto Windows 10 at some stage, depending on price here.

 

I'm running legit Windows 7, OEM, so not pirate.

I was wondering if M$ are going to force payments each year to keep using Windows 10 or you just keep running it as long as you want, as per previous versions of Windows?

Also, 64 bit version (as per Windows 7 I use), that I read somewhere will happily run and install XP games properly, is that true?

 

I noticed that every major Windows release (from 1.21 to 8.1) supports 5.25 inch floppy drives. My question is, will Windows 10 support 5.25 inch floppy drives? I know it sounds ridiculous but I have some old DOS games on 5.25 inch disks and I would like to use them in DOSBox on Windows 10 without transferring them from an older PC.

Maybe for Windows' 35th or 40th birthday, they could release Windows 10 on a special edition 5.25 inch Floppy Disk box set? Imagine installing thousands of Floppy Disks for one program...

 

Of what I know, Windows 8/8.1 doesn't have native support for floppy drives, but with USB and external devices, it should still work.

 

Windows 8/8.1 has native floppy drive support. If you have a Windows 8/8.1-compatible PC with a floppy controller on the motherboard, you can use them in 8/8.1. I was wondering if Microsoft would keep the feature in Windows 10.

 

Looks like that might not be the case anymore. You might have to hunt for drivers.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/1/8696949/windows-10-feature-loss

 

Slightly off topic: I tried installing Windows 7 on my new machine and nothing worked out of box (usb, graphics, sound, SATA Controller, etc). I pretty much had a load of "?" in my device manager asking for drivers and that was it. I couldn't even get on the internet to get drivers because the on-board ethernet didn't work stock and required it's own set of drivers. Now this doesn't exactly indicate the quality of actually using the OS, but it sure is a pain not to have at least some of this stuff done for you automatically. In the end, I had to download about 10+ drivers on another computer (over 300mb worth), copy it over, and do that tedious song and dance: Install driver, reboot, install next driver, reboot, etc.

On the other hand, Installed Linux (Ubuntu) and pretty much everything was picked up automatically. Was playing Left4Dead2, League of Legends, and all my favorite games in no time. I considered trying to install Windows 10 to see if it was better than my experiences with 7, but given how Linux is free, I didn't bother trying it out.

 

I used Linux - Ubuntu and Mint, for a while and was happy with them. Fast to install, no drivers needed, worked out of the box. Downside though was very limited choice of programs and variable results and stability. Only reason I went back to Windows was lack of choice, my Intel NUC computers object to working with Linux, I got them working but only with version 16; which was no longer supported; so went to Windows 7.

Yes, Windows is a pain in the arse and takes an age to install everything but it is what it is.

 

You do understand that a disk with windows 7 inside created years ago might not be able to detect everything due to the later release of your hardware.
The OS doesn't detect the hardware with magic, if the drivers aren't included you have to install them yourself. Also you compare it to Ubuntu, which is a distro that updates very often and is downloadable, so including drivers for new hardware in the iso is very easy. Excuse me for the attitude, i just work in IT so bare with me

Related to Windows 10, it's nice and smooth, the UI is very good for desktop and tablet use.
Windows 7 with service pack 1 installed will get the upgrade and finally the Windows 10 for Raspberry is a joke.