Windows 10, the TechSpot Review

[Julio Franco]

Is the font scaling and smoothing better than in Windows 8? I've had issues of blurry text in many applications, including Windows system dialog boxes, when using a high-CPI (high resolution) screen with large/x-large fonts.

It is definitely better than Windows 8 (and obviously 7). All Windows apps are optimized as are the dialogs. However third party apps that still haven't updated with proper support will show the blurry stuff. I think Steam is one of those cases.

I mentioned in my Win10 review, even the setup process is high DPI ready which was a welcome surprise.

 

[gunste24]

Having used Microsoft OSs since DOS2.1 (1983), I have seen my share of terrible duds. Windows 8.1 is nowhere as good as XP.
- Is Windows 10 really better than XP and 7 (which I never used)??
- All the new features, like "Edge" - Googled the term and got a Microsoft site for the query---> Page not found. Typical for Microsoft.
- How about SEARCH? In Win 8.1, I tested it with a truly unique file name I made up. SEARCH found 87 items, but not the file. None of those found had the remotest connection with what I searched for.
Any time I search for something with MS SEARCH: I get dozens to hundreds of items that have nothing to do with the query by any stretch of the imagination. - So I routinely GOOGLE the item and get an instant, pertinent response.
- Then there is the annoying little screen that comes up when I read the NYTimes on line: click on an article it comes up OK, but on top is a little screen from the STORE that says: There is no App to open this, would you like to look in the Store??
- MS UPDATE hung up fatally for a long time, because it tried to import an Update for Office XP I was still using successfully. - [Three Dell Tech and one MS Answerdesk tech failed to fix that. The level2 MS Tech fixed it by deleting Office 2002 (which was working well). But he made up for it by installing Office 2010 which is an abomination relative to 202/XP.
---- Wist experience with that was that I had to connect to an Indian "help" to authenticate the program, because the on-line system failed to work. Note that I am seriously hearing impaired AND HATE USING THE PHONE.
- Microsoft limits you in 8.1 what you can make a DEFAULT Program. I have used Eudora as my mail program as long as it has been around. Still the best there is. It works fine on Windows 8.1. - Why restrict the customer from what he wants to use?? { I got rid of Mail and other MS Mail programs as being almost as KLUNKY as Xfinity Mail.

Those have been my major "annoyances" with Windows 8.1. Do I want to go to Windows 10, which is till half born?? Wish my Dell XPS8700 could run XP, I would gladly go back. The future with Microsoft is usually very uncertain.
****** I am almost certain that my next computer will be an Apple, which will work as well as my iPadAir2.
AND,if I have a problem, I can go to the nearby Genius Bar and be certain that the problem will be fixed. That is unlike the Answer Desk at the Palo Alto Microsoft store. They don't know beans. I can do better than they.

 

[Puiu]

Having used Microsoft OSs since DOS2.1 (1983), I have seen my share of terrible duds. Windows 8.1 is nowhere as good as XP.
- Is Windows 10 really better than XP and 7 (which I never used)??
- All the new features, like "Edge" - Googled the term and got a Microsoft site for the query---> Page not found. Typical for Microsoft.
- How about SEARCH? In Win 8.1, I tested it with a truly unique file name I made up. SEARCH found 87 items, but not the file. None of those found had the remotest connection with what I searched for.
Any time I search for something with MS SEARCH: I get dozens to hundreds of items that have nothing to do with the query by any stretch of the imagination. - So I routinely GOOGLE the item and get an instant, pertinent response.
- Then there is the annoying little screen that comes up when I read the NYTimes on line: click on an article it comes up OK, but on top is a little screen from the STORE that says: There is no App to open this, would you like to look in the Store??
- MS UPDATE hung up fatally for a long time, because it tried to import an Update for Office XP I was still using successfully. - [Three Dell Tech and one MS Answerdesk tech failed to fix that. The level2 MS Tech fixed it by deleting Office 2002 (which was working well). But he made up for it by installing Office 2010 which is an abomination relative to 202/XP.
---- Wist experience with that was that I had to connect to an Indian "help" to authenticate the program, because the on-line system failed to work. Note that I am seriously hearing impaired AND HATE USING THE PHONE.
- Microsoft limits you in 8.1 what you can make a DEFAULT Program. I have used Eudora as my mail program as long as it has been around. Still the best there is. It works fine on Windows 8.1. - Why restrict the customer from what he wants to use?? { I got rid of Mail and other MS Mail programs as being almost as KLUNKY as Xfinity Mail.

Those have been my major "annoyances" with Windows 8.1. Do I want to go to Windows 10, which is till half born?? Wish my Dell XPS8700 could run XP, I would gladly go back. The future with Microsoft is usually very uncertain.
****** I am almost certain that my next computer will be an Apple, which will work as well as my iPadAir2.
AND,if I have a problem, I can go to the nearby Genius Bar and be certain that the problem will be fixed. That is unlike the Answer Desk at the Palo Alto Microsoft store. They don't know beans. I can do better than they.

so, you don't like the search and had compatibility problems with a very old piece of software.
you could have written all of that wall of text in just 2-3 lines.

here's what you did wrong:
1. you didn't know how to use the search
2. you expected tech support to fix your issue fast and easy
3. you were still using a decade old software on a new OS.

And for the love of god fix your way of writing something. it's a bloody mess. So hard to read and understand.

 

[Forg0t2]

(Quoted from the review): "I recreated a Reddit pic that showed this lack of consistency with context menus using the RTM build to show where we're at…"

I do not agree on this. In the Reddit picture the right click is done on different functionalities, thus I expect to see different outcomes. I don't want my right-click to be consistent I want it to show me the most useful properties corresponding to the item I am right-clicking on. A right-click in word also gives me a different list than when I right-click the desktop. That does not bother me because I want it to show the information relevant to me for that specific item's functionality.

I would love it if there was some way to even customize it to someones needs since the use of the right-click is different per type of user. But maybe that's a step or 4 too far.

 

[Thorney]

10 > 7 and 8 that is all

 

[cdman]

Can you get rid of the tiles from the start menu altogether? I hate apps on a pc. Forced updates don't appeal either, and many a nice dark theme can be tweaked onto windows xp if not before. I wish they would stop referring to Cortana as "she," it is not a "she", it is a thing. Think I'm gonna stick with 8.1 with hot corners disabled and Classic Start menu which is great. Don't use windows tablet or mobile either so really not seeing the benefits here, certainly not a case for rushing in, however tempting the chance to play with it is.

 

[Puiu]

Can you get rid of the tiles from the start menu altogether? I hate apps on a pc. Forced updates don't appeal either, and many a nice dark theme can be tweaked onto windows xp if not before. I wish they would stop referring to Cortana as "she," it is not a "she", it is a thing. Think I'm gonna stick with 8.1 with hot corners disabled and Classic Start menu which is great. Don't use windows tablet or mobile either so really not seeing the benefits here, certainly not a case for rushing in, however tempting the chance to play with it is.

All apps can be unpinned from the start menu.

 

[DavidG]

Ok being a nerd I like to research before I jump and right away

Microsoft's new small print, how your personal data is (ab)used:
https://edri.org/microsofts-new-small-print-how-your-personal-data-abused/
http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2015/07/29/wind-nos/

"Windows generates a unique advertising ID for each user on a device"

"We will access, disclose and preserve personal data, including your content (such as the content of your emails, other private communications or files in private folders)"

and on and on and on. theres even a tv blitz going on with them trying to tell us privacy doesnt matter any more, wth!

Is all this for real? this is just the stuff they are telling us to our face

 

[Puiu]

Ok being a nerd I like to research before I jump and right away

Microsoft's new small print, how your personal data is (ab)used:
https://edri.org/microsofts-new-small-print-how-your-personal-data-abused/
http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2015/07/29/wind-nos/

"Windows generates a unique advertising ID for each user on a device"

"We will access, disclose and preserve personal data, including your content (such as the content of your emails, other private communications or files in private folders)"

and on and on and on. theres even a tv blitz going on with them trying to tell us privacy doesnt matter any more, wth!

Is all this for real? this is just the stuff they are telling us to our face

You mean how google, facebook, apple, amazon, etc also have an ID tied to you and give you advertising?
Seriously now, everybody knows this.
They aren't taking your mails and gives them to advertising companies. They scan the text for keywords and give ads based on them. This has been done for years and it's also used by google, yahoo, facebook, and every other company that offers online services. Anything else is against the law in ALL countries.

Automated data crawling has been used by all big companies and you've been sending them data for many years now. It's like you've only just discovered this now.

Just by having an android phone or iphone you've been telling them your location, where you sleep, how much you sleep, where you eat, what you eat, what movie you've watched, what clothes you've bought, with what friends you've met, where you work, where you went on vacation, to whom you've emailed, with whom you've been talking to or texting, etc.
Google can most likely create a complete profile of a person with incredible details and they they even predict what guy will be doing in the future.

If you can't trust you data to these online services then you'll be unable to do anything online. It's like trying to not get your picture taken by any camera for the rest of your life while living in New York. Good luck with that.

 

[Nero7]

How come I don't see anything regarding peoples privacy in this review? Am I just overlooking it or was privacy simply not relevant in this review?

 

[DavidG]

No Puiu its not acceptable. you can roll over if you want but ill just keep saying "no thanks", not using spyware, still use adblockers patchers or whatever else is needed and anyone trying to convince me not to can go do one.

 

[dusseldorf]

Likes: Updated look, new notification center
Dislikes: Start menu tiles, new control panel

 

[Puiu]

No Puiu its not acceptable. you can roll over if you want but ill just keep saying "no thanks", not using spyware, still use adblockers patchers or whatever else is needed and anyone trying to convince me not to can go do one.

and how will you achieve that incredible performance? stop using smartphones or social websites? maybe stop using search engines like google, yahoo/bing? adblocking doesn't help with this either.

it's not that I don't want more control over my private data. it's just that right now it's impossible if I want to use the internet. having MS do the same as the rest (not like they weren't doing it for years or decades) is just "meh" for me.

 

[Amy Grant]

OK, just like I thought what a goat rope. Tried to update an old laptop BUT failed to install W10 and now W7 will no longer update. Stuck between worlds.... I'd rather poke myself in the eye repeatedly rather than call MS tech support.

 

[Squid Surprise]

OK, just like I thought what a goat rope. Tried to update an old laptop BUT failed to install W10 and now W7 will no longer update. Stuck between worlds.... I'd rather poke myself in the eye repeatedly rather than call MS tech support.

Often, disabling the win update service, deleting all the winupdate files (c:\windows\softwaredistribution) and trying again works...

 

[learninmypc]

I wouldn't doubt these "guests" are one or two individuals too ignorant to know how to login to TS to say something worth something. "Guests" should not be allowed to post in this (maybe all of) part of TS. Just my 2 cents worth

 

[Adhmuz]

Great review, covers a lot of my questions and reveals some things I didn't expect. Looks like it doesn't improve my experience in any way, other than DX12, but nothing is using it yet anyway so no need to rush there either. I'll never be impressed by the Metro styled excessively large icons in the start menu, just a big waste of space. Along with Cortana, I really do not need that garbage.

Some visual elements are indeed an improvement in some ways, but I still prefer my simplistic approach to the task bar, Start button with quick launches, yes I still think quick launches are far superior to the bloody awful pin system used presently. It's the first thing I do on all Windows 7 systems, unpin the default crap, add the quick launch and assign Firefox, Steam and Recycle bin, nothing more.

Unfortunately I'll be forced to upgrade when I want to take advantage of my DX12 GPU, probably by the end of the year if not early 2016...

 

[Elec-Techie]

I dont know but whenever I read an article praising Windows 10, the scene from 'Terminator - Genysis' comes in my mind.

The boy says something like that: 'My laptop connected with my cell phone, my cell phone connected with my tablet and so on. All of the devices in world are connected!!'

Anyone get this feeling??

 

[Amy Grant]

OK, just like I thought what a goat rope. Tried to update an old laptop BUT failed to install W10 and now W7 will no longer update. Stuck between worlds.... I'd rather poke myself in the eye repeatedly rather than call MS tech support.

Often, disabling the win update service, deleting all the winupdate files (c:\windows\softwaredistribution) and trying again works...

Nope didn't work for me. Clean reinstall W7 Pro and that is where I will stay until the Beta testing is complete Aka W10 SP1 then maybe I will wait for W11. W7 has years to run and I have the time.

 

[andrewyoung]

Well I tried it out tonight......nvidia drivers were gone....resolution was greyed out and stuck at 1024x768 (on a 27" screen)....had no internet all I got was "local area connection doesn't have a valid ip configuration"....40 minutes later I rolled back to win 7 and still had to spend almost a hour fixing my LAN....uninstall/reinstall and finally got it after unplugging my rig and then restarting....very weird(thanks Tom's Hardware!!).....I am gonna wait a few months.

 

[Squid Surprise]

If you didn't have internet, you must have some weird NIC that Win 10 doesn't have a driver for... which is crazily rare... And you should have downloaded (and saved) the newest Nvidia driver before updating...always make sure you have your drivers saved somewhere ahead of time - especially when installing a new OS... once u had updated to Win 10, simply installing the drivers should have solved your problems...

Saying this, I must have forgotten one of my devices, cause after upgrading from Win 7 Ultimate, I did a clean install (even activates automatically - it recognizes your hardware!).... and I have 1 "unknown device" in my device manager that I can't figure out... everything's working, but it's pissing me off to see that exclamation point

Edit: after a bit more research, turns out it's a known issue with Asus Motherboards and Intel - hopefully a new driver for my NIC will come out soon...

 

[andrewyoung]

If you didn't have internet, you must have some weird NIC that Win 10 doesn't have a driver for... which is crazily rare... And you should have downloaded (and saved) the newest Nvidia driver before updating...always make sure you have your drivers saved somewhere ahead of time - especially when installing a new OS... once u had updated to Win 10, simply installing the drivers should have solved your problems...

Saying this, I must have forgotten one of my devices, cause after upgrading from Win 7 Ultimate, I did a clean install (even activates automatically - it recognizes your hardware!).... and I have 1 "unknown device" in my device manager that I can't figure out... everything's working, but it's pissing me off to see that exclamation point

Edit: after a bit more research, turns out it's a known issue with Asus Motherboards and Intel - hopefully a new driver for my NIC will come out soon...

well I have a ASUS maximus VI board ha so that explains that and it never crossed my mind that windows 10 would not recognize a gtx 980 so I will try that thanks Squid Suprise

 

[zoetekoek]

I do like the Windows 10 version, but I do not like the update system, it's way to buggy and it's updating process is taking ages. He is still updating 4 files, and it's doing that for the past 7 ours. That is somewhat unacceptable. If I update my Linux system it takes about 1 a 2 minutes and mostly everything goes okay.
I hope they will fix this issue.

 

[Squid Surprise]

well I have a ASUS maximus VI board ha so that explains that and it never crossed my mind that windows 10 would not recognize a gtx 980 so I will try that thanks Squid Suprise

No, it SHOULD have rexognized your driver... what you should do is upgrade to Win 10, make sure it activates... then do a CLEAN install (make sure you have all your drivers) and that should fix your issues... you'll still see that "unknown device" but you will be able to ignore it until ASUS or Intel releases a new driver - it still works fine!

 

[Squid Surprise]

I do like the Windows 10 version, but I do not like the update system, it's way to buggy and it's updating process is taking ages. He is still updating 4 files, and it's doing that for the past 7 ours. That is somewhat unacceptable. If I update my Linux system it takes about 1 a 2 minutes and mostly everything goes okay.
I hope they will fix this issue.

Actually, that shouldn't be happening... I'd do a clean install of Win 10 - I ALWAYS recommend a clean install of any OS... you never know what issues are carried over from stuff on your previous OS...

As for Windows Updates... you can check this out for a few ways to disable/change update settings...

http://www.redmondpie.com/disable-turn-off-automatic-updates-in-windows-10-heres-how/