Windows 10 – Upgrade?

[haraldo]

It takes a long time with HDD systems, it requires restarts, it happens often, when it's scanning or downloading system response is slow due to poor OS multitasking performance. Even my i7 / SSD / Win7 corporate laptop is annoying with repeated updates and restarts.

You know you can set wuapp to not do updates, but decide for yourself....

 

[gene]

I have 2 business machines here with notices for Windows 10 upgrade. I'm also skeptical about doing this as I will be crippled if the upgrade hoses my computers. Also, I'm still running Office 2007. Is it even compatible with Windows 10?

 

[haraldo]

I have 2 business machines here with notices for Windows 10 upgrade. I'm also skeptical about doing this as I will be crippled if the upgrade hoses my computers. Also, I'm still running Office 2007. Is it even compatible with Windows 10?

I really understand your concern Gene and this is very much a common fear. You're so dependent on the systems and in fact if you get downtime your business will actually suffer immediately. I've just been to a seminar with some of the Microsoft windows product managers and from their point of view the number one key factor of win10 is to secure the upgrade process, no matter what you have, no matter which devices you have.

From what I have tested win10, i had absolutely zero issues with anything, any Microsoft product, any third party product, any drivers, and that was with the technical preview version one.

From my experience, I never do upgrades of windows, always clean installs, and always use the Microsoft version of windows, don't even touch the OEM versions that comes with a bunch of bloatware. Not 100% sure then how to retrofit the Office 2007 licenses, but I believe a clean install of office 2007 and reactivation with the codes you have should work, this should be possible to check beforehand with Microsoft, at least it's what I think.

It's a lot of work to do a clean install and to retrofit all you do have but in my opinion it's worth it, experience show that the upgrade bring with you dll's, assemblies and other legacy stuff that you don't need and that's gonna slow you down and possibly haunt you in the end.

The win32 API, from which also office 2007 relies, should be 100% backward compatible, which means all programs that use the supported functions in the win32 api should be safe, which means Microsoft programs should be safe. I can't guarantee but it's what I think.

There are ways to secure yourself so you know for sure......

Before doing a jump you can test on a separate disk, even install onto an external USB disk, but if we really do have mission critical systems it's really preferable to test on another computer that doesn't disrupt your business. Even though an upgrade should not fail it will sometimes, so then you need to find ways to secure your steps.

You know where to find me if you have questions Gene
I'm working closer with Microsoft technology now than I ever did in my life

I believe the next major wave we will see in the computer world will be from Redmond!

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I believe the next major wave we will see in the computer world will be from Redmond!

Well, maybe not a "wave" but "cloud" - very possibly

 

[haraldo]

Well, maybe not a "wave" but "cloud" - very possibly

Time will show, but Microsoft has major momentum these days, on all fronts IMHO.

 

[haraldo]

Confirmed by Microsoft: You will get a free Windows 10 license if you install the tech preview or the insider preview, but it must be installed before the win 10 release on July 29.
http://lifehacker.com/microsoft-confirms-windows-10-preview-users-will-get-a-1712774167

The insider preview is here:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/preview-iso

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Confirmed by Microsoft: You will get a free Windows 10 license if you install the tech preview or the insider preview, but it must be installed before the win 10 release on July 29.
http://lifehacker.com/microsoft-confirms-windows-10-preview-users-will-get-a-1712774167

The insider preview is here:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/preview-iso

Old news:
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/06/microsoft-stealthily-backs-away-from-free-windows-10-promise/

 

[haraldo]

Interesting change of policy....
Another thing, that Windows now will be delivered as a service, it's a question how long 'the free thing' will last, of course it's not forever....

 

[haraldo]

I installed the Win10 insider preview on a Dell XPS 1645 today, and quite interesting
- Display driver is not correct, so it can't set correct resolution to 1920*1040, but I'm left with 1024*768, looks really crappy
- Windows update doesn't work, I get the famous message: "There were problems installing updates, but we'll try again later. If you keep seeing this and want to search the web or contact support for information, this may help"

I been running ElementaryOS for a long time with no probs on this PC

I have been fighting windows update for something like 5 years, permanent pain ....
Compare to debian where you just do: sudo apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y
And it always works

Big Hmmmmm..... Microsoft ....

 

[rojo]

I just installed the insider preview on my HTPC. I was able to resize the display to 1920x1080 on the generic video driver, but it was the wrong refresh rate and still looked crappy. Checked Windows Update's logs and saw fail after fail after fail (although a couple of updates succeeded).

I can't find stuff where I'm used to finding it. (Instead of going to Start --> right-clicking Computer and going to Properties to get to Device Manager I had to search for Device Manager. Settings has replaced Control Panel, and there's no longer a Classic View.) Somehow I got the NVidia display driver installed, so now video displays correctly and the video card carries sound over HDMI. Huzzah! Might've just required a third reboot. *shrug*

Agree with haraldo. Debian + "sudo apt-get update && sudo aptitude full-upgrade -y" to update not only the core OS, but also installed apps, is much easier. Still, support for my MCE IR receiver is much better in Windows than using lirc, so Windows + Kodi will stay on my HTPC. Also, my miniDSP plugin's dependency on Adobe Air provides another reason to stick with Windows.

So far, all I've got to say about Win 10 is, at least it's not Win 8. Maybe once I'm over the teething pains and have gained more confidence navigating the new UI I'll feel better about it.

Edit: Sliding the slider all the way to the bottom doesn't disable UAC. I had to modify
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System changing the "EnableLUA" value to 0 to be able to install some older software that was blocked by an administrator "for my protection". Psh.

Edit 2: Here's another tip: boot directly to the desktop by enabling logging on with a local account. Password protect the account, because having an administrative account without a password is bad practice. After logging into the new local account, run "netplwiz" and uncheck the "Require a password to log on" box. Hit Apply or OK and store the logon password for auto logon. When you reboot, be patient. The login box will still appear for a few seconds, but it will eventually disappear without your having to enter a password.

Edit 3: I found Control Panel! It's accessed by right-clicking the Start button. There's also some other useful and familiar stuff in that context menu, like Computer Management, Command Prompt, Event Viewer, and other stuff. I'm not sure whether all those items are there by default or if they were added dynamically as a jump list as I've messed with various Windows settings. Windows 10 is slowly but surely revealing its secrets.

Edit 4: Many apps refuse to launch with UAC completely disabled as described in the first edit above -- including Edge / IE, the image viewer, whatever replaced Windows Media Player, the store, and I'd guess anything else added since Windows 8. An error directs the user to re-enable UAC. Luckily I've already got 3rd party applications for viewing images, playing videos, browsing the web, etc. But still, to my great disgust, I may be forced eventually to re-enable the nanny for various reasons (most notably for web development, checking whether Edge renders my code properly).

 

[haraldo]

Using Windows 10 enterprise - insider preview

After doing nothing .....
The day after installing, all the updates run smoothly, display settings are then correct when all the updates are applied.

It now looks good, much better... runs smoothly
Smooth transfer of all skype history from ElementaryOS (Linux) to Windows, this was my most critical task :-D

Edge (previously spartan) looks way better than IE ever did
And the start menu is now reallllyyyy nice
Good with a search bar on the taskbar!

I'm quite confident installing a fresh Windows 10 enterprise on my work PC when official release is here, releaving win 8.1 of its duties
(No upgrade)

 

[GlocksRock]

From what I've seen, it's free to upgrade, but only for the first year... any idea what the cost is going to be after that? Will they use a subscription based model, or just a one time purchase? I'll likely just stick with Win. 7 until I get a new PC that comes with Win. 10 on it, but I'm just curious.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

by all ya'll experiences not count too whole bunch, ya'll testing BETA version

I did lookup videos for Elementary and Mint - both very nice in their own ways, but again software selection on linux is still limited, especially productivity software. I know there are alternatives, but that's what they are - not real thing

Wine could only so much and I consider it's cheating anyhow

but with that said MS reminded me again why I hate it sometime.
Looking through my DNS event log - find an error - guess what MS said - This is normal, disregard.

 

[rojo]

From what I've seen, it's free to upgrade, but only for the first year... any idea what the cost is going to be after that? Will they use a subscription based model, or just a one time purchase? I'll likely just stick with Win. 7 until I get a new PC that comes with Win. 10 on it, but I'm just curious.

http://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-windows-10-will-not-be-sold-as-a-subscription/

It's the offer to upgrade that expires after a year. Once the upgrade is installed, there's no subscription fee to maintain your installation. However, if you ever screw up your hard drive and need to reinstall after the upgrade offer has expired, you might then have to buy a license. Only time will tell whether upgrading during the free upgrade window grandfathers you in for future reinstalls if needed I guess. Regardless, it still won't be an annual subscription.

 

[GlocksRock]

Thanks, that makes sense. I wonder why such a big push to get people to upgrade if they aren't making any money on it.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Thanks, that makes sense. I wonder why such a big push to get people to upgrade if they aren't making any money on it.

Same reason Apple is doing same thing - to reduce OS fragmentation and focus (aka reduce) support teams

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I am trying to download mine but it just keeps spinning and saying "working on it"...

 

[Alex2507]

In case I haven't already said Vista ... Vista.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

In case I haven't already said Vista ... Vista.

I think maybe you siad that once or twice.

It worked today and now I am a Windows 10 guy. I fully expect to have to call Craig or Sergey within the next hour or so but so far, everything is working fine with only a slight issue on my work email. Good thing I changed it right before all my reports are due...lol...

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I think maybe you siad that once or twice.

It worked today and now I am a Windows 10 guy. I fully expect to have to call Craig or Sergey within the next hour or so but so far, everything is working fine with only a slight issue on my work email. Good thing I changed it right before all my reports are due...lol...

Should my computer be faster now? It is....