Windows 10 Pro.

[gIzzE]

Everyone I know in IT run a Linux Distro and OSX.

Windows 10 seems to be like some advertising platform dressed up as an OS.
It has copied some of the best bits from OSX and managed to get them wrong.

The problem with Windows now is everyone I know who has no real interest in computers other than using them for the things they want to do, all say they are really struggling with Windows 10 when they need to do something that doesn't work out of the box.


Windows 10 does seem a lot more powerful now, but, the shell itself just seems a complete mess with too much going on in the front end. What I mean is, if you want to add say a printer on the network it seems you have to delve into so may settings to tell your machine whether you are at work, at home, blah blah, blah before adding the printer itself, and that is not self explanatory in itself. If you can see the other machine setting up from the 'install new printer' section should be enough.

A good OS to me is "Can someone with no computer skills do basic things like install devices following basic instructions?" or ""Can someone with no computer skills do basic things like change network adapter settings?".

For me Windows 10 is confusing for most people.
Why have a settings section where you can only do some things? Why would anyone think "You know what, I bet there is another settings section hidden away called 'control panel' where I can change different things."? They wouldn't.


I don't really get the whole layout of Windows 10?
It seems to me like it was designed more for a touchscreen, even tablet, user?
It just feels like they have tried to dumb it down for mobile users but in doing so have made it more complicated for desktop users.


My Dad is 73 now, he is not a computer user, he has a Macbook at home that he got a few years back and was OK with his Win 7 machine, but after updating to Windows 10 he struggled like mad, fine just with email and web browsing, but installing a new printer, scanner etc. or when anything goes wrong he is now on the phone. I installed Ubuntu on it for him 12 months ago as a dual boot and he just uses that now.
I think I will probably install Elementary OS for him as that will look more like his Mac.


Maybe I need to try Win 10 more, but for me, I stopped enjoying trying to get OS's to act how I wanted them to act 15 years ago when I used OSX for the first time and just loved the fact it 'just worked'.
If I was still building PCs for fun I would probably like Win 10 I'm sure, but no longer really consider that fun, but get many do.

 

[Deleted member 131833]

Says it all g1zze, totally agree, probably cos I am about same age as your dad but I do not have access to an IT professional and pay for that expertise, something I have never had to do with a Mac

 

[Delderek]

Sorry to disagree, but I find it the best OS yet, and I'm in my seventies. I also help other "oldies" out with their computers, and since upgrading them to win 10, I don't have to go and fix their little mistakes anywhere near as often, as it's so easy to put things right.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Back end of Win10 is very stable, decent OS. (by Windows standards).

Remove the touchscreen interface and its the same as any other version of windows. This was addressed in the SP1 build.

 

[gIzzE]

I don't have a problem with stability, it seems stable enough, it should be with the amount of updates it does. Haha

So if I remove the 'touchscreen interface' it will then put everything back to normal, so all setting in one place...control panel etc. ?

 

[bob6600]

Why would you need the Pro edition at home? The main features over the standard (non-Pro) edition is at it can join a Windows Active Directory Domain (AD), and that you can connect to the PC remotely using Remote Desktop Client (RDC). Not something a home user would need.

Depends. For example, you cannot install EWA.net and therefore EPC/WIS on Win10 Home. It needs pro, not sure why but it does.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

I don't have a problem with stability, it seems stable enough, it should be with the amount of updates it does. Haha

So if I remove the 'touchscreen interface' it will then put everything back to normal, so all setting in one place...control panel etc. ?

Yep, start menu returns, together with a search box on the bottom tool bar. which you can search for virtually anything.

 

[Larkone]

Give 'em chromebooks - nothing to break on those.

 

[gIzzE]

We also have a Windows 10 netbook as our POS/Till, it is one of those things with a 32gb eMMC drive.
Windows has been asking for me to update for the last few months, however, it says I need 8GB of free space and after deleting everything we can on it app wise, and we use it only with CLOUD POS so nothing installed other than printer driver, we can only get down to 7.4gb free space.

Has anyone used compact OS to reduce the size of Win 10?

Can I also install the update from a USB stick rather than from within the OS?

 

[John]

Microsoft are touting WIN10 as a 'perpetual' OS, in that there will be no further stand alone versions (WIN11, 12 etc). Instead MS will release updates and additional functions constantly and FOC.
Once on 10 you should never need to buy another WIN version .... supposedly...

I think the successor is going to be that. So Windows 10 is the last old school Windows but it is evolving in the direction of the new version which I understand will be called:

Windows

This will be the standalone one which will never change to a "new version" again but just carrying on with new builds forever.

That's what I read into it 3 years ago so may not be correct.

Why would you need the Pro edition at home?

If that was for me rather then rhetorical, I don't.

I am investigating for company reasons.

Having said that, my other half's PC does run Windows 10 Pro because it came with Windows 7 or 8 Pro and I upgraded it. So I would need it there.

Wow John, are perfectly sane and rational response?? I must be on the wrong forum I was expecting to be flamed

Maybe that's yet to come.

I support 450 workstations, 30% are Macs so I see both sides!

I think the people above who like windows 10 are in the IT Industry? Or very knowledgeable of computers, us mere mortals like a computer that is intuitive to use and do not need a degree in computer science to drive the dam thing!

I am but I don't feel it is vastly different from Windows 7. None of our user base has needed training or much beyond the odd "where is this now" type questions.

But we're all different.

I would recommend Mac to people like you but then again, how much do you actually "do" with Windows?

Most people just use it as a vehicle to get to do what they want like browse the Internet, print documents etc.

Sorry to disagree, but I find it the best OS yet, and I'm in my seventies. I also help other "oldies" out with their computers, and since upgrading them to win 10, I don't have to go and fix their little mistakes anywhere near as often, as it's so easy to put things right.

My dad is now 71. My late mum used to do all "that side of things" but 3 years ago my dad was forced to learn quickly. I upgraded him to a new Windows 10 machine as the old one was coming to the end of its life.

I won't say he has had no issues and it's taken time to get used to but he happily motors along with it and has not really needed much help with it at all.

 

[Deleted member 131833]

I would recommend Mac to people like you but then again, how much do you actually "do" with Windows?

You are correct John, do not do much with windows since retiring however a lot of files, letters and lists were created at work on a pc and used at home hence bought a new Pc so that I could still access the Microsoft office files I had when I tried to install my old version of ms office it would not let me trying to get me to buy new version which I neither need or want.

Only reason I used a pc was that many of the machines I programmed used a pc to complete the programme.

 

[gIzzE]

I would just get Libre Office anyway, works perfectly then across all platforms.
Oh, and it's free.

 

[John]

You can get current Office for Macs or as gIzzE suggests, Libreoffice which I also have on some work machines.

If you have expertise with a Mac than probably this is the way to go - you can transfer your documents over quite easily.

No point in saddling yourself with something you have no interest to learn and would rather just get on and do what you've got to do - especially if you do not do programming anymore (although you have Xcode on a Mac of course).

As I said before, the best people to make choices on what computers they prefer are those going to be using them!

 

[Deleted member 131833]

I should have explained that I did not write programmes using computer code, a manufacturer of a Machine supplies software to suit, so that you do not need code writing experience, machines I am talking about are NC machines used in manufacturing printed circuit boards.

I eventually figured out I could use a text editor and excel to create the programme for the machine using the pcb data file. If you open a NC controlled programme in a text editor it shows the layout and format.

 

[John]

Ah OK!

Well even then, on a Mac you have Text Edit and you could run Excel / Calc (LO) so you could use a Mac.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

For a start it’s disconcerting to read posts from members saying that their dads are 71, 73, etc. I’m 71.

I use Windows 10 on my PC and of course iOS 11 on my iPad and iPhone. It’s no doubt because my Windows experience goes back to when it was run on MS-DOS that I prefer it to Apple’s offering. But I can see benefits and drawbacks with both. I’ve yet to get to grips with efficient file handling on iOS which is a piece of pi55 on Windows. And I’m not keen on the way iOS sorts things out for me in the way it thinks I want them, when it usually isn’t. But basic operations such as Internet browsing do seem more straightforward on the iOS preferred browser (I have too many browsers loaded on Windows and use them all).

Regarding an earlier comment about Windows being unfriendly when adding new equipment, I linked a new wireless printer to the family’s network last night after drinking more than my fair share of a bottle of red. It was completely straightforward on everything, no matter which OS.

 

[Delderek]

For a start it’s disconcerting to read posts from members saying that their dads are 71, 73, etc. I’m 71.

I use Windows 10 on my PC and of course iOS 11 on my iPad and iPhone. It’s no doubt because my Windows experience goes back to when it was run on MS-DOS that I prefer it to Apple’s offering. But I can see benefits and drawbacks with both. I’ve yet to get to grips with efficient file handling on iOS which is a piece of pi55 on Windows. And I’m not keen on the way iOS sorts things out for me in the way it thinks I want them, when it usually isn’t. But basic operations such as Internet browsing do seem more straightforward on the iOS preferred browser (I have too many browsers loaded on Windows and use them all).

Regarding an earlier comment about Windows being unfriendly when adding new equipment, I linked a new wireless printer to the family’s network last night after drinking more than my fair share of a bottle of red. It was completely straightforward on everything, no matter which OS.

Are you sure you didn't link your neighbours printer?

 

[Deleted member 131833]

I get an e mail from New York Times each day and a tekky e mail once a week, this is latest e mail

Q. There appears to be a problem with Windows 10. At start-up, the drive use is at 100 percent. It can be impossible to open email or a browser or anything else for 15 to 30 minutes, sometimes even longer. What’s going on?

A. Microsoft addresses the problem in its Windows 10 Support database, pointing to a firmware bug in some computers with solid-state drives as the culprit. If the Windows Task Manager shows the disk use at 100 percent, your computer is unresponsive and your Windows system event log shows multiple entries of Event ID 129, the company suggests carefully following these steps to turn off Message Signal Interrupt mode.

How am I as a non IT professional supposed to deal with this, n
Hence my preference for Apple, it knows I am not savvy, treats me like an idiot and does what is needed automatically

 

[John]

Firmware bugs in hardware are nothing to do with Windows 10.

Don't forget that Apple uses the same Intel hardware than many Windows-based computers will use - so that firmware bug could affect either platform as both can and do use SSDs.

You have the steps to workaround the issue there which if you followed, should work.

There is often less info on a Mac so you have to have more experience to try and work out what is wrong.

So it isn't clear cut!

 

[rockits]

For any missing a traditional windows start menu we stuck ClassicShell on all our & customer machines for some years. For Windows 8/8.1 it made look like the familiar Windows 7 interface people knew, liked & trusted.

I agree about the Metro touch screen interface & tiles. Ideal for a tablet or touchscreen but never saw the point on a standard non-touch desktop. I use Win 8.1 Pro/Enterprise for our office machines machines but we are supplying Win10Pro64 to customers now unless they want downgrades to 8 or 7. Win10 is fine once you get to learn the interface & nuances. It is pretty stable & doesn't crash or cause too many issues. We only use generally decent HP branded servers/desktops/laptops/printers occasionally Dell.