*Update 12/2019*
Edited, removed links no longer relevant as free upgrade is no longer available
Recently, Windows 10 was released. I decided to take up the free upgrade offer and so I upgraded from 8.1. I think it's common (and not a bad idea) that many people hesitate upgrading Windows as soon as a new version is released. This is because there may be bugs and other issues, so people tend to prefer to wait a while until many of those issues are worked out. I'm not one of those people, obviously.
Before it was released, I noticed an icon in my notification tray for the upgrade. That little piece of software made it so that you could sign up for the upgrade and it would download the files when ready and notify you. It didn't tell me that the upgrade was ready, instead I told it to begin.
I can't tell you how long it took because I started it, watched it for a bit, and then went to bed. However, I can tell you that I ran into a few issues, which I was able to work out. Therefore, I highly suggest checking with your computer manufacturer for Windows 10 drivers or software updates. That is how I was able to resolve the issue I was having with my computer's thermal controller software.
I think Windows 10 looks better than 8. The icons on the Task Bar are smaller. The metro styled apps have been moved to the Start Menu, which I think makes sense. These are currently my favorite things about Windows 10 as I didn't use 8's metro style app menu that took up the whole screen.
Performance: As with every new version, under the hood, Windows 10 performs better than 8, or so it's supposed to and it has been reported that it indeed does. I, however, don't really seem to notice a difference, but I attribute that to the hardware I have in my PC.
Windows 10 introduces a new upgrade system in which they plan to roll out updates in a way that sounds similar to Linux. This OS is also free for the life of the PC. This is perhaps one of the most significantly major changes to the OS. I like it and am looking forward to seeing how Microsoft continues to develop Windows in the future.
Cortana is also a new feature. It's a “personal assistant” that gets to know you from what you type or speak into a microphone. You can, of course, change some of the privacy settings so that Cortana doesn't learn from what you type or speak. I tried using it once to find the Settings icon, which I overlooked on the Start Menu. It didn't help me and I couldn't seem to get it to search for what I wanted.
Microsoft has also released a new web browser called Edge. I can't personally report on how it's different from Internet Explorer, since I've hardly used it. However, I believe it's supposed to perform much better than IE.
Another interesting thing I noticed was the Xbox Live App. I created a handle and added some of my Xbox Live friends, although I do not own an Xbox 360 or One. I can still apparently play some games with it and see what some of my friends are up to.
Along with the release of Windows 10, Mojang offered a Windows 10 edition of Minecraft.This version of Minecraft is now up-to-date with Java Edition! In some ways it’s better, in other ways it’s not.
Although my upgrade had a few post-upgrade issues, I was able to resolve them easily. Otherwise, Windows 10 hasn't disappointed me, in fact I'm pretty much impressed with it. So, if you're looking for an upgrade recommendation, you now have mine.
Edited, removed links no longer relevant as free upgrade is no longer available
Recently, Windows 10 was released. I decided to take up the free upgrade offer and so I upgraded from 8.1. I think it's common (and not a bad idea) that many people hesitate upgrading Windows as soon as a new version is released. This is because there may be bugs and other issues, so people tend to prefer to wait a while until many of those issues are worked out. I'm not one of those people, obviously.
Before it was released, I noticed an icon in my notification tray for the upgrade. That little piece of software made it so that you could sign up for the upgrade and it would download the files when ready and notify you. It didn't tell me that the upgrade was ready, instead I told it to begin.
I can't tell you how long it took because I started it, watched it for a bit, and then went to bed. However, I can tell you that I ran into a few issues, which I was able to work out. Therefore, I highly suggest checking with your computer manufacturer for Windows 10 drivers or software updates. That is how I was able to resolve the issue I was having with my computer's thermal controller software.
I think Windows 10 looks better than 8. The icons on the Task Bar are smaller. The metro styled apps have been moved to the Start Menu, which I think makes sense. These are currently my favorite things about Windows 10 as I didn't use 8's metro style app menu that took up the whole screen.
Performance: As with every new version, under the hood, Windows 10 performs better than 8, or so it's supposed to and it has been reported that it indeed does. I, however, don't really seem to notice a difference, but I attribute that to the hardware I have in my PC.
Windows 10 introduces a new upgrade system in which they plan to roll out updates in a way that sounds similar to Linux. This OS is also free for the life of the PC. This is perhaps one of the most significantly major changes to the OS. I like it and am looking forward to seeing how Microsoft continues to develop Windows in the future.
Cortana is also a new feature. It's a “personal assistant” that gets to know you from what you type or speak into a microphone. You can, of course, change some of the privacy settings so that Cortana doesn't learn from what you type or speak. I tried using it once to find the Settings icon, which I overlooked on the Start Menu. It didn't help me and I couldn't seem to get it to search for what I wanted.
Microsoft has also released a new web browser called Edge. I can't personally report on how it's different from Internet Explorer, since I've hardly used it. However, I believe it's supposed to perform much better than IE.
Another interesting thing I noticed was the Xbox Live App. I created a handle and added some of my Xbox Live friends, although I do not own an Xbox 360 or One. I can still apparently play some games with it and see what some of my friends are up to.
Along with the release of Windows 10, Mojang offered a Windows 10 edition of Minecraft.This version of Minecraft is now up-to-date with Java Edition! In some ways it’s better, in other ways it’s not.
Although my upgrade had a few post-upgrade issues, I was able to resolve them easily. Otherwise, Windows 10 hasn't disappointed me, in fact I'm pretty much impressed with it. So, if you're looking for an upgrade recommendation, you now have mine.
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I think i've finally decided that when I get a new PC it will run Windows 10. I might build custom so i'll have to buy it, which should be fine.
That's awesome, I see no reason not to get Windows 10 on a new PC. Getting some new hardware would be good because it might be able to make use of DirectX 12. ARK: Survival Evolved will soon support it and boasts up to 20% performance. I'm not sure how much Windows 10 is selling for, but I always thought it was a bit expensive and much cheaper to buy a PC that already has it. I think you definitely save some money that way. When might you buy or build? I assume before Fallout 4 is released.
I'm surprised no one else, especially Travis, has chimed in with their thoughts and experiences with Windows 10. I know not everyone had a pleasant experience.
"When might you buy or build? I assume before Fallout 4 is released."
That's a good question. I am definitely considering a new PC for Fallout 4/New Doom/Starcraft LoTV. Starcraft LoTV should run fine as is on my current setup but the other games will need to have adjustments made to get them to run well. I don't want to go for something ultra-bling but something solid I can build off.
I'll be moving to a new place this weekend so it's not in the cards right now but I have been looking.
http://www.build-gaming-computers.com/gaming-desktop-computer.html
The budget build is a 6 core AMD and the price is very reasonable. The 1k build seems solid as well. I think this time I'll build my own. I've done it before, it's not too bad.
That looks cool, Jon!
Yeah it does. I'll keep everyone updated with what happens in regard to building it.
I'd like for Travis and Scrypt to chime in on this, too. From what I understand, Travis had a smooth transition, while I ran into some slight bumps. Scrypt seem to have had a completely different experience.
Since you mentioned upgrading, I asked Travis when he might. He said at least not until he finishes his current AAS work, which sounds like about next summer (2016). I thought, like you, he might upgrade for Fallout 4, but he's still waiting for the system requirements, which I'm surprised we haven't seen by now. As for me, yeah I'm quite happy with my beast, but she could be better. I was coveting a Titan X, but then Scrypt or Travis showed me the new dual-GPU Titan, which I now covet. I also wish I had a SSD hard drive, so I may upgrade that some time in the future. I may eventually decide to double my RAM, I have 16 gigs.
Yes, my PC is a beast, but I've come across two games that have made me think that she's not all that. GTAV was the first, but I changed one setting and that made it run smoothly. ARK, on the other hand, isn't optimized yet, so even on a beast it can be quite demanding. Luckily, I found some guides about the various graphical options in the game that could or should be reduced or turned off. One guide was from someone who was using a Titan GPU. Now the game runs much better, although it still has it's moments of low frame rates.
My experience is probably very unique, and shouldn't be taken as a precaution against Windows 10, but rather one possibly problematic driver, which may have been installed improperly by the user :).
The installation of the OS went smoothly, and I was as giddy as a kid with a new toy could be. Two things bothered me after playing with it a bit: 1) The lack of real customization in the Start Menu, and 2) the forced resolution drop in desktop wallpapers. I was looking for workarounds, when I realized that my external drive wasn't showing as a connected drive. What normally wouldn't be a problem for anyone else, was a troublesome problem for me, because my external drive is formatted to HFS+ from my Mac days. I was using a third-party driver to make it read/write accessible on my Windows machine, which was working flawlessly under Windows 7. The third-party site (http://www.paragon-software.com/home/hfs-windows/) says that it's fully compatible with Windows 10, and it may very well be. I didn't have an easy time of installing/updating the driver, and it ended up crashing my machine, so much so that I had to revert back to Windows 7.
What I should do is dump the data from that external drive, reformat, and not deal with the band-aid driver at all. When I have access to 1.5 Tb of space for that swap, I'll do that. Until then, I need that driver to access that hard drive, as far as I've researched.
Other than that, Windows 10 seemed nice. I only spent a couple of hours in it, but they were nice hours, despite the resolution and UI issues stated above.
Thanks for replying, scrypt! I knew you had a different experience and I wanted that to be shared along with mine and Travis's. My issues weren't driver related, but definitely software related, which I was able to resolve by downloading an update. I'm still looking forward to ARK using DirectX 12, which is supposed to give about a 20% increase in performance. I'm just not sure how significant that will be.
"20 Must Know Keyboard Shortcuts For Windows 10"
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2975931/windows/20-must-know-keyboard-shortcuts-for-windows-10.html#tk.nl_pwr