Windows 10 (aka Windows AE)

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October 9th, 2014 at 1:36:09 PM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
I haven't tried the Win10 preview really. In fact I just ran it briefly Tuesday to download Firefox and browse the web a little, no more than that as yet, No time. for more.

It runs well, better even than Win7 depending on the hardware. the Start Menu is indeed back, and you can banish all of Metro/Modern/Whatever rather easily (thus far).

But of course I have to post some complaints:

1) The theme, or lack thereof, to put it bluntly, sucks. I know "flat is the new skeuomorphic" and all that, but it really isn't. It's depressing. The screen looks dim, it feels dim, as well as flat. I'm hoping to get back something decent like Aero Glass, or even the basic Win95 theme, as an option of the final release. I shall agitate, as time permits, in the Preview forum and send feedback to MS.

2) Related to 1) there are two taskbar icons that cannot be removed. A search icon and the icon for the new multiple desktop feature. I may use the latter function, but I rarely, if ever, use the search function. I certainly want neither nesting forever next to the Start Button. This is a minor point, which I could get used to in time, but I mislike having anything that intrusive imposed from above.

That's it for now. I expect I'll have more to say later.

Oh, the title is my little private joke: Windows AE = Windows Apology Edition = Windows 10.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
October 9th, 2014 at 3:08:54 PM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
I forgot:

3) Accessing with a local account is not immediately obvious, in fact I don't know how yet.

Overall I don't mind. I have a connected account in both my tablet and phone. But I have little or nothing confidential in either (private, yes, but not confidential). I do keep confidential stuff in my PCs, mostly story and article drafts. Fortunately when setting up Skydrive, er, One Drive, asks how it should set up. I managed to set things so my documents will stay private and far away from "the cloud."

Related, I also set up search to look only within my PC and not the web. For the life of me, I don't get the "integrated" search at all. Why would I look in the web for something I know to be in my PC, or vice versa? It seems to me a way for Microsoft to mine user data without even providing a social network in return.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
October 15th, 2014 at 6:56:03 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
Work overflowed last week and I wound up working Saturday and Sunday, ergo no time to play with Win10.

So on related news, the Win10 Technical Preview has logged over one million downloads. This number has comment threads on tech sites squabbling over what it all means and how many people downloaded the WIn8 preview at this stage in its development.

The other big news is that a lot of the feedback about the Preview concerns the search and multiple desktop buttons stuck on the taskbar like barnacles clinging to a boat. Not many people like the idea.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
October 20th, 2014 at 6:42:56 AM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
There are many people that feel that software is getting too complex. Document writing with fundamental desktop publishing, drawing, spreadsheets, viewgraphs, e-mail, webbrowsing all reached a reasonable level 5-10 years ago. Windows XP had basic networking functions between computers.

Chrome OS, (based on linux) is the primary commercial OS railing against this overkill. Puppy linux seems to be the primary freeware that makes this promise. The entire OS is 130-162 Mbs, so it can be uploaded entirely into RAM, which should make even an older machine much faster. While there are a few machines left with 256Mb RAM, most have 512Mb RAM. Old machines can usually be upgraded to 2 Gb for less than $20 as the memory cards are very inexpensive today.


I did try puppy linux the other day. There are versions that partition the disk so that you don't have to throw out your windows. On boot-up you have the option of selecting your Operating System. The only problem is that my screen is all messed up, and I am not sure why.

I am running fedora-20 on another machine without any problems. Has anyone else played around with puppy or another version of linux?
October 20th, 2014 at 8:39:21 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
Quote: Pacomartin
There are many people that feel that software is getting too complex.


I agree.

Yet sometimes you need to run something way out of your league, and for that you need a complete OS.

Look, the other day we needed some blueprints for an offer (yes, it's ridiculous). the idiot who sent them, instead of scanning them or otherwise converting them to PDF, sent them on some CAD-type file. I found a viewer to let us see it and print it, but it was a big download.

And then there are games. Those are more complex, too.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
October 20th, 2014 at 9:09:14 AM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Quote: Nareed
I agree.Yet sometimes you need to run something way out of your league, and for that you need a complete OS.


I agree that you need new computers. Windows XP requires 64 MB of RAM (128 MB recommended). But most of the machines had 512 MB, and they have been upgraded to 2 Mb for very little money. They can't be upgraded at reasonable cost for Windows 7,8 or 10.

Although I believe that Microsoft discontinued support for 6 operating systems before Windows XP, they never had the penetration into the market of XP (400 million copies sold). Puppy is good for banking, and it can be uploaded to RAM from a USB drive, it can diagnose problems with another Windows computer, and it should give some life to old machines rather than throwing them away.

At least that is the theory. In reality, it feels like you are entering an underground lair of hackers.
October 20th, 2014 at 10:12:51 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
Quote: Pacomartin
Although I believe that Microsoft discontinued support for 6 operating systems before Windows XP, they never had the penetration into the market of XP (400 million copies sold).


Their own fault.

XP was a great system. Naturally there were high expectations for a follow-up. MS leaked a great deal about it, code-named "Longhorn." Long story short, they overreached themselves. The result was Windows Vista, and we know, now, what that meant.

The end result was that a lot of people stuck with XP well past the usual OS upgrade cycle. When Windows 7 came out, many XP machines could not run it (nor could many vista machines), so that reinforced the lack of upgrade. Besides, XP was just too good and the computers it was installed in were rather durable. I could run Office 2010 in my work XP (c.2006).

I think Win8 would have run on at least some XP machines, but I was never able to test it. I know it runs better than Vista on vista machines. But no one really wants Win8 on their desktop PC. Win10 does run on vista-era PCs, it should run better on Win7 PCs, I don't know it will work on XP.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
October 20th, 2014 at 10:41:06 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
I finally got to play a bit with Win10. Not much, because it was runnnnniiiiinnnnnnggggg sssssllllllooooowwwwwllllyyyy.

Seriously, in the notification area something indicated "maintenance" and the HD usage was a constant 99%. Opening Firefox took forever. I let the laptop alone. when I woke it up later, after several hours, it seemed fine. by then it was too late to do much, but all seemed ok.

The flat theme has to go. HAS TO. If MS won't offer alternatives, I'll find others. But it's depressing to use. I feel I'm in an alternate universe where everything is washed out and dim. And, not, it's not the display. Web pages look great. Content looks great. The theme looks dead.

Next on the agenda is a radical lock-screen removal and a means to run a local account, or at least not requiring a password to boot up the PC. As the old laptop runs well with Win10, I'll upgrade it when the final release comes out. To that end, it would make sense to get Office 365 with the 5 licenses, as I'd now have two PCs to run it on.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
October 21st, 2014 at 5:03:27 PM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
An update for the Preview was released today.

I hope I can install it (at all) before I bring the laptop to the office Wednesday or Thursday.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
October 23rd, 2014 at 8:48:18 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
The partition available on my laptop's disk is tiny, at around 17 GB. The update for the preview failed to install due to lack of space.

So I'll scour the laptop's old vista HD and reformat the whole thing to run the preview in the full disk. It's not like I've got something there worth keeping, and the preview runs much better than the native Vista anyway.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
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