Windows10
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Rule One in airline flying: don't go immediately to a new type. Wait about two years till when the bugs should be all ironed out and then decide whether or not to go on the type. Same goes for new computer operating systems; let the fanatics take the risks and then base your decision on feedback. I avoided the dreaded W8 using this procedure and bypassed the associated headaches.
Join Date: Feb 2015
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Couldn't agree more G. Green. I intend to stay with Win7 for the foreseeable future as its great. Even without the annoying Metro/Start thing in Win8 I still think Win7 is better performing. Hopefully Win10 will be another great OS, but at the moment Win7 is all I need. (Well I'm typing this on Puppy Linux on an ancient Netbook apparently designed to run Win7 but far too slow to do so!).
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Mixture along with several other posters here are slightly missing the point with "beta" / service pack comments. The "release" is a bit of an amorphous thing / grey area...
Back in the day we had "gold master" / RTM. That was ostensibly production-ready code, but of course you could wait until SP1.
In this brave new world, much has changed. We have "RTM", but this is still not actually production-ready. The RTM is more like RTD - release to developers. The actual "release" is called GA - general availability. There can and will be many, many patches of the RTM OS between then and GA.
Also, Windows is now being developed by what used to be the Windows Phone team (led by Terry Myerson), who have a history of releasing incomplete software and then updating it.
And then, if you're waiting for SP1, you're out of luck. Win 10 will be updated like Ubuntu, with three branches:
- Consumer branch (latest stuff, every 4-6 weeks)
- "Current branch for business" - same as Consumer branch but delayed a bit
- LTS, which is similar to the conventional model of Windows releases, in that there is a new release in an "appropriate time frame" - probably somewhere between every one to three years, that is supported for 5 years, but doesn't receive new features.
You can skip one of these releases, and still be supported.
So, if you really hate change, and want a stable product, probably the best thing to do is to wait until the second LTS release.
Personally, I'm going to jump on the "current branch for business" about 6mo after release.
Back in the day we had "gold master" / RTM. That was ostensibly production-ready code, but of course you could wait until SP1.
In this brave new world, much has changed. We have "RTM", but this is still not actually production-ready. The RTM is more like RTD - release to developers. The actual "release" is called GA - general availability. There can and will be many, many patches of the RTM OS between then and GA.
Also, Windows is now being developed by what used to be the Windows Phone team (led by Terry Myerson), who have a history of releasing incomplete software and then updating it.
And then, if you're waiting for SP1, you're out of luck. Win 10 will be updated like Ubuntu, with three branches:
- Consumer branch (latest stuff, every 4-6 weeks)
- "Current branch for business" - same as Consumer branch but delayed a bit
- LTS, which is similar to the conventional model of Windows releases, in that there is a new release in an "appropriate time frame" - probably somewhere between every one to three years, that is supported for 5 years, but doesn't receive new features.
You can skip one of these releases, and still be supported.
So, if you really hate change, and want a stable product, probably the best thing to do is to wait until the second LTS release.
Personally, I'm going to jump on the "current branch for business" about 6mo after release.
Join Date: Oct 2009
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Everything is designed to run on a 4" touch screen, so it totally useless on a normal desktop with a mouse.
People have been screaming for years about the design, and the designers have been forced to keep making compromises to make it more desktop friendly, but that about sums up Windows 10, its a compromise that doesn't work well on a full featured desktop.
The latest nonsense Microsoft are trying to shove down desktop users throats is a new "spartan" browser, and its name is exactly what it is. The designers have tried to hide every useful control, to make more room for content on small screens, and yet again, destroy the desktop experience.
Windows 7 is still far superior on a normal computer.
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Re Windows 8.1 and onwards
I too have used Windows 7 which like, but I suspect that Win 8 (Horrible and confusing interface) and 8.1 (better) which I'm using as I type, has incremental improvements in its security provisions; "Sand-boxing" of applications for example and better more developed native fire walling of PC systems.
Windows 7 was really a great leap forward in processor and memory management.
Hopefully Windows 10 will maintain the incremental improvements. As for the interface in Win 8.1 you can vary the sizes of the application boxes, kill the useless charms presentation and effectively use a PC without a touch screen. (Ancient ASUS 23" ML239 1920 x 1080 in use)
All the moaning and wailing about the interface in 8 versions really reflects on the "Consumer Computer press" in having something to moan about.
A PC screen, as it's evolved and the say 4" screen; on a smart phone are functionally [Similar] but differently physically scaled devices; with a significant overlap of functionality and use. The characteristics of the mouse used is critical.
The acceptance of the interface really boils down to familiarity, even the old DOS prompt with a batch file 1 for Word, 2 for Lotus etc, achieved a degree of useability in its time.
Even new users that I've taught; especially Middle aged and older people have accepted the interface as it comes. [Edit the drawback being you need to know what you are looking for - Menu systems have a huge advantage here. Unity in Ubuntu being a glaring example of the absence of this problem - How not to design an interface ]
The Win 8...... interface was an attempt to bridge a form of common interface across a spectrum of usage and for a lot of people, it failed.
System image and restore is a also major failing in win 8, even Vista did a much better job. This was a poor design change to encourage online backups.
I await Win 10 with interest.
CAT III
Windows 7 was really a great leap forward in processor and memory management.
Hopefully Windows 10 will maintain the incremental improvements. As for the interface in Win 8.1 you can vary the sizes of the application boxes, kill the useless charms presentation and effectively use a PC without a touch screen. (Ancient ASUS 23" ML239 1920 x 1080 in use)
All the moaning and wailing about the interface in 8 versions really reflects on the "Consumer Computer press" in having something to moan about.
A PC screen, as it's evolved and the say 4" screen; on a smart phone are functionally [Similar] but differently physically scaled devices; with a significant overlap of functionality and use. The characteristics of the mouse used is critical.
The acceptance of the interface really boils down to familiarity, even the old DOS prompt with a batch file 1 for Word, 2 for Lotus etc, achieved a degree of useability in its time.
Even new users that I've taught; especially Middle aged and older people have accepted the interface as it comes. [Edit the drawback being you need to know what you are looking for - Menu systems have a huge advantage here. Unity in Ubuntu being a glaring example of the absence of this problem - How not to design an interface ]
The Win 8...... interface was an attempt to bridge a form of common interface across a spectrum of usage and for a lot of people, it failed.
System image and restore is a also major failing in win 8, even Vista did a much better job. This was a poor design change to encourage online backups.
I await Win 10 with interest.
CAT III
Last edited by Guest 112233; 25th Apr 2015 at 13:21. Reason: That Mouse reference
