So, anyone else upgraded/upgrading to the new Windows 10?

[Gikoku]

Hey, free is free.

Managed to get my gaming rig all up and running with it, I didn't get the notification for it so I had to force it manually by downloading the installer from MS' website. Still sorting out some of the minor compatibility issues and trying to get used to everything. Otherwise I'm really liking it so far, it's basically all the good things from Win7 & Win8 crammed together, no real complaints. I haven't bothered to try out the Cortana feature yet on account of me not having a proper mic for it, but I'll probably fiddle about with her when I finally upgrade my laptop with it.

Actually I do have one complaint at the moment, I wish I could drag and pin my programs to the start menu on the left-side panel instead of having to resort to the metro tiles. Feels awkward. That and not being able to choose when and what Updates I want. :/

 

[Quistrix]

Liking it so far. My only complaint is that I can't use Cortana unless my region is U.S. and language settings are U.S. English. And then she has an English accent anyway, which makes no sense. No Jen Taylor for me.

 

[Dark Drakan]

I did, update kept failing originally so I downloaded it from MS website and everything went fine (only took around 25mins to do) and been enjoying it so far and had no issues at all now all my programs and drivers have been updated.

 

[Gikoku]

Here's a couple helpful links for getting comfortable with the new changes:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3f48kd/windows_10_tips_and_tricks/
http://fieldguide.gizmodo.com/check-these-5-settings-after-youve-installed-windows-10-1720799226

Liking it so far. My only complaint is that I can't use Cortana unless my region is U.S. and language settings are U.S. English. And then she has an English accent anyway, which makes no sense. No Jen Taylor for me.

I haven't even tried her out yet since finally getting my laptop upgraded to it, but I'm somewhat (but not really) surprised at how nosy she is in order to actually be activated. Needing access to all my personal information and browsing history, etc. Hell, take my blood and urine test while you're at it honey.

Looked around as far as I could and there's no proper fix for getting Jen Taylor's Cortana if you're outside the US yet, hopefully they'll release the option for her, but if not I'm sure someone will find a registry hack for her... hell, they already found the registry path for her voice files.

I did, update kept failing originally so I downloaded it from MS website and everything went fine (only took around 25mins to do) and been enjoying it so far and had no issues at all now all my programs and drivers have been updated.

Yep, that's how I had to do it too. Took about 1hr 30mins to install on laptop... but a whopping 6 hours to install on my desktop, good gravy! I ran Disk Cleanup afterwards and checked the box for system files and revealed I had 25GBs of space being used by my previous OS. It's meant for roll backs in case of an emergency, but I just dumped it, it becomes unusable after the first month of upgrading anyway. One of my favorite features thus far is definitely the Xbox controller's guide button function (finally) which I can use to take a quick screenshot or DVR a game whenever I want, so I don't have to switch to my keyboard anymore now.

Oh, don't forget to check to make sure you have it activated. Their activation servers were getting slammed during that early period so a lot of people weren't able to get theirs activated automatically (had to manually do it multiple times for it to go through). You can check for it in Start > Settings > Update & Security > Activation, or just go to Control Panel > System and then scroll down, if it already says "change product key" then you're good.

 

[queenofdisco]

Woah woah woah, back up there dude. Windows 10? I'm still on 7.

My laptop keeps asking me to update to 8, but screw that, it keeps crashing each time I try to.

 

[Gikoku]

Woah woah woah, back up there dude. Windows 10? I'm still on 7.

My laptop keeps asking me to update to 8, but screw that, it keeps crashing each time I try to.

Yep, Windows 10. Didn't you get that little windows icon in the lower-right of your taskbar? Looks like this. You can still upgrade now for free, but it has to be between now and July 29th 2016, then the free upgrade is over and the only way to get it will be to shell out $120.

 

[HobbeBrain]

Is Windows 10 actually better than 8? Or just, you know, different. Also, am I a complete noob or was there just no Windows 9...

 

[Dark Drakan]

Is Windows 10 actually better than 8? Or just, you know, different. Also, am I a complete noob or was there just no Windows 9...

Its 1000x better than Windows 8 not just from an visual standpoint but from a technical standpoint too as DirectX 12 is included with it & its far less resource heavy and cluttered. Windows 8.1 came after Windows 8 but they wanted a round number to end Windows on and as Windows 10 is going to be the last version of Windows I guess it made sense to a certain extent.

 

[Precipice]

I think it's weird that every time MS decides to make a new OS it's seemingly based on fixing problems with the old OS and change how everything works, and immediately after it is released people figure out how to make it work exactly like it used to.

 

[Dark Drakan]

I think it's weird that every time MS decides to make a new OS it's seemingly based on fixing problems with the old OS and change how everything works, and immediately after it is released people figure out how to make it work exactly like it used to.

I did this with Windows 8 to an extent as Windows 7 just had better functionality, you could tell Windows 8 was designed to be used on touch screens & tablets. Windows 8 had some good ideas hidden behind poor execution. However lots of people don't like change so want to stick to what they know I guess. Im liking Windows 10 so far however and havent felt the need to change it back to running how a previous operating system did, feels like a blend of Windows 7 & 8 in parts & loads of new additions.

 

[Precipice]

I did this with Windows 8 to an extent as Windows 7 just had better functionality, you could tell Windows 8 was designed to be used on touch screens & tablets. Windows 8 had some good ideas hidden behind poor execution.

At my old job, every morning you could hear an assortment of moaning over the station-wide upgrade to 8, a ceaseless choir of wishing it would be undone. I guess if we all had those giant touch screens and our jobs were more hands-on creative, like design and such, it'd be more practical, but our needs had that lever flipped all the way in the other direction and it was just a pain. I had decided on personal builds to wait until someone else tests the waters and reports back that it is safe to use and not lethally toxic. Which brings me to:

Im liking Windows 10 so far however and havent felt the need to change it back to running how a previous operating system did, feels like a blend of Windows 7 & 8 in parts & loads of new additions.

That's a good endorsement. Whenever I get around to putting together another PC build I'll take a closer look at 10 and give it a whirl.

 

[Dark Drakan]

At my old job, every morning you could hear an assortment of moaning over the station-wide upgrade to 8, a ceaseless choir of wishing it would be undone. I guess if we all had those giant touch screens and our jobs were more hands-on creative, like design and such, it'd be more practical, but our needs had that lever flipped all the way in the other direction and it was just a pain. I had decided on personal builds to wait until someone else tests the waters and reports back that it is safe to use and not lethally toxic. Which brings me to:

That's a good endorsement. Whenever I get around to putting together another PC build I'll take a closer look at 10 and give it a whirl.

I liked XP & eventually got used to Vista then quite liked Windows 7 but really disliked Windows 8. It just felt needlessly cluttered & not user friendly at all. Windows 10 feels streamlined, more customisable & more user friendly. Still many people finding new tricks and work arounds for it but overall it's been flawless for me since I installed it. No driver issues at all so far and just set up my XB1 controller on it via micro USB & was streaming my XB1 to it within 5 mins & worked perfectly.

 

[Skotekal]

It's been ready to install for a week or so, just haven't gotten around to it. I'll probably do that later tonight.

 

[Gikoku]

Is Windows 10 actually better than 8? Or just, you know, different. Also, am I a complete noob or was there just no Windows 9...

It's easily better than 8. Basically the best of both that and 7 with a bunch of bells & whistles thrown in a faster package with some convenient functionality. Nope, no 9, Microsoft just plumb forgot how to count to 10.

However lots of people don't like change so want to stick to what they know I guess.

Quite an understatement given the vast amount of people that still refuse to upgrade from XP to this very day. Even ol' Sephi is still stuck on XP right now because she's had "no problems" with it (not counting the countless malware infections she gets, naturally).

I liked XP & eventually got used to Vista then quite liked Windows 7 but really disliked Windows 8. It just felt needlessly cluttered & not user friendly at all.

Vista was an abomination, so many incompatibilities, the grand annoyance of UAC, lack of optimization, etc. I was so happy when I upgraded to windows 7, it was basically a much nicer XP. Windows 8 I felt wasn't too bad, twas faster, sleeker, with some nice ideas... but somehow Microsoft completely forgot about the invention of computer mice. 8.1 did buck all to help and was a poor attempt of MS saying "Sorry start menu lovers, we know how much this means to you".

 

[Precipice]

Quite an understatement given the vast amount of people that still refuse to upgrade from XP to this very day. Even ol' Sephi is still stuck on XP right now because she's had "no problems" with it (not counting the countless malware infections she gets, naturally).

My pops still has a box running xp. He refuses to upgrade because he's heavily dependent on some database software that dinosaurs used to use, link, and it won't run on Vista or later OSs. The box itself is more than a decade old. One of the two memory sticks for it recently crapped out, so it runs on 512mb of RAM. I lied and said you can't buy that type of RAM anymore, in the hopes that he'd finally make the move but nope.

Vista was an abomination, so many incompatibilities, the grand annoyance of UAC, lack of optimization, etc. I was so happy when I upgraded to windows 7, it was basically a much nicer XP. Windows 8 I felt wasn't too bad, twas faster, sleeker, with some nice ideas... but somehow Microsoft completely forgot about the invention of computer mice. 8.1 did buck all to help and was a poor attempt of MS saying "Sorry start menu lovers, we know how much this means to you".

Don't forget that the update they made to 8 put the Start button back, but clicking it brought people back to the thing they hated.

 

[Gikoku]

My pops still has a box running xp. He refuses to upgrade because he's heavily dependent on some database software that dinosaurs used to use, link, and it won't run on Vista or later OSs. The box itself is more than a decade old. One of the two memory sticks for it recently crapped out, so it runs on 512mb of RAM. I lied and said you can't buy that type of RAM anymore, in the hopes that he'd finally make the move but nope.

Oh my, last update was 16 years ago. Well that didn't make me feel any younger. That software was already dead before XP even came out as well, good grief. If he won't listen to reason, maybe you can eventually surprise him one day with a new one loaded up with a viable alternative software that'll convince him otherwise. A computer that old will be on borrowed time, in fact my old champ from 2004 finally kicked the bucket this year. Won't even boot anymore.

Don't forget that the update they made to 8 put the Start button back, but clicking it brought people back to the thing they hated.

Oh god, I hated that so much. I remember before it came out too they were hyping the hell out of it and tech sites were praising MS for listening to criticisms. I was genuinely happy about the lead up to the update... and then it came out. It was literally a glorified shortcut link to the same damn thing. You could already drag your cursor to the side of the screen and access it via the sidebar or just press the start button on your keyboard. Was unbelievable and they deserved the backlash that came to them afterwards. I'm glad they learned their lesson.

 

[cheezMcNASTY]

My computer won't let me upgrade yet.

Love me, Microsoft.

 

[Gikoku]

My computer won't let me upgrade yet.

Love me, Microsoft.

You can actually do it manually if ya want, that's how I did it for both computers as my upgrade just never rolled out for me. Pssh.

Here ya go: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

When you do it, make sure to pick the "Upgrade this PC now" option, DO NOT do a clean install or else you won't get the free Win10 install with product key activated. After you finish the upgrade, you can then do a clean install afterward if you want with the built-in Reset feature.

Or you can just do this method:

Spoiler

1. Start Menu > Type in search box "regedit", then click on it.

2. Locate the registry key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\OSUpgrade]

3. It should exist, but if not, create it.

4. Create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value with Name = "AllowOSUpgrade” (without the quotes), and set the Value = 0x00000001

Once the registry key is modified, close and reopen the desktop Control Panel, go to Windows Update and check for updates. You should now be able to click the Get Started button to upgrade to Windows 10. Note: Windows 8.1 users must go to the desktop Control Panel, and not the modern Windows Update UI.”

Keep in mind this free goodness only works if you have Windows 7, 8, or 8.1.... unless you're in China.

 

[Precipice]

Oh my, last update was 16 years ago. Well that didn't make me feel any younger. That software was already dead before XP even came out as well, good grief. If he won't listen to reason, maybe you can eventually surprise him one day with a new one loaded up with a viable alternative software that'll convince him otherwise. A computer that old will be on borrowed time, in fact my old champ from 2004 finally kicked the bucket this year. Won't even boot anymore.

It's one of those old dog and new trick things. He's probably the only person left alive who knows how that software works, and he doesn't want to learn how to use anything else. But I won't complain too much, keeping that computer alive has been just as educational as it was frustrating. Still, I worry what he'll do should something happen now that I'm not home anymore.

Oh god, I hated that so much. I remember before it came out too they were hyping the hell out of it and tech sites were praising MS for listening to criticisms. I was genuinely happy about the lead up to the update... and then it came out. It was literally a glorified shortcut link to the same damn thing. You could already drag your cursor to the side of the screen and access it via the sidebar or just press the start button on your keyboard. Was unbelievable and they deserved the backlash that came to them afterwards. I'm glad they learned their lesson.

If it had been meant as a joke, Microsoft would have had the mother of all April Fool's pranks. It could have been followed up with a frat-styled broseph handshake and an appropriate sound effect. That they considered it a serious fix, offered with a straight face believing it would make people happy, I was in disbelief. But old news is old. You're right, the lesson was learned, 10 is out, people are happy. I suppose I could move on as well.

 

[Dark Drakan]

My computer won't let me upgrade yet.

Love me, Microsoft.

Like Scott said. just download it from the link yourself. My upgrade didnt come to me either so I manually got it to upgrade myself and it worked fine, the Windows Update to enable the upgrade just kept failing for some unknown reason.