Should I get Windows 10?

[Ronald Nand]

The Windows 10 prompt keeps lingering on my taskbar, and I'm wondering if I should upgrade or not.

I'm mainly interested in mainly two things:

1) Will Windows 10 improve my game's performance and make getting 60 fps easier?

2) Will Windows 10 break some of my older games, stuff I've got on GOG like KOTOR 1 and 2, Thief 2, Deus Ex etc.?

Should I upgrade to Windows 10?

Also feel free to share your experiences with Windows 10, both good and bad.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

1) In the (distant) future games with DX 12.X will run faster, slight decrease on current games (0-4% fps decrease)

2) GoG is working on it and they said it's coming along fine with compatibility.

However Win 10 is more or less malware in and of itself, buildt in keylogger and if they feel you are doing something against copyright laws/illegal porn etc. they can call the local authorities on you.
A lot of people have noticed lag just navigating around.
Plus a slew of other things, but it's still a young OS.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

General consensus for the time being seems to be no. There's the usual issues with a new OS launch that you always experience. And then there's the very dubious question of the Cortana program basically monitoring and saving all your data and keeping records of everything you do. http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/08/windows-10-doesnt-offer-much-privacy-by-default-heres-how-to-fix-it/

 

[bluegate]

Upgrade to Windows 10, try it for a week or two and then, if you don't like Windows 10 you can always use the built in "Return to Windows 7 / 8" feature and bam, you're back to your previous OS.

 

[NLS]

However Win 10 is more or less malware in and of itself, buildt in keylogger and if they feel you are doing something against copyright laws/illegal porn etc. they can call the local authorities on you.

Any proof of this "keylogger"? Also, Microsoft has nothing to gain by manually monitoring all their customers, checking for dubious or illegal content and handing it over to local authorities. What would they gain? A pat on the back from the cops? In most countries such actions would land them in more legal trouble than whatever the local laws are for pirated content.
The EULA is pretty much there in case NSA or FBI seizes microsoft's data under a warrant. Sure they'll probably hand over any data under a court order, but they're not gonna waste lots of time and resources into proactively handing in this data.

 

[Superlative]

Always wait at least a few months before getting the new OS, or any other piece of tech. The line between early adopter and unpaid beta-tester is a fuzzy one at best.

Windows 10, at least from what I've put together, is better than Windows 8 but worse than Windows 7.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

However Win 10 is more or less malware in and of itself, buildt in keylogger and if they feel you are doing something against copyright laws/illegal porn etc. they can call the local authorities on you.

Any proof of this "keylogger"? Also, Microsoft has nothing to gain by manually monitoring all their customers, checking for dubious or illegal content and handing it over to local authorities. What would they gain? A pat on the back from the cops? In most countries such actions would land them in more legal trouble than whatever the local laws are for pirated content.
The EULA is pretty much there in case NSA or FBI seizes microsoft's data under a warrant. Sure they'll probably hand over any data under a court order, but they're not gonna waste lots of time and resources into proactively handing in this data.

http://i.imgur.com/9DoVoix.jpg

Apparently the EU version is different or looks different in those settings. But there are threads dedicated on a ton of tech forums how to shut off keylogger and trafficking in the registry/router and assorted.

They should a have NO access to my work/leisure time without a court order, 1984nd all that. Honestly I don't think they will take the time to go through the sea on information and dick picks to care too much personally, but they are being forced by NSA and others to do these things to hasten the "judicial" process.

 

[Doom972]

If you know what you're doing, reinstalling your old OS shouldn't be too much of a hassle. Just try it and see for yourself.

Personally, I plan to install it on this weekend. Originally I wanted to wait at least a month but Win10 has a lot of features I want to try out already.

Just back up your files and do a clean install. An upgrade could leave some clutter that would affect performance.

 

[NLS]

However Win 10 is more or less malware in and of itself, buildt in keylogger and if they feel you are doing something against copyright laws/illegal porn etc. they can call the local authorities on you.

Any proof of this "keylogger"? Also, Microsoft has nothing to gain by manually monitoring all their customers, checking for dubious or illegal content and handing it over to local authorities. What would they gain? A pat on the back from the cops? In most countries such actions would land them in more legal trouble than whatever the local laws are for pirated content.
The EULA is pretty much there in case NSA or FBI seizes microsoft's data under a warrant. Sure they'll probably hand over any data under a court order, but they're not gonna waste lots of time and resources into proactively handing in this data.

http://i.imgur.com/9DoVoix.jpg

Apparently the EU version is different or looks different in those settings. But there are threads dedicated on a ton of tech forums how to shut off keylogger and trafficking in the registry/router and assorted.

They should a have NO access to my work/leisure time without a court order, 1984nd all that. Honestly I don't think they will take the time to go through the sea on information and dick picks to care too much personally, but they are being forced by NSA and others to do these things to hasten the "judicial" process.

The so called keylogger in that picture refers to typing into the search/adress bar in Edge (Internet Explorer). Maybe you've noticed that a lot of search engines and web browsers give you automated search results directly as you type? That's all there is to it. Yes, they should allow you to disable it, but then again it's only in Edge, not systemwide, and you'll probably use another browser anyway.

I've seen that picture thrown around in a few threads, and it's so full of shit and scare mongering. A lot of those points are either deliberately being misunderstood as "botnet" and "keylogger", or whoever did it has more experience wearing a tinfoil hat than how big data analysis works.

To sum up some things: Microsoft has nothing to win by breaking the law or doing NSAs job.

 

[wizzy555]

The key logger claim is reaching, however given the ambiguous wording of the privacy policies and the default privacy settings they seem to be saying they can just upload your files to the cloud with no clear definition of how they will be used.

If you must use it, use a local account, turn off all the anti-privacy features, and don't use cortana.

To answer the original questions

a) Not initially
b) Unlikely

You have a year to claim the free version and there's a good chance M$ will improve things before then. But eventually you will probably have to.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

However Win 10 is more or less malware in and of itself, buildt in keylogger and if they feel you are doing something against copyright laws/illegal porn etc. they can call the local authorities on you.

Any proof of this "keylogger"? Also, Microsoft has nothing to gain by manually monitoring all their customers, checking for dubious or illegal content and handing it over to local authorities. What would they gain? A pat on the back from the cops? In most countries such actions would land them in more legal trouble than whatever the local laws are for pirated content.
The EULA is pretty much there in case NSA or FBI seizes microsoft's data under a warrant. Sure they'll probably hand over any data under a court order, but they're not gonna waste lots of time and resources into proactively handing in this data.

http://i.imgur.com/9DoVoix.jpg

Apparently the EU version is different or looks different in those settings. But there are threads dedicated on a ton of tech forums how to shut off keylogger and trafficking in the registry/router and assorted.

They should a have NO access to my work/leisure time without a court order, 1984nd all that. Honestly I don't think they will take the time to go through the sea on information and dick picks to care too much personally, but they are being forced by NSA and others to do these things to hasten the "judicial" process.

The so called keylogger in that picture refers to typing into the search/adress bar in Edge (Internet Explorer). Maybe you've noticed that a lot of search engines and web browsers give you automated search results directly as you type? That's all there is to it. Yes, they should allow you to disable it, but then again it's only in Edge, not systemwide, and you'll probably use another browser anyway.

I've seen that picture thrown around in a few threads, and it's so full of shit and scare mongering. A lot of those points are either deliberately being misunderstood as "botnet" and "keylogger", or whoever did it has more experience wearing a tinfoil hat than how big data analysis works.

To sum up some things: Microsoft has nothing to win by breaking the law or doing NSAs job.

It's a relief to hear that's it's contained to Edge then. Well is actually shit? I am aware it's fear mongering but that doesn't make it shit.

Keylogging isn't just a method of getting your WoW passwords as you are well aware of.

Also I know a guy who works at a router firm, his response to me asking about the NSA demanding a backdoor was basically: "We have to do it...", and yes I am aware they are not so much interested in what Lady Gaga song someone recently has obtained against copyright laws as much as they are any anyone searching for for example certain very dangerous and easy to manufacture gasses that starts with R and ends with N has their internet traffic routed through Langley for the next couple of months (go on do an IP trace before and after the search).

Am I being overly paranoid? Yes. Is it unfounded? No.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Put my vote in the "No, wait for more feedback from the early adopters" pile.

We've got 11 more months to redeem that free upgrade offer. Wait for more bugs to be worked out, just like any other new OS, and wait for the opinions of both the general public and tech critics to be built up by months of use. Tin Foil hat or not, Win 10's current offerings don't jive with me. Maybe after some updates, I'll change my mind.

Upgrading the OS isn't going to be some magic super boost. Upgrading and then deciding to downgrade wastes your time and also has a chance of screwing up your system, programs, and settings in ways you might not notice for months, so if/when you do upgrade, be sure to make a full system backup on an external drive (wouldn't even trust internal with the way the Windows installer has handled things in the past).

 

[Arcadian Legend]

For what it's worth, this article I found recently may or may not help alleviate any privacy concerns with Windows 10.

http://lifehacker.com/what-windows-10s-privacy-nightmare-settings-actually-1722267229

It seems like the only thing that's truly vague and a real concern is Cortana. The part about monitoring things like private folders and files in the EULA is actually only for OneDrive it seems. And MS have been doing so since Windows 8. Hell, a few of these privacy settings on by default (which you can turn off in the installation, same with default program settings) were also found in W8 & 8.1 as well.

 

[duwenbasden]

I upgraded my tablet to 10, and spent 3 hours resetting it after an endless bootloop; I am holding on upgrading my primary tower to it, since it's more than just an upgrade.

 

[Ronald Nand]

Thanks for the responses, I think I'm going to wait a few months and see how Windows 10 does in the long run, after all I have until July 29th to redeem my free license.

 

[Cowabungaa]

Also, Microsoft has nothing to gain by manually monitoring all their customers, checking for dubious or illegal content and handing it over to local authorities. What would they gain?

Any additional data gathered in this process is a very valuable commodity. Many tech companies, Facebook for instance, put in their EULA's clauses that give them the rights to use that data for marketing purposes or sell it outright to other companies. Remember Target figuring out a girl's pregnancy and sending her corresponding coupons, deals, that sort of thing? That's what that data is good for.

And some of us aren't big fans of us becoming profiles to be sold, so I restricted Win10's privacy settings and don't use Edge and Cortana.

 

[gorfias]

Upgrade to Windows 10, try it for a week or two and then, if you don't like Windows 10 you can always use the built in "Return to Windows 7 / 8" feature and bam, you're back to your previous OS.

That's a relief. I'm going to give it a try. I work in IT and I think I'm missing something if I know nothing about the most popular OS.

And, folks: I hate to break it to you. XP. Gone.

Move on. Nothing to see here.

 

[mad825]

Upgrade to Windows 10, try it for a week or two and then, if you don't like Windows 10 you can always use the built in "Return to Windows 7 / 8" feature and bam, you're back to your previous OS.

That's a relief. I'm going to give it a try. I work in IT and I think I'm missing something if I know nothing about the most popular OS.

And, folks: I hate to break it to you. XP. Gone.

Move on. Nothing to see here.

The question I have to ask; can you go back to win 10 after that within the free 1 year period?

 

[SmugFrog]

The Windows 10 prompt keeps lingering on my taskbar, and I'm wondering if I should upgrade or not.

I was also holding off on it - I kept telling it to reschedule so I would have time to backup everything, but every time I opened my laptop I was jumping into a game and just didn't have time for it. Last night I loaded up a game and walked away, and I guess the Windows 10 Installer option popped up while I wasn't at the computer. I came back over to find a screenshot saying "Restarting - Installing Windows 10." I said "What the heck is going on!" and my 2 1/2 year old says proudly, "I clicked it!" So yes, she forced my Windows 10 install.

So far everything seems fine. All of my program work, the desktop went back to the way it was, so nothing to worry about. The only issue I had was with trying to talk to Cortana my microphone recording volume was too low and I had to go into the settings to raise it.

 

[gorfias]

The question I have to ask; can you go back to win 10 after that within the free 1 year period?

Not sure I understand. Are you asking, if 1 year after installing windows 10, and the "free" period is over, can you still revert back to 7/8? To that, I dunno. My guess: you can, but now you have an OS that needs a year of back patching. And have you installed anything since having win 7/8 last, that may not run once you revert.

I just got mine and watched a review. I'm pretty excited to try it. Win 7 is great. Why ever go 8 ? But 10? Looks like a step in the right direction.