There are things about working with large companies that can be really frustrating. For instance, when both Windows Vista and Windows 8 were coming to market, a number of us pointed out that things needed to be fixed before the product was released, but we were ignored, with catastrophic results. This time, however, Windows 10 is looking better than any OS I’ve ever reviewed, and it is largely because Microsoft did two things I’ve been requesting since Windows 95.
For years to test new OS's in beta, all I've had to do is partition a drive and dual boot, or...in some cases, simply buy another drive and boot to that one. When I was done, I could simply wipe and install the next one. Nowadays, it's even easier, as all it takes setting up a Virtual Machine and you're ready to go.
I haven't found much that stood in the way of testing an OS from Microsoft, but rather the apparent disregard for the daily use of the OS and lack of care put into making it friendlier for those of us that need these features to work properly.
Well, after doing some research, I decided to take the plunge and install the preview version of Windows 10. My concerns were basically unfounded. For me Windows 10 is turning out to be a better version of Windows 7, and that's without Cortana, which is unavailable where I live right now.
It's been less than two weeks, and I've already got it set up as nicely as I had Windows 7 set up. A couple of my favourite games don't work, but I'm fairly confident those are just driver issues that will be fixed before long. Beyond that, EVERYTHING works, and most of it just worked with little or no fiddling.
In fact, I uninstalled a few apps that I assumed would no longer work, O.S. specific apps that did things like automatically set process affinities. I assumed I wouldn't need them, and they wouldn't work anyway. I was wrong on both accounts - which is both positive and negative. Yes, I'm impressed they still work, but I'm not impressed that I can still improve performance by micro managing process priorities and affinities.
However, for a born tweaker like me, I suppose that should just make me happy...
And it turned out that some of my fears were well founded. You can change where Windows 10 installs Windows "Apps", but it isn't simple, and I'm certain isn't intended. That kind of Apple/Google hyper control is exactly what I was worried about in Windows 10.
You've put your finger squarely on my primary concern. I have signed up for the free Windows 10 upgrade, but I have a very non-standard setup. I have three drives. One is a systems ssd with the OS on it. One is a ram disk with the paging file, temp directories and prefetch on it. The third is divided into two partitions, one with programs (apps) on it, the third with files on it.
I am upgrading from Windows 7. I dislike, and distrust, default file structures, for various reasons, including security concerns. Linux allows you to get around that by allowing to you choose what partitions you place your default file structures in. My experiences with Microsoft products have rarely shown them to be designed in such an intelligent or flexible manner.
My ssd is far too small to have anything but the systems files on it. Is Windows 10 going to allow me to continue to install "apps" outside of the standard directory structure, or is it going to force me to install everything into a rigid directory structure? Hopefully there will be a workaround for that, such as symlinks, or better yet it will continue to set up my file structure as I wish.
So while I am looking forward to Windows 10, when I read statements that upgrading is going to be "seamless", I maintain a healthy degree of skepticism. I will believe it when I see it...
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The Best Unsung Features of Windows 10
Posted by: Rob Enderle June 8, 2015 09:23 AMThere are things about working with large companies that can be really frustrating. For instance, when both Windows Vista and Windows 8 were coming to market, a number of us pointed out that things needed to be fixed before the product was released, but we were ignored, with catastrophic results. This time, however, Windows 10 is looking better than any OS I’ve ever reviewed, and it is largely because Microsoft did two things I’ve been requesting since Windows 95.
I haven't found much that stood in the way of testing an OS from Microsoft, but rather the apparent disregard for the daily use of the OS and lack of care put into making it friendlier for those of us that need these features to work properly.
It's been less than two weeks, and I've already got it set up as nicely as I had Windows 7 set up. A couple of my favourite games don't work, but I'm fairly confident those are just driver issues that will be fixed before long. Beyond that, EVERYTHING works, and most of it just worked with little or no fiddling.
In fact, I uninstalled a few apps that I assumed would no longer work, O.S. specific apps that did things like automatically set process affinities. I assumed I wouldn't need them, and they wouldn't work anyway. I was wrong on both accounts - which is both positive and negative. Yes, I'm impressed they still work, but I'm not impressed that I can still improve performance by micro managing process priorities and affinities.
However, for a born tweaker like me, I suppose that should just make me happy...
You've put your finger squarely on my primary concern. I have signed up for the free Windows 10 upgrade, but I have a very non-standard setup. I have three drives. One is a systems ssd with the OS on it. One is a ram disk with the paging file, temp directories and prefetch on it. The third is divided into two partitions, one with programs (apps) on it, the third with files on it.
I am upgrading from Windows 7. I dislike, and distrust, default file structures, for various reasons, including security concerns. Linux allows you to get around that by allowing to you choose what partitions you place your default file structures in. My experiences with Microsoft products have rarely shown them to be designed in such an intelligent or flexible manner.
My ssd is far too small to have anything but the systems files on it. Is Windows 10 going to allow me to continue to install "apps" outside of the standard directory structure, or is it going to force me to install everything into a rigid directory structure? Hopefully there will be a workaround for that, such as symlinks, or better yet it will continue to set up my file structure as I wish.
So while I am looking forward to Windows 10, when I read statements that upgrading is going to be "seamless", I maintain a healthy degree of skepticism. I will believe it when I see it...