That is disturbing…looks like they still allow you to turn off updates in Pro though (that’s the version I use). I keep automatic updates off for the same reason; Microsoft has released too many damaging updates for me to trust them completely.
I just upgraded my 8.1 HTPC and an 8.1 VM to Windows 10 – both Pro – and a cursory look hasn’t shown me where to turn off updates, yet. I’ll have a closer look eventually, but neither of them are mission critical.
There’s been a lot of talk about Win10 being the ‘final’ version of Windows (in the same sort of way as OSX has been the final version of Mac OS). That being the case, I could see why Microsoft would want to push out updates and try to keep the consumers at the same software level - from a support POV, it’s a lot simpler.
I imagine it’s fairly easy to break the update process if you wanted to (for example by editing the local hosts file so that requests to update.windows.com go somewhere else, or nowhere)
I’ve got a lot of computers on Win7 and Win81 and the most common bad experiences I’ve seen are when people want to power off and pack up a laptop and it says “applying update 1 of 30 - don’t turn off your computer!”.
Another success story. This week has been so bad I figured major system problems couldn’t make it worse, so I pushed the Red Button and we went out to dinner.
Long story short, a trouble-free upgrade. The biggest hassles came from getting the display drivers and configuration sorted out, as I run three monitors - one on the mobo Intel graphics system, two on a Nvidia 770. The whole configuration process just Did Not Like the combination, so I had to work through sideways displays and ignored monitors and manually update both drivers and reboot a couple of times, then tinker with the settings to get a less… Big Bright Shiny Windows FP kind of display. All said and done, and it even put all my desktop icons back in the same places.
I am still tinkering with font and icon sizes and fine-tuning things like app layouts, but other than these display issues - all due to a complex setup and my fussy preferences, and maybe a bit more tinkering than needed (read: a couple of reboots might have fixed the problem just as well as my intervention)… and everything is real good.
I even have my file search capabilities back - they broke in Win 7 and nothing would fix them.
I am even impressed that all the screen and wait and what’s-happening messages seem to be written in conversational English, and not that peculiar translated-from-irritable-Martians style that made it seem like English wasn’t quite Microsoft’s first language.
I’m impressed. As impressed as I was with Win 7. Very nice job, Redmond.
Upgraded last night from Win 7. Simplest and fastest OS upgrade I’ve ever done. And the computer runs and only looks a tiny bit different right now but appears to have the option of making it cripplingly unusable like 8 & 9 if I get a masochistic moment. So far, no complaints.
I’d be very surprised if you have the option of making it look like Windows 9.
Good to read the good stories here, mine will be upgrading tomorrow night. It does feel a little odd, though, with MS giving it away for free. Maybe I’ve been watching and reading about too many conspiracy stories but companies like MS don’t give away stuff for free unless it benefits them, somehow. I’m hoping that 8 and 8.1 (or is that 9?) were so riddled with security flaws that the only option to avoid massive lawsuit costs was offer a free upgrade, but I think it’s more likely MS will be able to control everyone’s mind with Windows 10 and we’ll all be reduced to automated morons, eating mass-produced unhealthy food, buying stuff we don’t need, and supporting politicians and businesses that actively work against our well-being.
Free! Woo-hoo. Free? Um, free???
The original cartoon.
The related
[quote]
(User-driven discontent | MetaFilter): “If you are not paying for it, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold.”
The ensuing cartoon.
It’s amazing how many settings you have to go thru to turn off some of the privacy mining stuff, and even then they are still tracking you.
Free? Right.
I have been told that it is the “Home” version, not “Windows 10 Professional”. True?
[quote=“ftg, post:129, topic:721329”]
Free! Woo-hoo. Free? Um, free???
The original cartoon.
The related
This.
Still waiting.
Agreed. I’ve updated a half dozen machines now, and apart from a forgotten printer, easily re-added, I’ve had no bother. The ancient “Vista Ready” laptop has transitioned smoothly through Win 7 and now on to Win 10, and that was the one I thought might not make it. Honestly, it is much snappier. The disposable laptop that my great-nephew likes to spill things on has a new lease of life!
And it fixed several utilities that were giving me weird fits - probably related, somehow, to the broken file-search feature. I have a font manager that had to be opened twice to work - open, freeze, force closed, open, click away warning message, use.
It works now.
I am certainly among those most concerned about the tracking and data-reporting issues (generally speaking), but there are already so many things monitoring our online presence (including resident cookie-things and spyware) that the OS reporting to MS is not anything that would change my mind about the upgrade. I predict it will get easier to turn off and block the reporting as time, complaints and antispyware utilities catch up.
My scheduled upgrade started the download & installation a couple hours ago. I hope it will fix the issue I’ve been having with Windows Explorer: right-clicking on the tree causes the program to crash & restart.
10 worked for about an hour then froze. Had to hard restart and now it won’t boot up completely! Thanks a bunch, Microsoft!
Looks like I’ll be doing an unwilling upgrade as I’m getting hard drive failure notices. At least it’s giving me some warning. When the new hard drive gets here I was hoping to do a clean install of Win10 since I have a Win7 product key, but it looks like I have to install 7, upgrade to 10, get a license key for the upgrade, THEN I can do a clean install of 10. Convoluted.
Yes! I’m back!
No thanks to the Microsoft help desk. Woman kept wanting to remote into my computer and I kept trying to tell her that nothing works! Then she wanted to get a technician involved (to the tune of $99.99) and Comcast. So I hung up.
Was just about to take the thing up to the local Geek Squad when I got an idea. Put it back on its stand and only connected my old 2.1 sound, keyboard, mouse, and one monitor. Thought sure it was just going to freeze again but then I noticed the icon tray slowly populating. Replaced the old 2.1 with the newer 2.1 (actually 5.1 but the rear speakers have gone dead) and hooked up the second monitor/TV.
Apparently those higher level versions are coming later. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
As much as I enjoy being one of the elite 10 million beta testers for Windows products I’m going to take a pass on this. They completely hosed my phone with their “free upgrade”.
So they can byte me on this one.
I’m shocked.
I’ve gotten three installations of Win 10 Pro; two from Windows 8.1, and one from Windows 7. Oh, I need to dig out that little Zotac box and upgrade it, too (from Windows 8.1).
If you have Windows 7/8/8.1 Pro, then you’ll get Windows 10 Pro.