Are you using the new features in Windows?

My primary OS is Windows 7, I also have Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 (triple boot) installed for creating Windowblinds skins. As far as the features in 10, I really don't find any of them useful at all. I stay in Windows 7 90% of the time. It is the finest OS Microsoft ever released, and it is really sad that they screwed things up with Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. Why would they ruin the perfect OS, Windows 7?

I don't really think so.  I was only on Win7 for a few months so I'm really not sure how many details are new or changed, but I sure don't use any of the device coordination, cloud, Cortana, and most of the other things I've seen advertised as selling points.

My installation of Win10 was purely to push out the end of support date.  I fully expect my (mostly new) hardware to outlive Win7 and it seemed silly to make myself pay for an o/s upgrade in a couple of years.  In that regard, no regrets here.

What Lightstar said...;)

I think Windows 10 makes me sad because I don't "understand" it. The truth is Windows 10 makes me feel old. I don't see the value of these new features for regular mouse/keyboard users.

Cortana can be useful, but the concept of a digital assistant is somewhat foreign to me. Granted, I am not an early adopter kind of person. Microsoft is talking about Skype bots. Bots? I don't even know what that is. Looked it up: a computer program that works automatically, especially one that searches for and finds information on the internet.

Windows 10, iOS and Android give me the feeling I am living in a brave new world which I frankly just don't like. I realize my workflow is very old-school and I don't "understand" touch, touch-apps and integrated services like Cortana. I feel like my grandpa when I showed him a videogame in the early 90's. He looked at it and said: what is it good for?

I am thinking about this every day... Paradise lost. It surprises me that I am that attached to an operating system. Well, I don't mind being a geek/nerd.

My thoughts also.

My primary OS is Windows 10. Actually, I have about 15 PCs and they all run Windows 10. Touch and non touch.

I like the ribbon, I use the things there quite often. Yes, it's ugly. But useful.

I don't use Cortana. I do use the action center, even though I never used it on 7.

Naturally, WindowBlinds is a must. But then, I use a few of my rigs au naturale.

10 is actually my ONLY OS, other than Ubuntu and Win 7 as VMs.

I use the explorer ribbon too, so I guess I could count that.  I realized this morning that one thing I do use all the time is the little systray popup clock/calender popup, that thing's handy as heck and could've been made "just for me" .

I agree that ribbon is a useful addition to Windows. I don't think ribbon is ugly per se, main problem is that it cannot be skinned so you are stuck with a white ribbon. In Windows 7; ribbon in Windows Live Mail has a nice light blue color. RIP Windows Live Mail :'(

I am not sitting in front of Windows 10 so I don't know if it has been improved, but it exists in Windows 7 too.   I think there is an improvement in Anniversary update. You will be able to see calendar events in this popup window (if you sync your calendar).

I use Old New Explorer to replace the ribbon. Kinda like the 'feel' of it. Another thing I find useful from time to time is the organize option on the left side of the window. When you have as many oops moments as I do being able to 'undo' is priceless.

I mostly use old features and new work arounds.

Me, well I just want a straight up desktop with none of the app clutter that began with Win 8 and got worse in 10.  I absolutely hate 10's default start menu with those damned 'suggestions' [glorified ads] and all that tile crap on it - looks fechen gaudy and is an eyesore - so I got rid of it and use Stardock's Start10 replacement menu to return some semblance of sense to the desktop.

I never use Cortana and have disabled it, I disabled or uninstalled the built-in apps, I use the Control Panel rather than 'Settings' and I do pretty much everything the same way as I did in Win 7.... and 8.1.  And no, I don't feel old or outdated.  Simply put, I use what I need of modern tech and devices.  For example, I have a Windows 8.1 phone which has tiles, and I don't mind seeing them being there, just NOT on my PC.

That answer your question?

he-he, yeah that will do.

I totally agree. Why did they make a 2-in-1 OS?

Control Panel is likely to go away. Even if it remains it's a very crippled version of the original Control Panel. I feel out of sync because while the out-of-the-box experience with Windows 7 is good, Windows 10 makes me want to change EVERYTHING. All the apps. GONE. Replacements for calculator, sticky notes, Mail and all the other appified programs need to be installed. The you have to take care of telemetry, updates and settings. The Settings app makes me dizzy. I wish it wasn't there and that I could find a nice third party settings program that presented the settings in a more elegant way. Think Control Panel.

Sadly, Microsoft, in its 'wisdom', has hacked out some of the key elements of Windows past.... Like parts of Control Panel, Windows Media Centre, etc.  There are probably others but I can't think of then right now... damned vertigo messes with my concentration, etc.

Anyway, Control Panel is mostly there in Win 10, and that's what I use over 'Settings'.  However, there are some 3rd-party programs that bring back functionality and ease of access back to Windows since things began 'disappearing'....   I often check out System Tools over at majorgeeks for new releases that may replace or better MS utilities.  In fact, there's a whole raft of great freeware and shareware that betters MS' offerings at majorgeeks.

Still, Microsoft could have done better with Win 10, in many respects, but I just see things getting worse as Windows moves over to a subscription service and users are forced to pay to use their OWN PCs.  Subscription models for 'non-essential' software is one thing, and people have a choice to subscribe or not, but a subscription for an operating system is not in the best interests of users... like when 'hiccups' occur over 'payment' and MS shuts it down.  Nope, it is not a good idea, and while some say the Windows subscription model will never happen, I believe it is inevitable.

Because there have been multiple references to age by virtue of Windows 10 making one feel old, or like one's grandfather, I'm wondering just how old are we all?  I will be 50 next year.  <pause>  Whoa.   I'll be FIFTY.  Pardon me, I think I need a moment.

Ok, I'm back.  I absolutely love Windows 10 (and equally loved 8.1, 8, 7, XP, 98, and even 3.1--Vista and ME were pretty terrible, even for me).  I only use any of the touch features when I'm using my tablet or my phone, and frankly can't see me ever using a touch-screen desktop display.  Honestly, I am the type that is most often sitting here with my feet on my desk leaning completely back in my chair with my keyboard in my lap so using a touch monitor would involve becoming much more talented with my toe dexterity and I can't see toe talents as a new trick this almost-but-thank-god-not-quite 50 years old dog wants to learn!

Beyond that i love most every new feature there is and sorry, but this includes silent "forced" updates as well.  I use Cortana at least 20 times a day and though it did take a bit of time to get used to speaking to her, now it's second nature and I think anyone that gave it some time to get past that learning curve would feel the same way.  

I feel that way, as a matter of fact, about all of the features in this upgrade and just about every one Microsoft has ever released.  

@ bbscruffybuck

And in which division at Microsoft did you say you worked?  

Nah, seriously, if you're happy with Win 10 then good for you.

Not surprisingly, this is not the first time I've been suspected of being a Microsoft employee (though I am not).  My ex, however, was (actually still is) an employee in their System Center Configuration Manager division, and even he often said that I was more of a Microsoft cheerleader than anyone on his team!

I admit I'm what we call in my industry (consumer market research) a Brand Loyalist.  A Brand Loyalist, for the most part, tends to be loyal to a brand through thick and thin, quickly migrates to a brand's evolving technology and usually adapts to any changes quite easily, eager to be "out with the old and in with the new."  Funny thing is, if someone ever asked me--whether in the context of my work, or as 'just' a consumer--I would have adamantly denied being a brand loyalist, and professed to choose software based solely on merit, usefulness and other more traditional factors.  It wasn't until I moved away from my iPhones and Androids into the world of Windows Mobile, which then became Windows Phone 8 and finally, Windows Phone 10 did I realize what a loyalist I am.  For a very long time, I held on to my much-beloved phones that in theory did all the things I loved and had cutting edge features others hadn't imagined....and I waited for the world to catch up with my "enlightened" opinion.   And waited.   And waited.  And waited.

Last month, I finally threw in the towel for a multitude of reasons and switched back to an Android device which, was cheaper, has more storage, a faster processor and, with the installation of just one App--Cortana--offers me just about all the Windows 10 multi-device integration I wanted and access to about a zillion apps that were STILL not available for the Windows Phone platform.  

As my Windows 10, Fall Creators Update (Windows Insider Preview) just finished installing on my home PC this afternoon, I've been eagerly installing old favorites (hence my visit to Stardock for Windows FX and Icon Packager to start), and I must say, I'm still on board with Windows 10 as it moves forward.   I'm wondering now how all of you are doing with your Windows 10 experiences, or whether or not you're still using previous versions by choice...?  

Anyone? 

I am still doing the same as when I first posted in July of 2016. I have no use for Windows 10 other than changing it by designing Windowblinds skins. Windows 7 is still, and will always be my primary OS.

Thanks bbscruffybuck for your kind words, and enjoy!

All of my computers other than the primary one I am always using are on Win 10.

Probably says a lot that the $10,000 'beast' is still on Win 7 ...;)

(and where do you hide the spare key?)     

All 16 of my computers run windows 10. I love it.

I have Windows 8.1, and 7 as virtual machines, and one laptop that can't do any better than 7. I'm thinking of putting MX 16 Linux on it.

A rather long post...

Windows 10

I generally have weak hardware. I like silence (read fanless) and Windows 10 uses more resources than any version before it. It's heavy (try using it on a HDD ) without providing anything I want that I can't get in Windows 7 or 8.1. Then there are the privacy and forced update aspects which made it a non-starter for me. I have even stopped testing it, because I don't see the point. I'm still optimistic though. Many users are concerned and according to Netmarketshare (website statistics) Windows 10 has around 28 % desktop share, while Windows 7 has around 48 % (August, 2017). Right now Windows 10 is growing at a very slow pace, but that may change of course.

https://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0

What I'm trying to say is that if MS doesn't want to lose a good chunk of their userbase, the company has to make some modifications to Windows 10. At least give users control over updates. Giving home users access to a stable (5 or 10 year supported build) would also go a long way. Wouldn't it be great if all Windows 10 users were on the same build, except Insider users? It would be easier for developers too.

Desktop Linux is getting locked down

While Linux potentially could provide a new home for disgruntled Windows 10 users I wonder if that will be the case. There is so much stupidity going on in desktop Linux land. All in the name of "security" and "security" in this case means locking down the system and removing the user from the equation. Taking away maybe the most important reason some people like desktop Linux.

Being free to poke around and tweak the system just by editing simple textfiles. "Linux is not Unix" as they say, but I like the Unix way: Everything is a textfile written in human readable text. No registry, just edit textfiles to tweak your system or use a GUI program to do it for you. This was always the core strength of Unix (Linux). Take that simplicity away and the power of Unix goes away.

MS has the resources to write complicated code. Linux devs don't. When they write complicated stuff like Systemd it works like shit. Unfortunately many distros have adopted it and some people defend it for reasons that don't make sense to me. For me, Systemd is for Linux what Windows 10 is for Windows. And it doesn't stop there. "They" want to kill most of the customization too with Wayland display protocol. Maybe Wayland makes sense on a phone, but not if you want cool stuff.

One might think that this doesn't matter for ordinary people, but it does. If you want to get away from Windows 10 for whatever reason and you are willing to accept less hardware and software support, then at least you want a stable system. There is no guarantee for that anymore. There never was a guarantee, but 5-10 years ago desktop Linux was simpler and saner (from a Unix perspective). Everything has been rewritten the last ten years and only the kernel itself (Linux) is "production quality". Everything else is "developer playground". A bit like Windows 10 actually, only difference MS has more resources and can afford "experimenting".

The future

I don't think disgruntled Windows 10 users will go to desktop Linux in meaningful numbers. They will stay on previous versions (which we already have seen by the numbers from Netmarketshare) or use phones and tablets more. Apple could expand their userbase if they wanted, but they don't want to. It's more important to keep Mac prices high. Chromebooks could also grow a little especially with Android app support.

I have seen on various forums that the resistance to Windows 10 is pretty compact (or at least vocal). I'm confident Windows 10 won't reach 1 billion users before 2020. By users I mean real users and not "Monthly Active Users" who fire up their Windows 10 VM once a month. I have no desire to see Windows 10 "fail" other than it may be the only way to make MS listen to users and give back some control. A PC should be a personal computer, not a thin client experience.

Unfortunately, there is only one way to combat what I consider "bad ideas" - don't adopt them. If I don't like Windows 10 - don't use it. If I don't like Systemd - don't use it. If I think Apple prices are too high - never buy anything from the company.

If you like Windows 10, personal assistants, virtual reality, augmented reality, voice recognition and mobile-focused tech; be happy because the future belongs to you. My problem is that nothing of this excites me. I complain about the “smartphone fetish” that has affected most of humanity, but maybe I’m just jealous of people who have something to be excited about. If I would be excited about the next build of Windows 10 or the next iPhone then my life would be, well, more exciting.    

That would be the distro I would pick for older hardware. Most modern distros contain Systemd, which I'm not exactly thrilled about, but MX Linux works around it.   Stable and lightweight - not that common in Linuxland anymore - enjoy it while it lasts. Probably half the RAM usage of Windows 7 if you uncheck a few unnecessary start-up apps. Typically around 350 MB. If you are a Nvidia guy and install proprietary Nvidia drivers that number will increase.