|
|
So, by now you've probably had some experience with or know someone who has had some experience with, Windows 10.
Windows 10. They skipped the 9, heading straight from Windows 8 to 10, which makes me think, how does Bill Gates tell time? Does he ever get up at 9am or is that just not an option? It's probably good that they skipped the 9, mind you, because that might've meant they would've had to put more time into developing their ideas, instead of giving me something to make money from.
Every second call I get nowadays is about a problem relating to Windows 10. It used to be viruses. It used to be people deliberately trying to cause harm, instead of a silly company incapacitating vast quantities of computers by issuing updates without checking them first. Arguably, Windows 7 was the same in it's infancy, but Win10, bless it's ephemeral little heart, keeps putting out a new version of itself every six months, forcing customers to upgrade and experience the same growing pains over and over again, whilst supplying new features that virtually no-one uses.
It's a little sad. And telling, perhaps, that in the years since the release of Windows 8 the desktop market share of Windows has shrunk by 10%, while Apple's share has gone up 10%. Do I recommend Apple products instead? Not entirely. They're great when they're working, but once they break they're designed to be chucked away, as they're generally very difficult to take apart and fix. And having spent 2 hours on their customer support line, being passed between 7 people, to get a refund for a customer due to an ordering bungle on their part, let me tell you, their staff are not exactly "Geniuses".
The other thing you can't rely on is Windows 7 being around forever; security patches for that operating system cease in February 2020. And with the huge amount of vulnerabilities that are being uncovered in computers chips at the moment (google "Foreshadow intel" for a more recent one), you can't afford to be online and unpatched. Which is another reason to upgrade from Windows Vista and XP, if you're still using either of those*. For the novice computer user installing Linux is of course an option, but only if you're doing basic web browsing and email checking; and if you know a friendly IT person who can sort out your issues for you.
What do I recommend if you already have Windows 10? Grin and bear it. Write feedback to Microsoft through the Feedback Hub app in Windows 10, or call them out on Twitter publicly. If you have the 'pro' edition rather than 'home' you can also delay the OS 'upgrades' by up to a year through settings, avoiding the bulk of initial problems. Hopefully, some bright spark within that company will some day wake up and say: "I know what's wrong - we're all morons! We should be making a solid fully-tested product, rather than a broken one!". Then maybe we'll get an operating system which doesn't make me money. I mean, I guess I hope that happens?
* Windows Vista and XP have been unsupported by Microsoft for many years now and are not patched against any of the newer security vulnerabilities which've been discovered. Do not use them online. Also, though the 'free upgrade' period for Windows 7 to Windows 10 has technically passed, any computer with a valid Windows 7 or 8 license can still be upgraded to Windows 10 for free by doing what is known as a 'clean install' using the Windows 7 key.
- Matt Bentley, computer expert at Bentley Home PC Support.
Email info@homepcsupport.co.nz or phone 0211348576.
Click here to go back to the main page.
© 2019 Matthew Bentley. All Rights Reserved
