[Phil A]

This make sense, for this reason they are offer free W10.

Nothing gets supported forever.  My XP Machine (keep it in the bedroom along with an old Mac G5 Tower) is  disconnected from the internet except when I update software for the back-up printer (inexpensive inkjet).  I was of course disappointed (but understand) the end of XP support.  Just my hunch but I think this is likely in the cards.  Once that grace period is gone for the free upgrade, I expect to see support ending for a bunch of things.  Then it becomes for some the necessity for software and perhaps hardware upgrades.

[glynnw]

I anticipate they are going to a model of annual subscription fees.

[*Scotty*]

You might try removing the driver and reinstall it under windows compatibility protocols for an earlier version of Windows.
Scotty

[Nick77]

You might try removing the driver and reinstall it under windows compatibility protocols for an earlier version of Windows.
Scotty

Scott, im not that good at outsmarting my computer, but I think I know a few savvy folks. Thanks....

[srb]

Early adoption upgrading of Windows Vista to Windows 7 on a desktop left me with a non-working LAN port.  Upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8 on a laptop disabled the Sleep function and Brightness adjustment.  For reasons like this and more, I'm not in any hurry to upgrade and will wait at least a few weeks (and probably a lot more) for things to shake out and updated drivers to be offered by hardware manufacturers.

But of more concern is the Privacy settings of Windows 10.  Windows 8 had some data sharing privacy defaults and Windows 10 takes it to the nth degree.  When installing there is actually a tiny link to the left of install button which will let you proceed through a custom install where you can disable any privacy settings you wish during install.

After the fact, you can go to the 13 (!) Privacy Settings screens and manually disable them.  By default you have given consent to share your Contacts, data in Messages, Locations, things you say to Cortana, etc.  Microsoft has even surpassed Google in attempting to sniff out your data.

All this is with the promise and goal of giving you a more personalized experience, and you have also consented to let them share this data with any and all "trusted partners" (partners Microsoft trusts, not you).

So I urge you to explore these Privacy Settings so at least you know what you're dealing with and can disable anything you're not comfortable with.

Steve 

[*Scotty*]

Hi Steve, much thanks for the heads up on the privacy issues associated with Windows 10. I haven't upgraded yet so at least I can nip this unwarranted invasion of my privacy in the bud.
Multiple expletives deleted! 
Scotty

[SteveFord]

When I had Windows 10 on my laptop it wouldn't let me upload photos to this site. 
Everything just froze up.  Anyone else have that happen?

[Nick77]

Got the media creation tool to work this time and decided to give Win 10 a whirl despite warnings of graphic driver issue.

Loaded Windows 10 and a little video ghosting at first but no big deal, not my main computer just music server and music plays great.

Also just downloaded Jriver 21 on Win 10 and working fine, what a great day. 



Edit: The ghosting seems to be gone now! PTL

[FullRangeMan]

I have not optioned yet to W10 but my Windows Update is downloading a lot of data when I power on the PC.
The files named, you guess: Windows 10!

[Odal3]

Got the 10, and so far I like it! Will take some time to tweak it to my liking but much better than 8. For those on laptops, have you noticed a change in battery power. Without actually timing it, it feels like it drains the power faster on default settings. Might be just be in my head (likely), but wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this as well. Will play around with the power settings.

[Genez]

Heads up!  I installed Windows 10 on my laptop.  It went smoothly.  But, just chatted with Microsoft technical help.  Wait if you have a solid state drive (SSD)... They are working on fixing some problems SSD's are having with the update.  My PC which I use for audio is SSD. So, I am going to wait.  I uninstalled the Windows 10 install app update (KB3035583). Then, when Windows Update downloaded it again, this time I hid it so it will not install. When I get word that MS has fixed the install problem with SSD's , then I will un-hide it, and install again.

[Peter J]

Genez, what kind of problems were you having? I just installed 10 on a newly built computer that I'm using SSD for OS and programs only. Fortunately, this will sit in the wings while I prep it to replace my current workstation.

[Genez]

If its newly built?  You mean you are doing a fresh install of Windows 10 to your SSD?   I am speaking about those who already have 7, or 8 installed, who want to upgrade to 10.  A clean install should not cause a problem as far as I can tell.  The problems I heard about involved those who were upgrading.

[ctviggen]

Does windows 10 have an actual start menu?  I went to buy a laptop with windows 8 and couldn't figure out how to use it.  So, I just bought windows 7 computers (three of them since windows 8 came out).  Also, windows 10 no longer has windows media center, which is critical for me at home.

[Doublej]

Does windows 10 have an actual start menu?  I went to buy a laptop with windows 8 and couldn't figure out how to use it.  So, I just bought windows 7 computers (three of them since windows 8 came out).  Also, windows 10 no longer has windows media center, which is critical for me at home.

Yes it has a start menu like Windows 7. Audio is much better in Windows 10. I think there are alternatives to WMC such as Kodi/XBMC and Plex but I don't know if they are exact replacements. See below.


http://www.howtogeek.com/132462/5-alternatives-to-windows-media-center-on-windows-8/

[Genez]

Does windows 10 have an actual start menu?  I went to buy a laptop with windows 8 and couldn't figure out how to use it.  So, I just bought windows 7 computers (three of them since windows 8 came out).  Also, windows 10 no longer has windows media center, which is critical for me at home.

It does not have a start window that looks like Windows 7.  But, yes. It does.  And everything is now called an "App." I do not recall seeing the word "program" being used anymore.

As for the Media Center?  What functions do you use the Media Center for?  Windows 10 has a partial Media Player that will pop up if you want to listen to internet radio,  but no longer the full Media Center.  I never used Media Center except for online radio.

Go here >  http://www.windowsmedia.com/radioui/home.aspx?g=home&culture=en-us

Click on a station, and in Windows 10 a partial Media center will pop up.  You can even save a playlist of the stations you like.  No more visual though, only audio.


For almost all video watching I use the free GOM Player.  Its audiophile good. I copy a lot of HD videos off YouTube.  Some great live performances are to be found amongst the garbage home movies people put online...

[Jon L]

A clean install should not cause a problem as far as I can tell.  The problems I heard about involved those who were upgrading.

I upgraded my Win 7 laptop with Samsung Evo SSD to Win 10 and had no issues whatsoever.  What exactly was the "problem" you heard about?  I googled it and did not see what problem you mean 

[srb]

As for the Media Center?  What functions do you use the Media Center for?

If you have cable TV service and use a CableCARD tuner such as those from Ceton, Silicon Dust or Hauppauge as your DVR, Windows Media Center ( Windows Vista, 7 or 8 ) is the only software that can decrypt encrypted cable TV channels.

Steve

[Genez]

I upgraded my Win 7 laptop with Samsung Evo SSD to Win 10 and had no issues whatsoever.  What exactly was the "problem" you heard about?  I googled it and did not see what problem you mean 

For one thing.  At least some parts of Samsung Magician get disabled.  I called Samsung and he told me they are working on a fix for it for the Windows 10 Upgrade.  Another had to do with how some PC's have the partition needed a work around for the upgrade. 

I am going to wait till Microsoft makes their fixes for certain SSD's.  MS told me they are working on it.

Here is an install work around some may need that Samsung technical help emailed me.. 

If you can’t upgrade to Windows 10 because of “We couldn't update the system reserved partition” issue, try the below fix.

 

1.         Go to Disk Management and find the System Reserved (or DATA partition if Migration cloned it) right click on it and go to change drive letters and paths -> add -> now choose Y: for the drive letter

 

2.         Right click the CMD.EXE start menu icon and choose 'Run as Administrator'.

 

3.         Type: Y: <enter> in the cmd window

 

4.         Run these commands (copy and paste them is easier then typing them):

 

takeown /f . /r /d y

 

icacls . /grant administrators:F /t

 

attrib -h -s -r bootmgr

 

5.         Now open explorer (win+e) go to the Y: drive under computer, Make sure hidden files and system files are visible through folder options. Then go into the Boot folder, and delete all languages other than en-US. Languages are in the form xx-XX. Make sure to shift+delete and not just delete so they don't go to the recycle bin. Empty the recycle bin afterwards just in case.

 

6.         now go back to the admin command prompt, and type this command:

chkdsk Y: /F /X /sdcleanup /L:5000

 

7.         this truncates the NTFS log to 5MB, it can be very very big, not leaving enough space for the install. At the end of the output it should tell you that you have at least 50MB of free space on the partition

 

8.         proceed with the windows 8.1 installation

 

 

9.         once booted into 10 and set up, you can go back into diskmgmt.msc and remove the drive letter for the boot partition

 

 

[Doublej]

It does not have a start window that looks like Windows 7.  But, yes. It does.  And everything is now called an "App." I do not recall seeing the word "program" being used anymore.

As for the Media Center?  What functions do you use the Media Center for?  Windows 10 has a partial Media Player that will pop up if you want to listen to internet radio,  but no longer the full Media Center.  I never used Media Center except for online radio.

Go here >  http://www.windowsmedia.com/radioui/home.aspx?g=home&culture=en-us

Click on a station, and in Windows 10 a partial Media center will pop up.  You can even save a playlist of the stations you like.  No more visual though, only audio.


For almost all video watching I use the free GOM Player.  Its audiophile good. I copy a lot of HD videos off YouTube.  Some great live performances are to be found amongst the garbage home movies people put online...

Warning for those thinking about installing GOM Player. It automatically installs malware on your machine unless your antivirus software catches it and strips it out. I learned this a while ago when AVG popped up as I was installing GOM Player.

Windows 7 will be supported until 2020, Windows 8 until 2023 so you should be fine as is for a while.