Windows 10

It's been a while since we had a poll, so here we go: who is upgrading to Windows 10? Why or why not? The new operating system from Microsoft is now out of closed beta and publicly available. Any current users of Windows 7 and Windows 8 or 8.1 have been offered the opportunity to upgrade to Windows 10 for free using Windows Update (although this offer runs out in July 2016, all those who upgrade for free get to keep their copy "forever" just as if it was bought).

For those unfamiliar with the key new features and changes that come along with the transition to Windows 10, I recommend these two articles at Game Debate: "Thirteen Reasons Why You Should Get The Free Windows 10 Upgrade" and "Twelve Reasons Why You Should Not Get The Free Windows 10 Upgrade". For me personally, DirectX 12 looks like it might make games run a fair bit smoother and the potential is exciting, so it seems like the only major factor that could convince me to go through the hassle of switching from my current OS to a new one (apart from that, virtual desktops seems like a pretty cool thing, but nothing groundbreaking). However, only time will tell whether DX12 will be utilised as greatly as they've hyped it up. Plus none of the other additions seem like anything that could noticeably improve internet browsing, using word processing programs, basic graphics editing or any other stuff I do on my PC.

Moreover, it seems as though Microsoft is making some really stupid decisions again (forced automatic updates and a fake crappy start button that is nothing like the good old, among others) and they are forcing aspects ripped straight from touch screen/mobile devices onto the desktop version. DX12 and other shiny new stuff or not, I'm probably gonna wait almost the full year until as many of the bugs, glitches, possible security exploits and outright silly design choices are removed and then make my decision. On the one hand I don't want to pass this opportunity to upgrade for free since - knowing Microsoft - sooner or later they are going to add more and more Windows 10 exclusive features and make previous versions of the OS as incompatible as possible, but at the same time I'd rather let all those keen to upgrade beta test it.

 

I've never owned an Xbox console so that's why this feature doesn't really interest me, but I see how useful it could be for those who have one. And I do have to say that I'm looking forward to the Gears of War (remake? remaster? re-release?) as I never played the original. It would also be great if they finally released Halo 3 on PC, since we got to play 1 and 2 but no other parts from the main series, though I don't think they have revealed any plans for that.

Fair enough. Classical themes are pretty cool if you're nostalgic for the olden days, however the lack of all those fancy effects which are normally present in Windows Vista and Windows 7 does also mean that you use slightly less power for the UI (though I don't think this is a problem for gaming PCs anyway).

 

Oh yeah, multi-booting. As far as I know, that can be done with almost any hardware. I really like how open, innovative, varied, secure and not-hungry-for-personal-data the different incarnations of Linux are, so once I was thinking of setting up a Linux OS alongside my Windows set-up. However, since when it comes to computer gaming Linux is still very incompatible and not as well supported as Windows or even Mac, I decided to stick with Windows. It's a shame, but in a world where things aren't made for profit and gaming is better supported on open platforms like Linux, I'd definitely go for that.

Also, I'm even more put off from getting Windows 10 due to shit like this. The more I learn about W10, the worse it sounds.

 

Can we actually change the colour of the text on windows this time? In Windows 8 they let you change the colour of the border, but it's quite useless because half of the options practically can't be used because they did not give us any way to change the font colour (meaning that if I want a darker theme for my OS, I am screwed since the name of each window always remains black).

Also, this sounds horrible. I can't remember the last time I played one of those pre-installed games, but the fact that they are insolent enough to slice features out of those and even include ads in them is ridiculous.

 

For those of us who don't ever plan on upgrading to W10 (or at least not in the near future), here is something that you may find useful.

 

More bad news. Can't say this comes as a surprise at this point...

 

Nuclear, I don't mind Steam showing me adverts as much because after all they are an online storefront. Yes, it kinda sucks that they have a monopoly on games nowadays and most new PC releases need their application to run, but at least Steam gives me plenty of other cool features. Plus if I launch Steam then I don't mind seeing what (potentially interesting) new games are coming out. However, I definitely don't want to see random adverts anywhere on my OS interface. It invades more of my private space on the PC and can be really distracting/infuriating when I'm trying to work.

Skaara, I agree that it's always best to give an OS time before upgrading because they tend to suck at launch. Windows 8 was indeed quite badly received and for mostly valid reasons, but now it's actually a fairly decent and fast system. With Windows 10, on the other hand, Microsoft is pulling some really weird shit that takes more and more control away from the user (forced automatic updates). Plus they basically spy on you by including an option that tracks your activity on the OS - the folders you access, images you view, all your private data, etc. I've heard that this can be turned off, however it is turned on by default when you upgrade so it's shady as fuck. Windows 8 and even Vista, both of which had a rough launch, sound fantastic in comparison to this bile.

When I first heard about Windows 10, it didn't seem like something to get very excited about at all, yet I thought that I would upgrade eventually after it's been basically beta-tested by others. Now I'm not sure if I will ever want to upgrade to it - not only are there worrying deliberate design choices that scare me away from it, Microsoft is also trying everything it can to shove the OS down my throat through those annoying pop-ups and so on. For the first time I've actually turned off automatic updates because lately most of the "important" ones are actually just marketing shit for W10. What's sad about this situation is that I know M$ will eventually make previous versions of their OS as incompatible as possible to force even more people to switch to W10 (it's why XP, arguably Microsoft's best creation thus far and one that could still be used as a template for other OSes if only a little modernised, is no longer a good platform for modern gaming or much other software).

 

Founder of Epic Games speaks out against Windows 10.

 

The problem is that they've already gotten many people to switch by offering the "upgrade" for free. If things will become too incompatible with previous versions then I will feel forced to downgrade to W10 as well, but I don't want to find myself in a situation like that. Also, keep in mind that they can change the terms and conditions pretty much however they want and whenever they want.