Windows 10, Really?

Well, of the Windows PC’s I reserved the Windows 10 Free Upgrade on only one has completed the upgrade in the first 36 hours after official release. That one was running Windows 8.1.

Initial evaluation…

Windows 10 is more like Windows 7 than Windows 8.1 is; however Windows 10 is still more like Windows 8.1 than Windows 7. Maybe after I work with it for a while I may come to like it more than Windows 7 but for now I think I’ll just keep my Windows 7 laptop running on that OS.

So far the only really annoying issue I’ve found is the lack of the Sidebar Gadgets in Windows 10. I could go on about what this is and the decision of Microsoft to end support for these sometimes useful tools, but I’ll leave that to another rant in the future. For now I’ll just have to learn to live without them while I explore some of the more recent features being introduced in Windows 10.

Perseverance pays off!! I was able to get my favorite Sidebar Gadgets working once again in Windows 10. These include an Analog Clock, CPU Meter, Network Meter, Local Weather, and Drives Meter – all things I like to keep an eye on when working. I had to ‘Repair the original installation then uninstall it before finally downloading and installing the updated Windows 10 version – these also work in windows 8.1 and Windows 7, ask me for the link for the program download.

Actual upgrade process…

The download took almost a full day to complete, but considering my rather slow and limited internet bandwidth and that there were three PC’s trying to do the download this was to be expected. Actual upgrading time after the download is estimated to have taken about an hour and a half to two hours (not really sure since I had to leave for my other job about an hour into to it when it was reading 75% completed). When I returned, it still took another 30–45 to setup and configure Windows 10 using the Express settings once I logged in to my user account. This upgrade was performed on a one year old Toshiba laptop running Windows 8.1, pre-installation inspection reported no hardware conflicts/issues with Windows 10.

I did find a setting in the ‘Control Panel’ to reverse the Windows 10 upgrade, but that needs to be done within the first 30 days of the upgrade if you’re going to do that.

So far all previously installed software (with the exception of the problem with the Sidebar Gadgets) is running with no issues. I am still working on the network settings making all previously accessible files and folders available once again to the other PC’s on my home network.

The Internet Explorer replacement program (Microsoft Edge) seems okay so far. I was able to import my Bookmarks and Favorites list from IE 11 successfully. IE 11 along with my previously installed Google Chrome and Firefox web browsers are still available for me to use. I have not had enough time yet to try out other new features. I do like the return of the ‘Start’ button/menu In Windows 10 and they’ve done a good job of updating how it displays and is organized.

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