So, what's the general consensus on Windows 10?

[Stg-Flame]

I know where I stand in this, but I'm seeing a lot more mixed views than I was expecting. Do you love it? Why? Do you hate it? Why? Feel free to give your impressions to help either deter people from experiencing the same pain as you or try to bring other people on board. I'd like to hear your opinions.

 

[escrow4]

Running on my main box since Day 1. No glitches after a clean install. 4170 on an H81 board with a 1TB 840 EVO and 8GB RAM.

 

[pcgeek11]

I did an upgrade of Windows 8.1 on my Lenovo T540P 8 GB Ram. I found it sluggish and it would become unresponsive for 10 seconds or so two or three times per hour.

Granted it was an upgrade install and clean would probably be better. I may try a clean install at a later date. I reimaged from my backup to Win 8.1.

 

[Eug]

Nice front face to the OS. However, dig deeper and you'll see the interface is a mess of disparate styles, reflecting the history of the OS.

The front face - Metro - is still fairly buggy though and feels unfinished.

My Blu-ray software doesn't work at all but that's not a surprise. My work's VPN software doesn't work either but I blame my workplace. They don't even support Win 8.1 yet.

Much more responsive on older hardware although perhaps 3 GB is a more appropriate minimum (64-bit) than the 2 GB in the specs.

Overall a good start but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it just yet on your main machine.

 

[Puffnstuff]

10 on it's own has a mixed bag of interfaces, however add classic shell or any 3rd party start menu program and return it to the familiar 7 look and feel. I wish that windows update had the 8.1 appearance with the history available with it instead of forcing you to dig through programs and features to find it. It is blazing fast on all 3 of my pc's and on my laptop the boot time dropped down to 6 seconds literally from a cold boot to get to my logon screen and then the desktop explodes onto the screen once I hit enter. Even my atom powered tablet boots quickly with 10 and my desktop boot time is about the same as it was with 8.1 but I have a lot of start up programs that aren't present on the other two machines.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Mixed feelings about it. If it wasnt for DX12, I assume it would be much harder for it.

Too many things got more clumsy.

 

[Mem]

It's not bad so far, sure a few bugs here and there, but that is to be expected.

On my PCs Win10 is very stable, no driver issues so can't really complain.

UI wise I don't find it hard to work with.

 

[Sabrewings]

Like others mentioned, a few issues (mostly with upgrade/install), but now that we're up and running it's been mostly great. For an OS with such a short build time and only a couple weeks in the wild, it's been remarkably good on all three of our wildly different machines.

 

[lifeblood]

I'm pretty much meh on it. It seems to work just fine but it hasn't done anything to impress me. I haven't tried Cortana yet and maybe that will get me excited, but as of now its no different then what I had with Win8.1 & Start 8.

 

[JujuFish]

Spyware with an awful UI and a pathetic start menu.

On the bright side, it's snappier than any Windows I've used before and my machine has had no stability issues.

 

[TeknoBug]

It's OK, good for gaming, meh for overall daily use, but better once you turn off all the telemetry and auto updates and whatnot and clear the Nvidia driver issue. Personally I installed Start10 (gonna try my registered Start8 sometimes) since I don't really like the standard menu as it lacks group shortcuts.

One thing I noticed among most Win 10 users: most are using either Firefox or Chrome instead of Edge, most are using an alternative Start menu instead of Win 10's menu with tiles, most are using VLC, PotPlayer or MPC-HC instead of Movies & TV, most are using either the classic Windows Photo viewer or third party app like Irfanview instead of Photos, etc. Why bother shipping all these apps in Windows when nobody's going to use them? MS may just as well ship the UI and kernel and let us install what we want.

Performance wise, it's definitely faster and more respnsive especially on my i3 4010U NUC and A4 5000 laptop (previously Debian Linux but had a debunk copy of 8 I was able to upgrade through then fresh installed on a 40GB SSD) but leaving Win 7 or 8.1 on my other systems for now or forever. However it (Win 10 32bit) seems slower on my Asus Windows tablet probably due to the 2GB ram (and tablet mode with the tiles is a little aggravating compared to 8.1).

 

[Kadarin]

My main annoyance so far, beyond the initial upgrade mess, is that I get occasional notification sounds but the OS doesn't actually tell me what it's notifying me about.

Adding to my post: I'd also say that figuring out where settings are is a pain in the ass. There's a "Control Panel" and "Settings", and they're different. Clearly I've been using OSX too long, as everything's under System Preferences.

 

[Eug]

It's OK, good for gaming, meh for overall daily use, but better once you turn off all the telemetry and auto updates and whatnot and clear the Nvidia driver issue. Personally I installed Start10 (gonna try my registered Start8 sometimes) since I don't really like the standard menu as it lacks group shortcuts.

One thing I noticed among most Win 10 users: most are using either Firefox or Chrome instead of Edge, most are using an alternative Start menu instead of Win 10's menu with tiles, most are using VLC, PotPlayer or MPC-HC instead of Movies & TV, most are using either the classic Windows Photo viewer or third party app like Irfanview instead of Photos, etc. Why bother shipping all these apps in Windows when nobody's going to use them? MS may just as well ship the UI and kernel and let us install what we want.

Performance wise, it's definitely faster and more respnsive especially on my i3 4010U NUC and A4 5000 laptop (previously Debian Linux but had a debunk copy of 8 I was able to upgrade through then fresh installed on a 40GB SSD) but leaving Win 7 or 8.1 on my other systems for now or forever. However it (Win 10 32bit) seems slower on my Asus Windows tablet probably due to the 2GB ram (and tablet mode with the tiles is a little aggravating compared to 8.1).

I've tried so hard to like MPC-HC but in the end I just don't. Unless you have odd codec requirements, what usually works much better especially on lower end hardware is Windows Media Player plus Haali Media Splitter and ac3filter (the latter for audio codec support), as long as that lower end hardware supports hardware H.264 decode. Once you start running alternate video codecs, that's when you start having problems. The H.264 decode with Windows Media Player is actually one of the smoothest, and works well with lots of hardware. Luckily Windows Media Player still remains in Windows 10. Most of my files fail in the Win 10 default video player.

Similarly, the Win 10 Photos application kinda sucks IMO. The UI doesn't really make a lot of sense IMO for a desktop, although it's probably OK on a tablet. I'm not a fan of Windows Photo Viewer either, but it's already there and usable on a desktop (and laptop). I have also installed IrfanView for light edits, although IMO it has a dated UI.

I am using Edge, just to get used to it, but when I get frustrated, I go back to Firefox. However, I'm convinced Edge will improve quickly, esp. when it gets plug-in support.

 

[kmmatney]

It's usable, and generally works OK, but things still feel a bit disjointed. Control panel and PC settings? It's not bad after you take some time configuring it, and even better with ClassicShell replacing the start menu. For desktop users, the Apps store doesn't really add any value. The new Solitaire is mostly nice, but bloated and the connection to X-box Live is annoying. if you are happy with Windows 7, there is not much incentive to "upgrade". Games mostly seem to work. I don't see any reason why Win7 (or Windows 8.1) couldn't support DirectX 12, but Microsoft wants to force everyone to upgrade. I don't think DX12 will be a major factor anytime soon.

I've been using Edge- mostly good, but occasionally get frustrated and go back to Chrome. it has some potential, although I don't really like the disappearing URL box.

 

[DustinBrowder]

Its better than Win8 or 8.1, has DX12, but the privacy is terrible, the default setting on privacy are terrible and there are settings you can't even disable. Some you can disable by going into the registry and creating new values or deleting ones and changing stuff from the policy management and services, etc...

So its really a privacy nightmare, the start menu is not all that great, of course its a start menu and is better than win8, but overall its worse than win7 and win XP.

Its also quite slower in certain applications that haven't been optimized for it, so Id suspect we'd have on average slower running applications for at least a year before all applications get updated to better support it or alternative applications become available.

So of the programs I'm using for example are very slow to be updated, maybe a yearly update, so they might run worse on win10.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I hate edge and all you have to do is type internet explorer in the search box and when it comes up just pin it to the task bar, or start menu if you're using classic shell. In windows settings make ie11 the default browser and let edge collect dust. I use ie 11, ff, chrome and safari (for netgear router access outside of genie) so all of them get used by me at some point.

 

[Anteaus]

It's above average for a new OS in the first month of its life, but it still needs a little work. If you learn how to disable all of the default privacy settings, install another browser, and are prepared to download small updates almost daily then you are good to go. It's been very stable for me and has handled my games at least as good as Windows 8.1.

I think drivers are the biggest issue for some people as it can make some things more unstable than they normally would.

 

[escrow4]

I've tried so hard to like MPC-HC but in the end I just don't. Unless you have odd codec requirements, what usually works much better especially on lower end hardware is Windows Media Player plus Haali Media Splitter and ac3filter (the latter for audio codec support), as long as that lower end hardware supports hardware H.264 decode. Once you start running alternate video codecs, that's when you start having problems. The H.264 decode with Windows Media Player is actually one of the smoothest, and works well with lots of hardware. Luckily Windows Media Player still remains in Windows 10. Most of my files fail in the Win 10 default video player.

Similarly, the Win 10 Photos application kinda sucks IMO. The UI doesn't really make a lot of sense IMO for a desktop, although it's probably OK on a tablet. I'm not a fan of Windows Photo Viewer either, but it's already there and usable on a desktop (and laptop). I have also installed IrfanView for light edits, although IMO it has a dated UI.

I am using Edge, just to get used to it, but when I get frustrated, I go back to Firefox. However, I'm convinced Edge will improve quickly, esp. when it gets plug-in support.

Haali is as outdated as XviD. MPC-HC included LAV as a decoder and its very lightweight. You can decode via DXVA2 or QuickSync. Have you tried a recent build?

 

[HeXen]

I really hated the 3 finger swipe to switch apps, having to move the mouse pointer to select it kind of defeats the purpose of using a trackpad gesture in the first place making it a bit inefficient and prefer OSX's method better.
I couldn't figure out how to import bookmarks into Edge without having to install another browser and import into that first...made no sense to me.
Cortana could have been better and you never know when it'll actually answer or just pop up a web search.
Not very smooth

 

[Fardringle]

I do tech support for home users (primarily elderly folks), and we have had literally hundreds of customer computers either stop working completely, or have so many strange problems even with a clean install that the only real solution is to revert back to their previous OS (usually Windows 7 or 8.1). Right now it's too much of a mess and I strongly encourage most people to stay away until the wide variety of significant issues are resolved.

 

[Underclocked]

I wish my friend in her 80s could just get her computer to boot after installing Windows 10. It's dead as a mackerel. Say it's a coincidence - maybe so, but one heckuva coincidence.

 

[Binky]

I voted that I like it, but I personally have zero interest in upgrading beyond Win7/8. If you have Win8 and you really hate that start menu, then I think Win10 is pretty good. I upgraded my wife's system but not my own, and none of my HTPC machines will ever get Win10.

 

[Eug]

Haali is as outdated as XviD. MPC-HC included LAV as a decoder and its very lightweight. You can decode via DXVA2 or QuickSync. Have you tried a recent build?

Yeah, maybe it's time to try MPC-HC again. The interface is still ugly but I'm willing to give it a shot if it doesn't force additional codecs on the system. Having LAV as the splitter is fine, but I don't want stuff like CCCP on my system.

 

[nerp]

Been enjoying it very much so far. Smooth on all my machines. Very snappy. Obviously released with a plan to refine and improve over time. I suspect we'll see legacy OS components like the old control panel disappear as the 'settings' menu is refined. Photos won't build a database from my network shares. Groove music won't keep a library from my network shares. It just seems to lose it. Again, will probably get fixed over time.

Everything mission critical for me is contained within software that works just fine (chrome, Outlook, editing tools).

I like being very early and watching it evolve over time. I'm not gaming hardcore or dealing with any mission critical stuff that has known compatibility issues. In those cases people shouldn't be upgrading now anyway.

 

[escrow4]

Yeah, maybe it's time to try MPC-HC again. The interface is still ugly but I'm willing to give it a shot if it doesn't force additional codecs on the system. Having LAV as the splitter is fine, but I don't want stuff like CCCP on my system.

Its all self contained.