Microsoft Windows advice please.

ofco8 · Aug 18, 2015

My lap top literally fell to pieces at end of last week and I have replaced same.

My old laptop was Vista and my new one is 8.1 with a free upgrade to 10, if wanted.

The problem is I have had mixed reviews about 10. A mate of mine downloaded an upgrade but has since reverted back, not liking 10..

I was told as I purchased the new laptop that 10 is very similar to Vista and may prefer.

Bottom line is what good or bad experiences you have had and what would your preference be.

ps. Was there ever a 9?

Official Old Man · Aug 18, 2015

You'll hate it, but you are also stuck with it. Presume you've managed to transfer your files. Windows 8 was built for touch screens and is very hard on a laptop.
My problem was I use sage accounts that does not work on 8.1 or 10 so had to reboot an old XP box to run it.
I bought my laptop from PC World (I know) but got free 1 month service to their help line and boy did I need it. I found that email was tricky.
One year on I manage.

TWOCHOICEStom · Aug 18, 2015

Installed it today. I was also on 8.1.

So far it's great. It's NOTHING like vista. The main difference you'll notice if you're not a mega tech geek is that when you click start in Windows 10, you get a nice little start menu pop up instead of those big horrible tiles on a separate screen.

Juan Albion · Aug 18, 2015

I remember the good times said:
Windows 8 was built for touch screens and is very hard on a laptop.

Just set it to boot to the desktop. Never had an issue with 8.1, and so far no problems with 10.

Foul Play Rocks · Aug 18, 2015

I recently upgraded from 8. whatever to windows 10 and to be honest I think I preferred windows 8. Not sure if it's just a case of what you get used to so I'll give it more time. There was no windows 9 because, get ready for computer nerd joke, 7 ate 9 !

Guy Fawkes · Aug 18, 2015

I thought Windows 10 was a free upgrade anyway so hopefully the place that you brought it from wasn't trying to use this as a selling point.

There was no Windows 9, my guess is that it was skipped because it may have led to confusion with Windows 95 & 98.

I have Windows 8. whatever but yet to upgrade but probably will at some point soon so i am interested to see what the general thought is about Windows 8 vs Windows 10 and whether it's worthwhile doing. (i assume Windows 8 won't continue to be developed / supported for much longer and they may have already stopped?)

thony · Aug 18, 2015

If you haven't yet got used to Windows 8.1, you might as well upgrade to 10 and get used to that instead. It will mean your OS will be supported for a lot longer, added to which it's a better operating system for a desktop or non-touchscreen laptop. A recent cumulative update seems to have fixed the problems I had with Microsoft Edge, so everything seems to be working fine now.
The one caveat: when you first log into W10, don't accept the default options of sharing all your information with Microsoft. Scroll down to the button that lets you customise what you share, and turn off anything you're not happy to share.

LlcoolJ · Aug 18, 2015

Only problem I had with 8 (apart from the stupid tiles which you can avoid by installing a start button app) was the 135 updates that needed installing and constantly crashed my new PC.

Once I'd installed them bit by bit I then upgraded to 10. No issues whatsoever so far.

ringmerseagulltoo · Aug 18, 2015

If you wait for a couple of hours, I am sure you will have a phone call from a very helpful gentleman who knows you have a problem with your Windows operating system and will sort it out for you over the phone. I am sure he is honest as every time he calls me he assures me he is not lying and knows I have a problem with my Windows computer. That does seem a little strange as we only have Apples but I am sure he knows best.

Audax · Aug 18, 2015

I've been using Windows 10 for months via the Technical preview builds. My opinion (which, as a new member here, you can feel free to ignore

) is that Windows 10 combines the best bits of Win 7 and the best bits of Win 8.1 into a package that makes it the best Windows version yet.

There will definitely be some adjustment time needed - especially making the jump from Vista all the way to 10 - but I'd definitely suggest upgrading to 10 and giving it a jolly good workout for a few months. Especially as 10 will be less of a culture shock to you as a Vista vet than 8.1 would be (8.1 was built primarily for tablets, and it shows).

ofco8 · Aug 18, 2015

Thanks for advice guys.

I have the option to upgrade to 10 for free until end of September.

As said, may be best to upgrade to 10 now before I get set in my ways with 8.1.

TottonSeagull · Aug 18, 2015

Have tried turning it off and then turning it on?

ExmouthExile · Aug 18, 2015

Windows 10 would be great if it worked, but ever since I upgraded from 8.1, my start button keeps malfunctioning. There is a fix for it, but it's not long before it stops working again.

ofco8 · Aug 18, 2015

Just one final question.

When you upgrade to 10 do you lose all your documents etc. in 8.1 or should I save docs elsewhere then download again into 10?

StonehamPark · Aug 18, 2015

Ahhhh Windows problems.

#LovingMacLife

Dick Head · Aug 18, 2015

StonehamPark said:
Ahhhh Windows problems.

#LovingMacLife

StonehamPark · Aug 18, 2015

Dick Head said:
View attachment 67901

Oh, weird. I've never had to pay for an update and genuinely didn't know Mac users had to.

W.C. · Aug 19, 2015

Bought a laptop myself recently and upgraded straight away. No problems here, ten is fine.

ExmouthExile · Aug 19, 2015

ofco8 said:
Just one final question.

When you upgrade to 10 do you lose all your documents etc. in 8.1 or should I save docs elsewhere then download again into 10?

You don't lose your documents, but when I upgraded, my Microsoft Office wouldn't work anymore. Windows 10 couldn't associate my documents with MS Word, but I think they fixed it in an update. My anti virus caused a few problems as well, and i've read that it's caused problems for a lot of other upgraders too; that's been sorted out as well though, but you might have to reinstall the latest version of your anti virus.

Boroseagull · Aug 19, 2015

From a computer idiots point of view; I upgraded one of the laptops from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 & regretted it! This was in the first days it was available & I didn't realise is was not compatible with AVG security. It also failed to take my AVG PC tune up over. Needless to say without security I was 'hacked' that night & my friends had lots of 'lovely' emails. I had to resort to Avira security [not very user friendly] until AVG provided an answer. I had to reload AVG PC tune up from scratch. Also Skype sound would not work & in the end I had to remove & re-install So frustrated was I that I wanted to take the option of switching back to 8.1, but no, when I tried to I was informed the option was not possible. 2 weeks on I've sorted, by trial & error, the issues and just get on with it! One thing I did do was to turn Cortana off, wish I could do that with my Windows phone. Needless to say I'll retain the other laptop on 8.1.

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Microsoft Windows advice please.

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