01-29-2017, 04:02 PM
Rant time... but about Windows 10.
When I built Pearl, I was pondering whether or not I should install Win8.1, or go with Win10. I ended up installing Win10, which for the most part, works rather well. There are some aspects of Win10 that kind of make me long for Win8.1, or even Win7.
The first is MS' constant promotion of their built-in apps over third party ones. See, when you switch your default browser to anything but Microsoft Edge (like Chrome), Win10 will occasionally place a small box over the Edge icon in the taskbar basically begging you to try it out. This happens when you open the third party browser. I think if you remembered to remove the Edge icon from the taskbar after installing your preferred browser, this won't happen. I also forgot that when you upgrade to a newer Windows build (such as the upcoming Creators update), all the default programs are reset to their defaults, and you have to set them again.
The second issue is forced device driver updates. I have no issue with automatic security updates, but they apply the same logic to device drivers. This is problematic with video cards since it can result in a sub-optimal or outdated driver being installed without your permission. I haven't been affected much by this since I always install the latest Nvidia drivers once they are confirmed to be stable, and Windows Update never has overridden my drivers. But for those who prefer an older driver version, Windows Update may keep reinstalling a newer driver that may not work for them. MS does have a troubleshooter you can download to disable updates for certain devices, but really, they should have kept device driver updates optional.
The third is occasional bugs stemming from baked-in features. OneDrive was previously a separate app you could install on Win7 or Win8. Win10 has this built in, and since I never use OneDrive, I disabled it to run at startup. In the last day or so, OneDrive has been starting up (even if it's not running) and showing the setup window whenever I use the Open File dialog in certain applications like Winamp or OpenOffice. I'd imagine a recent Windows Update introduced some sort of bug with OneDrive. You can disable OneDrive with group policies, but Win10 Home editions don't have these, so for now I just let OneDrive run at startup, and will plan on disabling notifications for it.
I sometimes wonder if I was better off with Win8.1 which remains supported until 2023. But these issues so far are minor, even if they can get a bit annoying.
When I built Pearl, I was pondering whether or not I should install Win8.1, or go with Win10. I ended up installing Win10, which for the most part, works rather well. There are some aspects of Win10 that kind of make me long for Win8.1, or even Win7.
The first is MS' constant promotion of their built-in apps over third party ones. See, when you switch your default browser to anything but Microsoft Edge (like Chrome), Win10 will occasionally place a small box over the Edge icon in the taskbar basically begging you to try it out. This happens when you open the third party browser. I think if you remembered to remove the Edge icon from the taskbar after installing your preferred browser, this won't happen. I also forgot that when you upgrade to a newer Windows build (such as the upcoming Creators update), all the default programs are reset to their defaults, and you have to set them again.
The second issue is forced device driver updates. I have no issue with automatic security updates, but they apply the same logic to device drivers. This is problematic with video cards since it can result in a sub-optimal or outdated driver being installed without your permission. I haven't been affected much by this since I always install the latest Nvidia drivers once they are confirmed to be stable, and Windows Update never has overridden my drivers. But for those who prefer an older driver version, Windows Update may keep reinstalling a newer driver that may not work for them. MS does have a troubleshooter you can download to disable updates for certain devices, but really, they should have kept device driver updates optional.
The third is occasional bugs stemming from baked-in features. OneDrive was previously a separate app you could install on Win7 or Win8. Win10 has this built in, and since I never use OneDrive, I disabled it to run at startup. In the last day or so, OneDrive has been starting up (even if it's not running) and showing the setup window whenever I use the Open File dialog in certain applications like Winamp or OpenOffice. I'd imagine a recent Windows Update introduced some sort of bug with OneDrive. You can disable OneDrive with group policies, but Win10 Home editions don't have these, so for now I just let OneDrive run at startup, and will plan on disabling notifications for it.
I sometimes wonder if I was better off with Win8.1 which remains supported until 2023. But these issues so far are minor, even if they can get a bit annoying.
I love foxes, especially the one in my avatar.