Windows 10
Tech Tips
If you read last month’s magazine you will know I’ve been trying out the
new version of Windows which is expected to hit PCs around October. To
test it I installed it on two PCs, one an average spec PC, the other an older
Asus Eee PC netbook with minimum spec. This way I hoped to find out
how most of us will cope when the new system arrives.
My first impressions overall have been very positive. My Windows 7 PC upgraded and kept all
its installed programs and settings. Because the netbook didn’t already have Windows 7 or later,
it had to be treated as a completely new installation with the hard drive being reformatted and
programs reinstalled after the installation of Windows 10.
Start up time was the one thing Windows 8 had improved on when compared to its predecessors,
with the time taken from switch on to being able to do something useful noticeably quicker.
Windows 10 has, if anything, improved on this further. It’s still nowhere near the speed of starting a
Chrome OS computer, but it’s now far more useable than it was.
Every program (now called apps) has worked correctly so far apart from a few small niggles with a
couple of the new apps which come with Windows 10. The test process is of course intended to fix
these, and they are only niggles not major problems.
The netbook is a bit slow as I expected, but then it was slow when it had Windows XP installed.
Most of the time the slowness is due to disk access which the small amount of memory (RAM)
leads to as it switches program info in and out of memory. But it is useable and some of this article
has been written on it in fact.
What’s Changed?
If you are used to Windows 8.1, then Windows 10 will hold few surprises.
If you are more used to Windows 7 or earlier then you will have a steeper learning curve I’m afraid.
When you turn the PC on, you are presented with an almost blank screen similar to 8.1 showing a
clock and some info re WiFi and battery state. You click on this screen to bring up the login page
where you enter your password. Once logged in, your desktop appears, all much like Windows 7
or 8.1, but if you click on the Start Button, the screen that opens is more like a cross between 7
and 8.1 with a vertical list of apps (programs) on the left and a collection of tiles. At the bottom of
the program list is an ‘All apps’ option which if clicked produces a tall scrolling list of the apps that
are installed. You can also expand the tiles part to fill the screen. If you have more tiles than can fit,
they also scroll vertically.
On the task bar there are two new items. A search option which allows you to search on the PC as
well as on the internet via Microsoft’s Bing, and a ‘Task Manager’ tool to allow multiple desktops,
this latter only when the desktop is showing. The multiple desktops option is something that Mac
users have had for a while and allows you to create several desktops with different apps open on
each. You can switch between the desktops as wished using the task manager. I’m personally not
sure how useful this will be but I’m sure time will tell.
But to me the best part of the new operating system is that for users of Windows 7 (with service
pack 1) and 8.1, the upgrade will be free if taken in the first year from Windows 10’s release.
And then future upgrades will remain free for the life of the PC. Microsoft apparently make very
little money from upgrades and it costs them a fortune to continue to support multiple operating
systems, so it makes financial sense for them if we are all using the same system.
Will I upgrade when the time comes? Well I was one of the many who didn’t like Windows 8 when
it came out. I still think that Windows 8.1 tries too hard to do things for me and hide away the things
I need to find, but I’m getting to like it, so yes I will upgrade. The new system is better than 8.1 and
will be even better once the feedback from the thousands of beta testers has been assimilated.
Also, the offer of continuing free upgrades should mean a reduction in potential security hazards as
well.
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