General Chat

When will you have to upgrade to it - interesting read
http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/computing/when-will-you-have-to-upgrade-to-windows-10-11364008291922

I will stick with my Windows 8 for as
long as I can.
Thanks for the info, interesting indeed.

Our computer guru says the free update is valid until next July in spite of all the constant prompts that are popping up -I think he has had a few clients needing his help after DIY so circulated his contact list with his thoughts and some prompts - he suggests he could do it for us when he does his annual spring-clean so I think I'll take him up on that as I am quite happy with windows 7 for the time being

Well! Never realised I was using Vista!!
Got another 5 years apparently :-)

VISTA is fine so long as the Microsoft updates and service packs have been applied. It is even better if the aero interface is disabled (ez) as this takes a lot cpu/graphics power on the average machine esp laptop especially if it is using an Intel GMA graphics chip. Do you really need transparent menus ?

Windows 7 is fine too better basically what VISTA should have been ( and is after application of service packs). Windows 7 users have the option (for a year) of a free UG to Windows10 on their current box. The upside is a modern UI much better performance and very much better security. The downsides are too much MS monitoring ( which can be turned off ) and the poss. that there could be problems with device drivers esp on old machines ( > 5 years old ).

Windows 8.x is something Microsoft have shoved in the drawer marked " old ill fitting sox" along with Vista Windows ME Windows Mobile expensive pads Steve Bullmer and quite a few other expensive errors.

Do not use any version of Microsoft Explorer. It is beyond fixing.

Vista runs perfectly well, thank you, Rollo. It also has a future 'shelf life' of 5 years before I have to upgrade to Windows 10.
As for transparent menus, I may not 'need' them, but they won't run down my battery, as I use an old fashioned tower PC. Likewise, I rarely download anything, so you needn't bother about the amount of power I waste by not having all the 'latest' tat.

I had a Lenovo laptop, but as I rarely used it, gave it to my daughter.
No doubt it would have been declared a cr*p one anyway - even though I didn't buy it. My mother bought it, after advice from an IT expert - who probably didn't know what he was talking about.

It's all very much what a person prefers, surely?
Manufacturers may claim their car is the best - many unnecessary additions to add a few thousand more pounds onto the price.
Personally, I'd prefer not to have an internal GPS, or heated seats. I also wouldn't need a car that went 150mph, as the speed limit is 70.
That doesn't make the car, or my choice a waste of space, or 'wrong' does it?

VISTA does not have any UG path to Windows 10 not even now.
Users of Windows 7 and Windows 8 have the option of UG for free for up to a year from Win10 launch. The UG licence is not transferable.

The MS update utility automatically applies the various updates that VISTA has needed over the years which make it pretty well par with Windows 7.

I have driven my car at over 140 mph ( though not in the UK ) and I quite like the heated seats especially on cold winter mornings. The AC is quite nice too esp on a hot summers afternoon in a west London traffic jam. It has other toys which I quite like but as you say they are not essential. My OH won't drive it she finds all the gadgets intimidating.

In France I have an ancient restored do-dosh ( Citroen 2CV ) whose main toys are lots of fresh air and an amazing suspension designed to allow farmers to deliver eggs on rutted roads. Top speed on the flat is a 55mph on a good day.

On days when even the do-dosh is challenging I have a slightly newer French solex moped which costs buttons to run but needs pedal assist up hills. Who needs fancy stuff such as 4 wheels ?

:-)

I like Windows 10.........very easy to install and good too! :-D

Cynthia, how very true.

I'll take the advice of my computer guru when he next does a service on my desk computer .......... I trust his advice :-)

Lenovo have been selling computers packed with adware/spyware.
Then again, they are Chinese.

Rollo - my 2CV was nicked by joyriders.

Since when? Errol.
My mum died 3 years ago, so the laptop preceded that!!

Lenovo haven't stopped.

http://thehackernews.com/2015/08/lenovo-rootkit-malware.html

while even new hard disk drives can come with an unwanted payload

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/14/hacking_team_stealth_rootkit/

Shame about Joy Rider I thought she was a nice Essex gel you never can tell.

Organisations which really must have secure systems would be advised to avoid Windows altogether and purchase their drives from the usual US sources even if they cost (quite a lot) more. Yeah they know that but the politicians in charge won't listen, we mustn't offend Bejing, Riyadh and so on. Open Reach are using Huweii as a major supplier. Why not ?

On the general principle that consumer items improve in appearance but deliver worse performance over time ( eg VW cars ) Windows 10 is a refreshing change - easily the best OS Microsoft have ever launched and reasonably priced too.

Given the constraints of a consumer OS M$ have junked any amount of legacy code and had a real try at better performance and security. Even better they have beaten hardware OEMs around the ears such that drivers are far less likely to bring things crashing down or result in security holes.

Shame about the monitoring though which is less ez to disable on systems with Win10 pre-installed.

All dogs have their day and consumer desktop operating systems are a dog that will probably stop barking by the end of the decade. So Windows 10 could be the last of the line. Certainly Microsoft think so and are working like mad to bring their ubiquitous Office and Skype apps to everybody regardless of OS and device. Very nice but the real money is in mass media where the company has so far made no impression at all.

Animated paper clips are annoying no matter how the concept is updated. Does anybody really truly use these things ? Do they work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQH-Za6jhsI

I agree about IE Rollo - I've more or less switched to Chrome - much faster. IF I installed Windows 10 I'd have to buy a new 3in1 as had difficulty sorting it out when I got this PC with Win 7 as I originally bought 3in1 when I had PC with Win XP - 9 years ago!

Hi Ron - what is the make and model number of your printer?

Owdo eRRol. Epson Stylus DX3800 but my view of changing over to Win 10 remains as: Win 7 works perfectly and will be "protected" for a number of years so why fix it if it ain't broke"?

We upgraded a PC and a laptop back in August. Well worth it.

The main thing we noticed was how much faster it was than W7 which it replaced, especially startup which is quicker by several magnitudes.

Yes, W7 still does it's job - we still have it on an old pentium 4 pc which my two grandsons use and is too old to upgrade - but then candles and gas lamps weren't broke either.

Mainstream support for Win7 ended at the beginning of this year and extended support finishes at the beginning of 2020.

The reason Win10 will appear a lot faster than Win7 is not just down to the fact that it is a far superior operating system (by some years and therefore technology). It will also be due, in part, to the fact that when upgrading/installing you will be getting rid of some of the rubbish which slows your system down drastically that has accumulated on your hard drive (including registry entries) over the years. This is particularly the case if you do not (and you really should) perform routine maintenance on your computer. Win10 will also slow down over time if you do not do this.

As for Ron's printer (and others) - if you upgrade to Win10 then make sure that you also upgrade any relevant drivers (this could also include for monitor, mouse etc etc) if they are available.

For example, for Epson, go here...

http://snipurl.com/2abdudl