Windows 10 vs. Windows 8.1: Should I upgrade?

Discussion in 'Windows 10' started by DLord, Aug 6, 2015.

  1. DLord

    DLord MDL Novice

    Aug 17, 2012
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    Considering that I am completely satisfied with my 8.1 x64 Enterprise setup (using only desktop mode, along with StartIsBack which has solved the start menu problem), and keeping in mind the uncertain future payment plan of windows 10 WaaS (windows as a service) -that is after the first year of course- should I upgrade? :g:

    Bearing in mind that windows 10 has no advantage over 8.1 when it come to the performance, and forgetting about all the bells and whistles which are not that appealing to power users, what do you suggest?

    I would appreciate all comments and suggestions, specially from does who have upgraded from 8.1.
    Was it really worth it? :confused:
     
  2. xtcrefugee

    xtcrefugee MDL Novice

    Jan 31, 2014
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    Clone your drive and do the upgrade, that way your machine ID is registered with MS and you'll always have the option of 10 sometime later for free. I'm perfectly happy with 7 as my desktop OS and won't be changing over, but have installed 10 to another drive should I ever need it (i.e. for a DirectX 12 game). MS really should have given us the option of dual booting for free without having to do the upgrade, I think they would have got more takers.

    I've also put 10 on a tablet, and as a tablet OS it's not as good as 8.1. You really miss the charms/switcher swipes once you're used to them. That will (hopefully) change after some future updates.
     
  3. jupier2k

    jupier2k MDL Member

    Jan 20, 2009
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    If you have hard disk space , why not dual boot and test it out?
    That's what I did.
     
  4. pirithous

    pirithous MDL Member

    Dec 17, 2014
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    #4 pirithous, Aug 6, 2015
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2015
    In terms of fixing the user interface, Windows 10 is definitely an improvement over 8.1, and has the best user interface Microsoft has ever released. And even me, as a Linux-geared person, will tell you that Microsoft did an excellent job in the overall look/finish and cohesiveness of the operating system. There are some rough spots like the Settings interface which is designed for a 5 year old, but that in time will hopefully get fixed.

    Where it falls short:


    • Forcing updates and not allowing the user to select which updates to be installed
    • Telemetry is enabled by default which sends a lot of data back to Microsoft about who you are and what you do
    • Privacy policy is overly vague in attempts by MS to prevent them from getting sued, but leaves users in the dark
    • From what I have read, telemetry is still active to some degree even when attempting to shut it completely off, and MDL hackers are having trouble turning it completely off (at least for now)
    • Microsoft should not design a system where only system administrators and enthusiasts know how to make it do what they want
    • Wi-Fi sense is a terrible idea and shouldn't be on by default, or even have been included as a feature
    • If hackers get into people's OneDrive accounts or find ways into Windows 10 systems because of all the data transfer that's happening and the capabilities of the OS to send and receive this telemetry data, it's bad news for MS
    • OneDrive encryption key is backed up to the cloud: this is very stupid from a security standpoint and no cryptographer would approve of this method

    Other thoughts:


    • Microsoft is embarking upon a new territory with Windows 10
    • Sataya Nadella does not seem like the right person to be CEO (he doesn't have a leadership mentality)
    • Sataya Nadella was the one who pushed for "everything cloud", and if he's wrong MS is in big trouble
    • Just because Apple iOS is cloud based doesn't mean medical offices that run Windows want their desktop systems transferring data to the cloud -- "apples" and oranges
    • Microsoft is taking a serious business risk with Windows 10
    • Microsoft was presented with a do-or-die situation in terms of competition from all angles and felt a SaaS OS was the way to go
    • Microsoft has released a spying operating system which is not a good idea in the post-Snowden era, especially as more people become in tune with privacy issues and debates
    • Only time will tell whether or not Windows 10 will be successful, but it very well may end up with not a substantial amount of market share
     
  5. esdtowimseeker

    esdtowimseeker MDL Novice

    Aug 4, 2015
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    I decided to go with 10 simply because it's newer and, one hopes, addresses shortcomings of prior versions. On a couple-year-old Lenovo laptop the upgrade went smoothly and, at least to this very brief user of that machine, appears to be MUCH faster at rendering windows. My daughter, main user since the upgrade of that laptop, has reported no issues at all.

    On my main machine, an ancient desktop that I use for, like, everything, the upgrade failed due to at LEAST an incorrect NVidia driver for its ancient graphics card; essentially nothing w.r.t. the user interface worked, though there appeared to be things going on "in the background" that behaved fine. I have since read that the last NVidia driver that overtly supports that ancient video card, 309.08, might actually work with Windows 10. As such, though I'm back to an image of 8.1 I conveniently made a few days prior to the Windows 10 install, I may try again to install Windows 10 and, if necessary, install that last NVidia driver. In preparation for that I'm image copying my C: drive tomorrow morning to a backup drive.

    So...I was willing to upgrade to 10, I was willing to stick with 8.1. The laptop is probably a permanent upgrade, the desktop could still go either way.
     
  6. $$YU

    $$YU MDL Novice

    Jul 30, 2015
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    NO leave 8.1
     
  7. DLord

    DLord MDL Novice

    Aug 17, 2012
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    Could you be more specific please?
     
  8. Cipher

    Cipher MDL Member

    May 31, 2008
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    The compelling reason to upgrade from W8.1 to W10 would be the start menu improvements imho, but if your using StartIsBack then it's a bit of a none issue for you.

    Your not going to see to much difference to be honest (I'm not).
     
  9. anarki2

    anarki2 MDL Novice

    Nov 21, 2014
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    W10 has some really nice refinements but I'm sad to say it has many little bugs, too. On my home comp audio randomly starts to stutter and I have to restart the audio service. Sometimes it just gets muted. WiFi randomly fails to turn on. In corporate environments network drive mapping's slow and sometimes (actually, most of the time) won't mount all drives. Hyper-V manager gives me access denied errors when managing remotely. And so on, and so on. Also, VGA drivers are a mess ATM. My friend updated to W10 and since then he can't connect to one specific router for whatever reason.

    It certainly needs a few months of bugsquashing.
     
  10. AzTec

    AzTec MDL Member

    Aug 4, 2009
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    water cooled cpu/gpu 8 core processor, only 16gb ram, Samsung SSD, Seagate SSHD drives, WD Black Label drives as well

    Runs on win Se7en

    Keeping Ten well away for a while

    Ten runs on a laptop on one drive with pro, insider version, no tweaks at all

    and another drive with LTSB N, and tweaked to the max, they are both as stable as you can get, still wont put it on my main pc. anyway, laptops are as cheep as chips these days.
     
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  11. DLord

    DLord MDL Novice

    Aug 17, 2012
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    Thank you all for the reply & info. I have decided to wait for the SP1 before seriously considering migrating to Win10; that is if I ever come to trust M$ with a free windows!
     
  12. cyberloner

    cyberloner MDL Member

    Sep 19, 2009
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    windows 10 have the virtual desktop i loves the most at this moment... same as linux style...