Windows 10 Consumer Preview

[Victor Cachat]

9 must have been really good or really bad.

[Zorba]

I wanna go back to CP/M...

[The War Wagon]

Windows 95: GREAT.
Windows 98: BARF
Windows ME: Meh...
Windows XP: Good.
Windows Vista: Meh...
Windows 7: good
Windows 8: Meh...

8 is so hard to use now, I can see why they're skipping ahead to 10, though!

[oakfan52]

They should have stopped at XP.

[klewan]

8 is so hard to use now, I can see why they're skipping ahead to 10, though!

They should have gone to 9, but I guess they're really getting sensitive up there about how they manage to screw the pooch every other release. I know some computer geeks, and have asked them why the new and improved version almost always sucks. To them, they're all better than the previous, couldn't understand why the rest of us loathe them....you really need to be somewhere on the autistic spectrum to be a geek...no idea about the rest of the population..

[AgentAK]

Just know it is not free for life. It is rumored that it will be free for the first year and then be on a subscription basis like they did with office products. I am sure once you go to 10 you can not go back and are stuck paying for the subscription. No. Thank. You.

Not true, it's free to upgrade to it for a year. NO subscriptions...Updates will always be free.

https://microsoft-windows-10-will-not-be-sold-as-a-subscription

[oakfan52]

The January update installed on my laptop last night. The changes that I have noticed so far I like. Cortana is now on the system. The new start menu has been enhanced more. It's larger provided easier access to a lot of settings. The biggest change I've noticed is the notification center now has buttons at the bottom that allow you to easily switch between desktop mode and tablet mode, access display settings, network settings or other settings. Also another nice touch is that apps that are open have a blue bar below them in the taskbar so you can tell if an app is just pinned or actually open now.

[RonnieP]

They should have gone to 9

They can't go to 9 because 7 ate 9.


But on a serious note, there is no such thing as a free lunch, especially from Microsoft. The "free" upgrade for Windows 7/8 users sounds great until Microsoft sets the hook that was hidden in the "free" upgrade.

[cncer]

9 was ditched because of the OS detection schemes used to determine compatibility in certain legacy programs (95/98 etc) or that's what I've heard.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2690724/why-windows-10-isnt-named-9-windows-95-legacy-code.html

[SMR510]

They can't go to 9 because 7 ate 9.


But on a serious note, there is no such thing as a free lunch, especially from Microsoft. The "free" upgrade for Windows 7/8 users sounds great until Microsoft sets the hook that was hidden in the "free" upgrade.

There have been countless reports that it is actually free...

I think it makes sense to them for several reasons:

1. One OS to continue development on (bug fixes, new features, security resks, etc)
2. Consumers don't pay for upgrades and 90% of people buy a computer from a big OEM including whatever flavor of Windows and stick with that for the life of the device

With the combination of those two factors I believe they have realized that is streamlines their internal workload and does not really affect income at all. Businesses are not eligible for the upgrade, they will happily pay for it as they always have if the need to upgrade.

[Epaphroditus]

Linux ... still free!

[vintagearms]

I'm kind of old fashioned. I like my programs/games on CD/DVD so I can buy them once and not have to pay a monthly/yearly charge.

[Wrangler John]

My friend said of Windows Hate, that Microsoft is the only industry that produces crap, then makes the customer learn how to operate the crap, and blames the customer if they expected it to work as the previous version. People who don't have the time and inclination to figure out MS's madness are insulted as dinosaurs or too set in their ways to learn the new crap. In many cases we don't need flaw-flaw and geegaws, just a robust secure OS that can deal with copious amounts of ram memory and storage, and run clean efficient programs that follow on those that we are familiar with. Microsoft always misses the mark with those who just want everything XP can do, with expanded memory capabilities and the security holes plugged. We are just looking to get work done, quickly, without learning Microsoft's esoteric bowel movements regarding cartoon icons, tiles, charms, and little runes and menus that lead to the depths of obscurity to change a setting or eliminate a distraction. We use desktops, for serious work and play, not tablets or phones, or the latest rage in wearable whatever. Give us the option of simplicity, an intuitive interface that has the familiarity of an old friend, and we would gladly pay for it. But then I'm still running XP-SP3 and Windows 7 Professional, and find them both adequate for my purposes.

[RonnieP]

There have been countless reports that it is actually free...

With the combination of those two factors I believe they have realized that is streamlines their internal workload and does not really affect income at all. Businesses are not eligible for the upgrade, they will happily pay for it as they always have if the need to upgrade.

But that's the thing. This won't work unless they FORCE everyone to get Windows 10.

Microsoft will have to continue to write patches for prior windows because there will be people that refuse/reject windows 10 or the next "new" version of it.

And don't forget about Business that can't upgrade to a newer version of windows because their proprietary software won't work with any other version of windows beside the one that the software was written/coded for.

[SMR510]

But that's the thing. This won't work unless they FORCE everyone to get Windows 10.

Microsoft will have to continue to write patches for prior windows because there will be people that refuse/reject windows 10 or the next "new" version of it.

And don't forget about Business that can't upgrade to a newer version of windows because their proprietary software won't work with any other version of windows beside the one that the software was written/coded for.

Well over time that will be what happens, if they offered free upgrades I bet most people would take advantage of it. If they no longer supported older versions with security patches virtually everyone would do it.

Since XP compatibility issues seem to be a thing of the past, everything I have works for vista-8.1 and a lot of software companies are going to subscription based models so it would be easy to keep everything running smoothly. Since XP is no longer supported itself its hard to justify catering toward those small businesses who are not currently supported.


I just find it funny that everyone is freaking out when Apple is so popular and frequently breaks their OS and pushes it to every device they make. What is the difference?