I got the University rate on Office 365, so it was only like $100 for 3 years, with over 1TB of OneDrive storage included. Not bad, not that I really ever use Office at home anymore.
Yea I mean pretty much the only reason I pay for office is because I just let my parents use it. My dad uses it on his desktop and iPad and my mom uses it on her iPad.
I open an office app outside of work about 5 times a year.
So, I've taken the plunge. My desktop PC is currently 49% done with its upgrade to Win10 Pro.
I finally had to bite the bullet when I learned several family members might be getting new laptops this year (and I'm on the hook for tech support, of course). Also, Virtual Desktop doesn't run on Win7.
and from the other side of the spectrum, make sure you give things a chance before you try to "fix" them. Give some things a week, and you might end up liking it more than an OS from 2009 with roots back to 2006. You might not, but it's worth at least giving it a try.
Took me about an hour of tweaking and registry hacking, but I have at least the "look and feel" parts fixed the way I want them. Installed Classic Shell, Anti-Beacon, and WinAeroTweaker.
So far I haven't run into anything too terribly enraging, but I suppose the night is young.
I was in the middle of a game when Windows decided it had to download gigs of updates, completely saturating my connection, with no way to turn it off (while in progress).
The update service is now permanently disabled until there's something I absolutely need to have from it.
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jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
I was in the middle of a game when Windows decided it had to download gigs of updates, completely saturating my connection, with no way to turn it off (while in progress).
The update service is now permanently disabled until there's something I absolutely need to have from it.
Well, Windows Update is kind of a pain in the ass. I had to edit the services.msc with that one.
To be fair, it's kind of a legacy pain in the ass.
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Zxerolfor the smaller pieces, my shovel wouldn't doso i took off my boot and used my shoeRegistered Userregular
edited April 2016
People not getting their Windows installations continually updated is what fucked over XP for so long. So I'm not surprised they're super militant about it nowadays.
People not getting their Windows installations continually updated is what fucked over XP for so long. So I'm not surprised they're super militant about it nowadays.
(P.S. update your damn operating systems)
I understand why it's important. I just think that power users (who probably have AV software/firewalls/etc.) should have more options available to them.
People not getting their Windows installations continually updated is what fucked over XP for so long. So I'm not surprised they're super militant about it nowadays.
(P.S. update your damn operating systems)
I understand why it's important. I just think that power users (who probably have AV software/firewalls/etc.) should have more options available to them.
People not getting their Windows installations continually updated is what fucked over XP for so long. So I'm not surprised they're super militant about it nowadays.
(P.S. update your damn operating systems)
I understand why it's important. I just think that power users (who probably have AV software/firewalls/etc.) should have more options available to them.
We do.
It's called the registry and services.
Or use the professional edition instead of home. Controlling windows update policy is pretty straightforward using gpedit.
People not getting their Windows installations continually updated is what fucked over XP for so long. So I'm not surprised they're super militant about it nowadays.
(P.S. update your damn operating systems)
I understand why it's important. I just think that power users (who probably have AV software/firewalls/etc.) should have more options available to them.
The problem with that is then everyone thinks they're a power user, or they turn it off once because the pop up annoyed them and then they never turned it back on.
I will agree that Microsoft could and should be a little more lenient, and in the coming Redstone 1 update in july-ish they are. There are options to set "active times" of when you usually use your computer that it won't auto update.
Also, you just installed a new operating system. Step 2 should always be "look for updates to the OS I just installed." Still not saying it is right, but you probably could have avoided it.
Took me about an hour of tweaking and registry hacking, but I have at least the "look and feel" parts fixed the way I want them. Installed Classic Shell, Anti-Beacon, and WinAeroTweaker.
I was in the middle of a game when Windows decided it had to download gigs of updates, completely saturating my connection, with no way to turn it off (while in progress).
The update service is now permanently disabled until there's something I absolutely need to have from it.
Well, Windows Update is kind of a pain in the ass. I had to edit the services.msc with that one.
To be fair, it's kind of a legacy pain in the ass.
So it's "Great!" but needs to be heavily modded via third party apps and registry/services tweaks. Sounds more like XP, to me. Can you really say it's great if you have to get other programs to make it usable for you? (Yes, I get what's going on here; there's a bit more salt due to me still being grumpy over the W10 forced upgrade bullshit)
And even for basic users, there should be an option to "download and install updates during periods of low activity." Making the computer basically unusable when you're trying to use it is how people move to other Operating Systems.
Yeah seriously. I've seen more than my fair share of anecdotes where people needed their computer to do something quickly and then windows update happened.
A computer is a tool. If it stops you from using it, it's by that metric clearly worse than a computer that doesn't do that. People remember that shit, and people tell that shit to everyone they know.
well again, it should have been there from the start, but it looks like they will fix it in the July update. And if you are on insider fast builds it is already there.
Has anyone had a forced reboot after changing the update setting from automatic to notify to schedule a reboot?
I'm almost positive I have. For security updates (ones you cannot defer). IIRC it will pop-up a notification that it wants to restarts and if you don't interact with it the system will eventually restart. I will have to test this though since most of my Win10 systems have long been configured to not run windows updates (I do it manually). My main system is giving lots of problems and a tech is scheduled to change a bunch of the hardware out. I wonder what is going to happen during the mainboard swap, just hoping it stays bootable and activated.
Took me about an hour of tweaking and registry hacking, but I have at least the "look and feel" parts fixed the way I want them. Installed Classic Shell, Anti-Beacon, and WinAeroTweaker.
I was in the middle of a game when Windows decided it had to download gigs of updates, completely saturating my connection, with no way to turn it off (while in progress).
The update service is now permanently disabled until there's something I absolutely need to have from it.
Well, Windows Update is kind of a pain in the ass. I had to edit the services.msc with that one.
To be fair, it's kind of a legacy pain in the ass.
So it's "Great!" but needs to be heavily modded via third party apps and registry/services tweaks. Sounds more like XP, to me. Can you really say it's great if you have to get other programs to make it usable for you? (Yes, I get what's going on here; there's a bit more salt due to me still being grumpy over the W10 forced upgrade bullshit)
And even for basic users, there should be an option to "download and install updates during periods of low activity." Making the computer basically unusable when you're trying to use it is how people move to other Operating Systems.
I can, because I don't use those programs, or any 3rd-party programs to make it usable. I think it's great on its own, and I haven't had any issues with it trying to restart in the middle of me doing anything, or windows updates clogging my connection, or anything like that.
Classic Shell is the same crap where people demanded that 7 look like XP, and XP look like 98, and 95 look like 3.11. People still use the Start menu? Why?
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
Wait, forced updates in Win 10 rebooting the system in use...
You folks have it set to schedule updates, not just immediately install them, right?
That's something that's mildly annoying too--it's a new issue, not a legacy issue. Windows 8.1 (and 7) simply bombard you with tiny reminders in the corner about you ought to install updates (unless you go out of your way to configure them otherwise).
On one hand, it's no secret that Microsoft can't trust people to update stuff on their own. On the other hand, it's inconvenient. After my office closed, I ran off with my work Surface Pro 3, wiped it, and updated it to Windows 10. It's repeatedly installed patches just as I was about to pick it up to use elsewhere.
To its credit, it's been pretty good at not beginning a "for the love of God, don't unplug the power adapter until this update finishes" update until it is actually plugged in. Not always, though.
Classic Shell is the same crap where people demanded that 7 look like XP, and XP look like 98, and 95 look like 3.11. People still use the Start menu? Why?
Because it's familiar and does what the user needs it to do? There's no reason to change a feature that fits that description, it's going to annoy users if you change it anyway, and it should come as zero surprise when those users find a way around your change-for-change's-sake.
That's one thing I really enjoy about this thread, we have the same discussions every 5 pages or so =/
Windows 98 was the pinnacle of computing, in 1998. Things change and evolve. Some for the better, some for not. But "because I've always done it this way" isn't always the best way.
And again, I'm not saying that it is or isn't. but what frustrates me is when people look at something, and instead of actually using it out of the box for a week or two and then making a decision on what they like or don't like and instead going "oh god I've been using this for 5 minutes and the start menu doesn't look exactly like it did in 2009 there is no possible way it can be better let me hack it back to the way it was in 2009."
There are very valid things to not like in Windows 10. I am not afraid to call it the best windows release ever, and there are still a couple of things in it that drive me nuts. But I'm also not stuck in the past.
Classic Shell is the same crap where people demanded that 7 look like XP, and XP look like 98, and 95 look like 3.11. People still use the Start menu? Why?
Because it's familiar and does what the user needs it to do? There's no reason to change a feature that fits that description, it's going to annoy users if you change it anyway, and it should come as zero surprise when those users find a way around your change-for-change's-sake.
Sorry, I was only responding to the assertion that Windows 10 "needs" these other 3rd party things to be viable. It doesn't. Change happens. If you want to revert to the way it used to be then go for it.
Classic Shell is the same crap where people demanded that 7 look like XP, and XP look like 98, and 95 look like 3.11. People still use the Start menu? Why?
Because it's familiar and does what the user needs it to do? There's no reason to change a feature that fits that description, it's going to annoy users if you change it anyway, and it should come as zero surprise when those users find a way around your change-for-change's-sake.
Sorry, I was only responding to the assertion that Windows 10 "needs" these other 3rd party things to be viable. It doesn't. Change happens. If you want to revert to the way it used to be then go for it.
Ah, I apologize if I came across as snarky.
Change is fine. The new Win10 interface is... fine. I'm just glad there's all these tweak tools and such to adjust things.
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jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
Took me about an hour of tweaking and registry hacking, but I have at least the "look and feel" parts fixed the way I want them. Installed Classic Shell, Anti-Beacon, and WinAeroTweaker.
I was in the middle of a game when Windows decided it had to download gigs of updates, completely saturating my connection, with no way to turn it off (while in progress).
The update service is now permanently disabled until there's something I absolutely need to have from it.
Well, Windows Update is kind of a pain in the ass. I had to edit the services.msc with that one.
To be fair, it's kind of a legacy pain in the ass.
So it's "Great!" but needs to be heavily modded via third party apps and registry/services tweaks. Sounds more like XP, to me. Can you really say it's great if you have to get other programs to make it usable for you? (Yes, I get what's going on here; there's a bit more salt due to me still being grumpy over the W10 forced upgrade bullshit)
And even for basic users, there should be an option to "download and install updates during periods of low activity." Making the computer basically unusable when you're trying to use it is how people move to other Operating Systems.
I haven't had to heavily mod it. I had to change the update policy and adjust a few settings.
It's definitely easier to use than 7, at least for my purposes. 7 feels kinda clunky and outdated now.
I really hate when people talk about strictly cosmetic aspects of interface design as if older designs are bad simply because they're old.
I'm tempted to pretend to be a time traveler from 2030 who has come back specifically to tell the people of 2016 how outdated their "modern" interfaces look.
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jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
I really hate when people talk about strictly cosmetic aspects of interface design as if older designs are bad simply because they're old.
I'm tempted to pretend to be a time traveler from 2030 who has come back specifically to tell the people of 2016 how outdated their "modern" interfaces look.
Well, being "clunky" isn't just the visual aspect. Windows 7 looks just fine. I feel it's the workflow, the feel when I'm using it. I spend less time interacting with the OS. That was my biggest gripe with 8 is that it felt like I had to wrestle it to get anything done.
Has anyone had a forced reboot after changing the update setting from automatic to notify to schedule a reboot?
I'm almost positive I have. For security updates (ones you cannot defer). IIRC it will pop-up a notification that it wants to restarts and if you don't interact with it the system will eventually restart. I will have to test this though since most of my Win10 systems have long been configured to not run windows updates (I do it manually). My main system is giving lots of problems and a tech is scheduled to change a bunch of the hardware out. I wonder what is going to happen during the mainboard swap, just hoping it stays bootable and activated.
Yeah I mis-remembered here. It will prompt you to set a reboot time, and my issues were that I'd set that to a few days later, but then forget to close my tabs or save docs or reboot manually and it would reboot when I wasn't expecting it to, and I lost stuff. I may have developed some arguably bad habits from using a laptop that would give me 10-12 hours of use and days on hibernate on a charge so I wouldn't reboot or shutdown for several months at a time.
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
I really hate when people talk about strictly cosmetic aspects of interface design as if older designs are bad simply because they're old.
I'm tempted to pretend to be a time traveler from 2030 who has come back specifically to tell the people of 2016 how outdated their "modern" interfaces look.
Well, being "clunky" isn't just the visual aspect. Windows 7 looks just fine. I feel it's the workflow, the feel when I'm using it. I spend less time interacting with the OS. That was my biggest gripe with 8 is that it felt like I had to wrestle it to get anything done.
At first glance you did. But then you realized it worked exactly the same as Win 7 if you were a keyboard user (Windows key, type what you need), with the added benefit of shortcuts to the control panel and such by right clicking the start menu.
I really hate when people talk about strictly cosmetic aspects of interface design as if older designs are bad simply because they're old.
I'm tempted to pretend to be a time traveler from 2030 who has come back specifically to tell the people of 2016 how outdated their "modern" interfaces look.
Well, being "clunky" isn't just the visual aspect. Windows 7 looks just fine. I feel it's the workflow, the feel when I'm using it. I spend less time interacting with the OS. That was my biggest gripe with 8 is that it felt like I had to wrestle it to get anything done.
At first glance you did. But then you realized it worked exactly the same as Win 7 if you were a keyboard user (Windows key, type what you need), with the added benefit of shortcuts to the control panel and such by right clicking the start menu.
Which... I have now... except Win 10 is a lot more familiar than 8 and I feel works better as a desktop solution.
Edit: I totally misread your initial comment!
jungleroomx on
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
Rereading it, it came across as a little dickish, too, which I didn't intend. I was trying to relay my initial reaction too.
Posts
I open an office app outside of work about 5 times a year.
I finally had to bite the bullet when I learned several family members might be getting new laptops this year (and I'm on the hook for tech support, of course). Also, Virtual Desktop doesn't run on Win7.
Thanks!
Fixing everything back the way I like it feels way more annoying than it did when I upgraded from XP to 7, but it might just be my imagination.
So far I haven't run into anything too terribly enraging, but I suppose the night is young.
I was in the middle of a game when Windows decided it had to download gigs of updates, completely saturating my connection, with no way to turn it off (while in progress).
The update service is now permanently disabled until there's something I absolutely need to have from it.
Well, Windows Update is kind of a pain in the ass. I had to edit the services.msc with that one.
To be fair, it's kind of a legacy pain in the ass.
(P.S. update your damn operating systems)
I understand why it's important. I just think that power users (who probably have AV software/firewalls/etc.) should have more options available to them.
It's nice that Microsoft is forcing absolute beginners to update.
I'm not an absolute beginner
We do.
It's called the registry and services.
Have you opened up the All Apps menu yet?
That alone was enough to almost immediately drive me to Classic Shell in the week or so I was trying out 10.
Why would I do that when the search bar exists?
I haven't opened an "all programs" or "all apps" anything since Windows 7 came out.
You folks have it set to schedule updates, not just immediately install them, right?
Or use the professional edition instead of home. Controlling windows update policy is pretty straightforward using gpedit.
The problem with that is then everyone thinks they're a power user, or they turn it off once because the pop up annoyed them and then they never turned it back on.
I will agree that Microsoft could and should be a little more lenient, and in the coming Redstone 1 update in july-ish they are. There are options to set "active times" of when you usually use your computer that it won't auto update.
Also, you just installed a new operating system. Step 2 should always be "look for updates to the OS I just installed." Still not saying it is right, but you probably could have avoided it.
So it's "Great!" but needs to be heavily modded via third party apps and registry/services tweaks. Sounds more like XP, to me. Can you really say it's great if you have to get other programs to make it usable for you? (Yes, I get what's going on here; there's a bit more salt due to me still being grumpy over the W10 forced upgrade bullshit)
And even for basic users, there should be an option to "download and install updates during periods of low activity." Making the computer basically unusable when you're trying to use it is how people move to other Operating Systems.
A computer is a tool. If it stops you from using it, it's by that metric clearly worse than a computer that doesn't do that. People remember that shit, and people tell that shit to everyone they know.
Really really awful practice by Microsoft
I'm almost positive I have. For security updates (ones you cannot defer). IIRC it will pop-up a notification that it wants to restarts and if you don't interact with it the system will eventually restart. I will have to test this though since most of my Win10 systems have long been configured to not run windows updates (I do it manually). My main system is giving lots of problems and a tech is scheduled to change a bunch of the hardware out. I wonder what is going to happen during the mainboard swap, just hoping it stays bootable and activated.
I can, because I don't use those programs, or any 3rd-party programs to make it usable. I think it's great on its own, and I haven't had any issues with it trying to restart in the middle of me doing anything, or windows updates clogging my connection, or anything like that.
Classic Shell is the same crap where people demanded that 7 look like XP, and XP look like 98, and 95 look like 3.11. People still use the Start menu? Why?
Never. It always pops up a notification that my computer will reboot at 3am for the update.
That's something that's mildly annoying too--it's a new issue, not a legacy issue. Windows 8.1 (and 7) simply bombard you with tiny reminders in the corner about you ought to install updates (unless you go out of your way to configure them otherwise).
On one hand, it's no secret that Microsoft can't trust people to update stuff on their own. On the other hand, it's inconvenient. After my office closed, I ran off with my work Surface Pro 3, wiped it, and updated it to Windows 10. It's repeatedly installed patches just as I was about to pick it up to use elsewhere.
To its credit, it's been pretty good at not beginning a "for the love of God, don't unplug the power adapter until this update finishes" update until it is actually plugged in. Not always, though.
I'm probably safe from disaster.
Because it's familiar and does what the user needs it to do? There's no reason to change a feature that fits that description, it's going to annoy users if you change it anyway, and it should come as zero surprise when those users find a way around your change-for-change's-sake.
Windows 98 was the pinnacle of computing, in 1998. Things change and evolve. Some for the better, some for not. But "because I've always done it this way" isn't always the best way.
And again, I'm not saying that it is or isn't. but what frustrates me is when people look at something, and instead of actually using it out of the box for a week or two and then making a decision on what they like or don't like and instead going "oh god I've been using this for 5 minutes and the start menu doesn't look exactly like it did in 2009 there is no possible way it can be better let me hack it back to the way it was in 2009."
There are very valid things to not like in Windows 10. I am not afraid to call it the best windows release ever, and there are still a couple of things in it that drive me nuts. But I'm also not stuck in the past.
Sorry, I was only responding to the assertion that Windows 10 "needs" these other 3rd party things to be viable. It doesn't. Change happens. If you want to revert to the way it used to be then go for it.
Ah, I apologize if I came across as snarky.
Change is fine. The new Win10 interface is... fine. I'm just glad there's all these tweak tools and such to adjust things.
I haven't had to heavily mod it. I had to change the update policy and adjust a few settings.
It's definitely easier to use than 7, at least for my purposes. 7 feels kinda clunky and outdated now.
I'm tempted to pretend to be a time traveler from 2030 who has come back specifically to tell the people of 2016 how outdated their "modern" interfaces look.
Well, being "clunky" isn't just the visual aspect. Windows 7 looks just fine. I feel it's the workflow, the feel when I'm using it. I spend less time interacting with the OS. That was my biggest gripe with 8 is that it felt like I had to wrestle it to get anything done.
Yeah I mis-remembered here. It will prompt you to set a reboot time, and my issues were that I'd set that to a few days later, but then forget to close my tabs or save docs or reboot manually and it would reboot when I wasn't expecting it to, and I lost stuff. I may have developed some arguably bad habits from using a laptop that would give me 10-12 hours of use and days on hibernate on a charge so I wouldn't reboot or shutdown for several months at a time.
At first glance you did. But then you realized it worked exactly the same as Win 7 if you were a keyboard user (Windows key, type what you need), with the added benefit of shortcuts to the control panel and such by right clicking the start menu.
Which... I have now... except Win 10 is a lot more familiar than 8 and I feel works better as a desktop solution.
Edit: I totally misread your initial comment!