Windows 10 is finally here. Andy Shaw delves deep into its new features and reveals whether it’s worth installing
Windows is and always has been the world’s most popular operating system (OS), but Microsoft has frequently put its users through a bumpy ride. Each new generation of its OS has brought overhauls and redesigns, prompting strong reactions that veer from love (XP) to hate (Vista) and back to love again (Windows 7), and it was out of favour again with its most recent disaster - Windows 8.
Following this alternating pattern, Windows 10 ought to be a hit, but we’ve approached it with several reservations. For a start, we've never been overly keen to recommend OS upgrades, because older PCs often struggle with the requirements of the latest software.
Furthermore, the first few months of a new OS are often riddled with teething problems, from general instability to a lack of drivers. That said, the unique way in which Microsoft has opened up its Technical Preview program to anyone who wants it should have helped to reduce this.
Offering Windows 10 for free to Windows 7 and 8 users also removes the biggest barrier that most people encounter when deciding whether to give a new OS a go: how much it costs.
So, in this review, we have some big questions to answer. Is Windows 10 worth the time and bother of downloading, installing and getting used to? Are its new features enough to draw you away from your older OS? And how likely is it that this upgrade will play havoc with your PC’s files and settings, at least until the groundswell of early adopters start fixing the problems and the solutions to common gripes appear online?
Performing the upgrade
We waited until after the Windows 10 launch day to start writing this definitive review because a new operating system isn’t just about how the Technical Preview runs, but how the operating system installs over the top of your existing software. We sacrificed a much-loved and well-used home PC to the process, which was purchased with Windows 8 installed. Having survived the upgrade to Windows 8.1, it has been running smoothly ever since. If we weren’t using it to test the upgrade process, we’d have left the upgrade for at least a few weeks until the early adopters could confirm Windows 10 was up and running without too many problems. However, despite our reservations, by 11am on upgrade day, we checked Windows Update and were able to push through the installation.
The process is incredibly slick. Installing the upgrade only took about an hour, which is very reasonable. We barely needed to touch the PC during the installation and, although it rebooted a few times, we were warned that this was likely to happen. For most of the hour, a large grey circle occupied the screen, slowly filling up with blue, to indicate its progress. When the circle turned completely blue, the PC rebooted and the new Desktop appeared.
On the first boot, we suffered a crash after about five minutes. The Desktop flashed repeatedly and we had to reboot. After using the PC for an afternoon, we suffered another crash that black-screened and rebooted the PC. But by day three, we hadn’t suffered any further crashes. While that’s not a perfect record, we were expecting much worse.
Stability and compatibility
The most common problem we’ve encountered following an OS upgrade is that peripheral hardware stops working, so we checked this first. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the printer, scanner and all our other devices seemed to be operating normally.
However, after using the PC for a while, we noticed our security software (Kaspersky Internet Security 2015) had been disabled. The program suggested that we should restart the computer to take it out of Safe Mode, but because it wasn’t actually in Safe Mode, the reboot failed to solve the problem and the same error reappeared. Searching fora solution online was tricky because Kaspersky didn’t offer a version for the Technical Preview, so support information was thin on the ground. We got it sorted eventually by uninstalling and reinstalling the software, and manually turning off Windows Defender. Since then, other Kaspersky users on the Web User forum (a great place to go for upgrade help) have informed us that a Kaspersky update has now solved this problem.
We expect some instability and incompatibilities in the early days of the operating system and although the Windows 10 upgrade process hasn’t been as much of a disaster as some we've seen in the past, we’d still advise waiting as long as you can before you upgrade. Let the early adopters find the bugs and incompatibilities (such as our Kaspersky problem), so that they’re ironed out by the time you take the plunge. If you simply can’t wait, you’ll have to expect a bumpier ride, no matter how tech-savvy you are.
It’s also worth noting that the Technical Preview, which we installed from scratch from an ISO image on a separate (older) computer, has been significantly more stable throughtout. If you’d prefer to go down this route by performing a full clean install, we’ll show you how to in next issue’s Weekend Project.
Appearance and design
The flatter-looking design of Windows 10 is becoming ubiquitous across modern devices, with Apple and Google adopting similarly clean aesthetics. In Windows 10, it looks elegant and sophisticated, and feels like a hark back to a simpler era, before computers had the processing power to create 3D interfaces and translucent windows. The borders on windows have all but disappeared, so the software uses subtle shadowing to imply layers. The simpler design has the effect of making Windows 10 feel like it’s faster to use, so we're all for it.
If there’s one thing we don’t like, it’s the new scroll bars. In Windows apps, they disappear if you’re not moving your cursor over the window, so there’s no longer any visual clue that there may be more content below. They’re also narrower, which makes them harder to grab and move around, and the arrow buttons at the top and bottom are now minuscule. Thankfully, software that hasn’t been adjusted to the Windows 10 interface still displays the wider scrollbars, though this creates an inconsistency in the way different software displays, which doesn’t look great. We suspect it will only be a matter of time before all Windows apps and programs slim down to fit in with the latest design.
The other big visual change is that Windows 8’s Start screen has gone (and good riddance). The Start menu is back and, by default, it won't take over your whole screen (though you can revert to that if, for some reason, you’ve become so used to Windows 8’s foibles that you want to keep them).
However, while Windows 7 users might be familiar with a small Start window popping up from the bottom-left corner of the screen, its design in Windows 10 is a lot fussier. Microsoft hasn’t entirely ditched the whole-screen tiled Windows 8 Start page, it’s just compacted it into a quarter of the space.
When you first install the OS, the new Start menu is crammed with Windows 10 apps, some of which, such as News and Money, scroll pictures of current stories. This brings to mind the link-bait ads you see at the bottom of many websites and feels like an annoying invitation to procrastinate. Others tiles are blatant Microsoft adverts, with icons for Xbox and Office. These will probably be the first things you’ll want to right-click and unpin.
Another unpopular Windows 8 legacy was the Charms bar - a failed attempt to bring a second, touch-friendly taskbar to the OS. In Windows 10, it’s been replaced by the Action Centre. Press Windows+A and, like the Charms bar, it appears from the right, but it’s a significant improvement, with more useful information immediately available. It’s also configurable, so you can decide what information is displayed, and there are handy quick-access buttons to a few regularly used settings.
Ease of use
Upgrading to a new operating system is always going to take some getting used to. No matter how much certain elements look like those in previous versions, the new OS is called Windows 10, not Windows 8.2, and the fuss and fanfare have to be justified by major changes, rather than tiny tweaks.
Windows 8 users have nothing to fear, though, because everything that was any use in Windows 8 is still here. Small touches such as the Windows+X menu, which was introduced in Windows 8.1 because no-one could ever find the tools and programs they were looking for, have stayed. This is a good thing because although it doesn’t fit in with the sophisticated design of Windows 10, it’s a practical tool that gives experienced users quick access to important functions, and we already use it a lot.
One of the most awkward things about Windows 8 was the dual existence of the Control Panel and the Settings app, and this is still the case in Windows 10. In essence, the Settings app is a simplified version of the Control Panel, and may eventually take over the latter’s functions entirely. Windows 10 pushes the Settings app further to the fore, making it much more accessible by placing its icon in the Start menu (in Windows 8, it was hidden away in the Charms bar). Meanwhile the Control Panel (which has stayed essentially untouched since Windows Vista) moves further into the background.
While this may be a significant change for Windows 7 users, the design of the Settings app is more in keeping with the overall flat, mobile-like design of Windows 10. More tools from the Control Panel have made their way across to the Settings app, but you can still use the Control Panel if you prefer, because nothing appears to have been removed from it.
Keeping both the Settings app and the Control Panel may be an attempt to keep everyone happy, but we find it confusing. While everything is slowly moving over to the Settings app, it’s frustrating while the process is in transition because once you start getting used to it, you find yourself looking for things that haven’t made it across yet and wasting several mouse-clicks searching for things in the wrong place.
Another way in which Windows 10 hopes to fundamentally change the way we use our PCs is via its search box on the taskbar. This is your link to Cortana, but it also lets you search your PC and the internet, without having to first launch Explorer or a web browser.
However, by rolling these three tools into one, Windows 10 again causes confusion. As you type a search, Windows 10 starts finding results, listing settings and apps at the top, adding a few potential web searches below, then listing files and documents at the bottom. You can refine your search by clicking the ‘My stuff’ or Web buttons, but keeping all three functions can make the box very messy and we think this search tool is trying too hard to do too much.
Windows 10 apps
We’ve never been fans of the Windows apps. These built-in mini-applications were designed to give Windows 8 some software that touchscreen users could operate without having to deal with tiny menus and buttons, but they mostly left Desktop users cold. When launched, they take over the entire screen, like an iOS or Android app would on a mobile device, and the original Windows 8 versions couldn’t even be closed with a mouse.
Windows 10 hasn’t abolished these horrors completely, but the improvements begun in Windows 8.1, which added buttons so you could at least close the damn things with your mouse, have been extended. The apps no longer run full screen but in a window, so they’ve essentially reverted to how standard Windows programs work.
The supposed benefit is that the same apps should work across all your Windows 10 devices, including tablets and phones. However, if you’re sticking with Android or iOS, the Windows apps remain one of those features that you’re probably not going to use very much.
Innovation and value for money
There are two truly innovative things about Windows 10. The first is the way it’s been developed in plain sight. Previous versions of Windows have provided beta programs where the chosen few have been able to test the software for free and give feedback, but Windows 10 has carried this out on an unprecedented scale. Anyone with a PC has been given the opportunity to download and test it on their own computers, and the evolution of the software from those first Technical Previews has been incredible to witness.
This isn’t just a marketing ploy; Windows has been tested by the very people who are actually going to use it, and the open availability should mean that more hardware and software manufacturers are ready with the required patches and updates, which will ensure their products run smoothly on the new version.
The other remarkable aspect of Windows 10 is its cost. Microsoft has given us free stuff in the past, such as Windows Essentials software (Movie Maker, for example) and online services such as OneDrive, which provide a generous amount of free storage space. However, operating systems have been a core part of Microsoft’s money-making operation, ever since MS-DOS was installed on the first IBM PCs. While you could just about understand giving away the new OS as a goodwill gesture to those who suffered under Windows 8, stretching that gift to Windows 7 users is a generous step.
Of course, all freebies have strings attached and, as mentioned previously, Microsoft is pushing a lot of unwelcome ads into the Start menu. If you haven’t already got a Microsoft account, you probably will have by the time you’ve set up Windows, whether you like it or not, although you can then convert your Windows user account back to the standard version.
The pushy services are a bit of an intrusion but it’s relatively easy to clean up the Start menu and remove the taskbar link to the Store, if you don’t want them.
If Microsoft had decided to sell Windows 10 for around £100, we’d be sorely disappointed with its OS. Removing a bunch of things that bugged us about Windows 8 and adding a few features of debatable merit wouldn’t represent good value for money. But by giving it away for free, we’re left with less cause for complaint.
Should you upgrade?
By the time you read this, Windows 10 will have been available for at least a couple of weeks. We don’t think that’s enough time for Microsoft to iron out all the bugs and problems that we’ve already seen hitting the software, and there’s no magic moment at which point the upgrade process will become completely trouble free. However, the longer you leave it, the smoother your experience will be.
Although our upgrade was reasonably quick, we’d advise setting aside a day or two for the job, so you can fiddle around with the new OS. It's also a good idea to schedule the task for a time when you can afford not to have your PC to hand because there’s always a chance that something might go wrong. If you desperately need your PC the day after you upgrade, you’d be best advised to hold off until you’ve got more time. It’s just not worth the risk.
For Windows 8 users, the upgrade is a sensible choice. Windows 10 is easier to use and refines some of the clunkiness of the previous version. But for Windows 7 users, it’s not so clear-cut. It remains relatively free of additional nonsense such as touchscreen apps and voice-activated search assistants and represents the high point in the history of Windows. Although you should certainly take advantage of the free Windows 10 upgrade before 28 July 2016, so you can lengthen the life of your PC for free, we would recommend you leave it as long as possible if you’re still happy using Windows 7.
OUR VERDICT
Windows 10 is going to be a massive success for Microsoft but not because it’s a brilliant new operating system. Its greatest innovation is in changing the rules of how an operating system is delivered, maintaining its control over our computers by giving it away to anyone with a PC that’s powerful enough to run it.
Contrary to how this might sound, we’re not against Windows 10. If you’ve got Windows 8 installed, you should upgrade, if only to reclaim the Start menu and ditch the horrible Charms bar.
If you’re on Windows 7, you have to ask yourself how ready you are to abandon it. Windows 10 might offer your PC a speed boost because you’ll be replacing your update-laden older copy of Windows with a shiny new installation that doesn’t come with all that extra baggage. But the extras on offer - a search bar you can speak to, a browser that’s still playing catch-up and touch-friendly apps that you probably don’t need - just aren’t worthy of the hype. It’s a good idea to get it while it’s free, but you may as well enjoy Windows 7 for a bit longer and make sure Windows 10 is right for your PC before you upgrade.
On the whole, Windows 10 is worth the upgrade, but only because it’s free. And we’d still advise caution - leave it another few weeks (or months, if you can wait that long), because everything about your upgrade will get easier if you let other people sort out its problems first.