We’ve given Stuart Andrews day release from The Final Straw so he can give his verdict on the new OS
What do I think of Windows 10? Predictably, it’s a love/hate relationship. On the love side, I think it has the potential to become not just the final Windows version, but the best. I’m not sure whether it’s a brilliant strategy or lucky coincidence, but just as people are falling out of love with tablets, Windows reincarnates with the Desktop interface centre stage. From the reappearance of the Start button to a more usable Start menu and the ability to put Windows Store apps in the traditional floating windows, it’s an operating system (OS) that combines the best of Windows 7 and Windows 8.
I also like Windows 10’s adaptability. It all makes sense on a desktop PC, but it also works well on my laptop and on the tablet I use when travelling. I switch to Tablet Mode in the latter, then connect a wireless mouse and keyboard and kid myself it’s a tiny all-in-one PC.
Windows 8 always felt like the product of a company that had missed the tablet bandwagon, then over-compensated by going ludicrously gung-ho. The result? An OS that did its best to alienate existing Windows users while failing miserably to grab the iPad crowd. Windows 10 seems confident about who and what it’s for. It’s a Windows for people who like Windows.
I’m also a fan of its new features. Having a dodgy memory and a tragic tendency to leave my email unchecked, pop-up notifications for events and emails are a lifesaver. The Edge browser is clean, fast and the first Microsoft browser I’ve used seriously in years. I even use Cortana for reminders, search and news. With Windows 10, Microsoft finally has a family of devices that works in harmony, like the Nolans, rather than the Ewings the Borgias.
So why does Windows 10 still infuriate me? Well, while I see the need for fully automatic updates, I find Microsoft’s approach bumptious and inflexible. I’ve experienced several occasions when Windows failed to update overnight as requested, then kicks one off when I’m doing something urgent. There’s also that weird disconnect between the dumbeddown, new-style Settings menus and the over-complex Windows 7 control panels. Why have one good way to install a Wi-Fi printer when you can have three ineffective ways to cock it up?
The built-in email and calendar apps are bland, space-hogging mediocrities, without any of the clever features seen in Google or Dropbox’s mobile apps. And while I like Tablet Mode up to a point, I’m still not sure that it actually has one. Sure, Windows 10 works with touch, but why am I always so relieved to use a mouse and keyboard?
Most seriously of all, I don’t trust it. I’ve been running Windows 10 full-time across two desktop PCs, a laptop and a tablet for the past four months. As we crept nearer to its launch on 29 July, I kept thinking: surely they can’t release it in this state. Everything seemed in flux. Updates might or might not update, programs might or might not launch. I hoped the final release would prove me wrong, but no.
Microsoft’s own core programs still refuse to launch until I restart, and last week my laptop wouldn’t open the Start menu until I did a full reset. It’s just my experience, but this has been the least stable Windows since Vista, and that’s something I hoped I’d never write. I know Microsoft will fix this – after all, it fixed Vista – but Windows 10’s unruly behaviour has left me loving it less. After all, it’s no good being the best Windows ever if you can’t rely on it.