Poll:How's That Windows 10 Upgrade Coming Along?

[pb4uski]

I have had a new laptop that came with Windows 10 for about a week. It took a little getting used to but it's ok... nothing to write home about and I prefer Win 7 Pro but I was very used to that. I suspect the more that I use Windows 10 the more I'll like it.

Since my MS Office 2013 disk is at home, I'm trying out LibreOffice but have set it to save documents in MS Office formats... ok so far but I don't use word processing or spreadsheets so much anymore. By the time I get back home I think I'll know if it meets my needs well enough to keep or to install MS Office and uninstall LibreOffice.

 

[REWahoo]

I have had a new laptop that came with Windows 10 for about a week. It took a little getting used to but it's ok... nothing to write home about and I prefer Win 7 Pro but I was very used to that. I suspect the more that I use Windows 10 the more I'll like it.

I got a refurb laptop in Dec with W10 and immediately installed Classic Shell - Start menu which made the learning curve really easy.

 

[pb4uski]

Nice to know... I want to try to "learn" Windows 10 but if I get frustrated with it then I may well try that software.

 

[REWahoo]

Nice to know... I want to try to "learn" Windows 10 but if I get frustrated with it then I may well try that software.

I'd recommend giving it a try as it changes the interface to something you are more familiar with but does not diminish any of the W10 features or capabilities.

 

[W2R]

I used Classic Shell with Windows 8, but haven't needed it for Windows 10 for some reason. But it can be very helpful if needed.

 

[timo2]

But since this is really old iron, it is slow. So I discovered the "Puppy" distro which I'm probably going to use just on this old box. I have some environmental sensors that will work fine in a very bare environment. The "tahr-Puppy" distro was surprisingly featured and extremely slim. Definitely for tech people only. (If you don't know what vfat, ext3, ext4 are, stay away.)

But now I'm going into distro-babble, something I complained about earlier.

I'm using LXLE on on old laptop and it moves along briskly. It probably is set up like that puppy version http://www.lxle.net

 

[target2019]

Fan speed constantly running at high setting is a bad sign. Could be restricted airflow from dust. One nice thing about the dual boot situation is that you can determine if it is hardware. If it runs high in both OS's, then it is a BIOS setting, dust, or component failure of some kind.

 

[broadway]

Fan speed constantly running at high setting is a bad sign. Could be restricted airflow from dust. One nice thing about the dual boot situation is that you can determine if it is hardware. If it runs high in both OS's, then it is a BIOS setting, dust, or component failure of some kind.

I once took apart a Dell laptop for someone.
The fan area was completely clogged.
A big hairball fell out.

 

[pb4uski]

My new laptop/tablet doesn't have a fan... problem solved!

 

[Totoro]

I got my fan under control - by updating to the latest NVIDIA drivers. It actually works better now vs. Windows. Process was simple enough, it's right there with a simple GUI. The big thing was figuring out that was the problem to begin with. Linux Mint apparently uses it's own driver 'nouveau' vs. the NVIDIA ones.

Fixing that led to another challenge though: I lost brightness control. After a few hours also fixed that .. but have to drop to the command line.

Apart from that now really happy, everything else runs smoothly., power consumption is down too. Takeaway for me: it's a simple enough OS to use and maintain. I would recommend it to my mother/grandma.

Setting it up is still not for the typical beginner though. Shame really.

 

[easysurfer]

Linux doesn't sound as easy to deal with as one might wish. That's disappointing. Good luck with your fan.

If you are GUI oriented, then with Linux if you find a distro that you like and decide to only use application from the repository with a GUI interface, then thing are pretty similar. That's what I find frustrating about contemplating switching from Win when suddenly I find myself going into a Linux terminal and typing commands. I guess in a way, not too dissimilar then going to the command prompt in Windows and typing away. In Win, that doesn't seem to happen as often.

A difference between the two is Win is profit based and Linux community based. Thus, Microsoft can make changes anytime they want and try and kill of an OS like XP and Win 7 whereas in Linux that's more an evolution.

I watched last night on Amazon (saved up enough prime digital credits for a free rental ) "Silicon Cowboys", which was like a documentary on the rise and fall of Compaq computer. A David vs Goliath story with Compaq taking on IBM. Though there were some parts that didn't keep my attention, the movie brought back a lot of memories that I forgot about the time in computer history. Like when IBM put out their PS/2 and made that PC no longer compatible with older IBM programs. Folks in the industry had to choose the IBM way or another way. With Bill Gates playing a big role in how things ended up.

 

[ERD50]

....

Fixing that led to another challenge though: I lost brightness control. After a few hours also fixed that .. but have to drop to the command line.

Apart from that now really happy, everything else runs smoothly., power consumption is down too. Takeaway for me: it's a simple enough OS to use and maintain. I would recommend it to my mother/grandma.

Setting it up is still not for the typical beginner though. Shame really.

But as pointed out earlier, your computer does not sound 'typical' ( I have a high resolution display (2160p)). You didn't say, but I'm guessing that a set up with a high rez display is probably atypical in other ways as well. Like, the display driver for that high-rez display.

-ERD50