Why I Don't Upgrade Windows

[spncity]

I use Crossover software by Codeweavers in order to run Windows Quicken on a Mac. They have good customer support.

TurboTax installs a Mac version.

 

[CaptTom]

I first rejected the Start menu but came to like it. 90 percent of my stuff can be done via the icons on the taskbar.

Over the years I've spent many hours dealing with post-upgrade problems. Zero hours dealing with security-related problems.

Does anyone else remember, back in the early days of IT, when an upgrade was always a GOOD thing? It brought new functionality and/or improved the user interface.

Now the best we can say is we've learned to tolerate all the meaningless changes that were made, apparently only for change's sake.

This is not only true of OSs, but it seems most apps get a fashionably new look every so often, with no real improvement in what the program does or how you use it. Sometimes they even remove functionality to appease the dummies who give it poor reviews when they can't figure out how to do something complex.

 

[easysurfer]

Does anyone else remember, back in the early days of IT, when an upgrade was always a GOOD thing? It brought new functionality and/or improved the user interface.

Now the best we can say is we've learned to tolerate all the meaningless changes that were made, apparently only for change's sake.

This is not only true of OSs, but it seems most apps get a fashionably new look every so often, with no real improvement in what the program does or how you use it. Sometimes they even remove functionality to appease the dummies who give it poor reviews when they can't figure out how to do something complex.

+1. The same goes also for websites. I went on one of my checking accounts website yesterday. Not my primary but still keep active. The "new and improved" website used to have an intuitive design but now is pretty much unusable. Change for change's sake .

 

[Ian S]

I have a dual boot desktop machine (WIN7 and WIN10) and still spend most of my time using WIN7 although any new software goes on the WIN10 partition. My latest video editing software went on the WIN10 partition and I will do the same for picture editing when I get a great deal on a suitable replacement for my no longer available photo editing program. I slipped up and installed this year's tax software on the WIN7 partition but will migrate that too next year. Eventually, there will only be a couple of programs left running under WIN7 (e.g. an old no longer supported CAD program.)

My laptop runs WIN10 and I don't really have any complaints. I do have to chuckle a bit at folks who want to hold on tight to older OSes like XP as I remember the brouhaha that erupted over the newly instituted activation process when XP originally came out - people HATED that.

 

[TromboneAl]

I got tired of the nag dialogs, and tried to backup my start menu and upgraded again. Same problem, and none of the tricks for restoring the menu work.

So, I decided I'd take the time to manually add the same things to the menu. When I do, for example adding a item such as "Contact Us," it creates it as "Contact Us (2)".

So, it's there but not showing.

 

[TromboneAl]

I took the time to manually create the icons I wanted and add them to the start menu.

That's usually better than trying to solve the problem, call tech support, etc.

 

[easysurfer]

I'm still on Win 7.

While trying to install a security update, Windows update froze my computer on the "Starting Windows" screen. Wasn't a one time thing as I tried several times.

Luckily, I do Macrium Reflect backups automatically each morning and restored from that, otherwise, I'd be up a creek without a paddle.

I've since ignored that update as no other choice at the moment.

 

[Sunset]

I did a big windows 10 update, it was unusual as it was similar to a fresh install, notifying me they are getting it ready, etc.

After it was done which took around 1 hour, I found I no longer had VPN to a client. So I spent another hour finding the settings and setting it up again.

Otherwise it seems fine so far.... ?

 

[NW-Bound]

My Windows 10 desktop did another update today. After it rebooted, the screen was in the "wonderful" VGA mode of 1024 res. Arghh! It did the same thing a few months ago.

What the update did was to install the default VGA driver and overrode the existing driver for my Radeon graphics card. Granted, the card is not the latest breed, but it works fine for me as I am not a game player. So, I had to spend a bit of time to restore the old driver.

And then, because the screen icons did not fit in the low-res screen, Windows re-arranged them all. Another pain in the tush to undo.

MS keeps making Windows usage a pain in the rump, but I have no choice here. I am running a few hardware IDE packages, and they are available only in Windows. I heard that there are some that also run on Linux. When I get a break from this hot homebrew project, I will investigate that.

 

[akck]

The last upgrade on my old computer caused me to get a new one. What happened was that my video card driver was no longer supported so windows 10 switched to a generic driver. Everything was so distorted it gave me headaches to use it. At some point, I’ll set the old computer as a server, not that I need the storage. I just hate to throw out a working computer.

 

[CaptTom]

These last two examples reinforce why I personally don't see another Windows computer in my future. If I can't get by with a Chromebook or some such, I'll probably end up finally learning more about Linux.

 

[Ian S]

The last upgrade on my old computer caused me to get a new one. What happened was that my video card driver was no longer supported so windows 10 switched to a generic driver. Everything was so distorted it gave me headaches to use it. At some point, I’ll set the old computer as a server, not that I need the storage. I just hate to throw out a working computer.

If the PC was a desktop, a cheap new video card from Newegg probably would have been a good solution. If a laptop, then that fix wouldn't likely be feasible.

 

[JoeWras]

I foolishly have a relatively new PC with a primary drive of 30GB, and secondary of 200GB.

It is nearly impossible to get Windows to put everything on the secondary. I did get most over there (including temporary windows install files), but not all.

Now, every big update is a crisis of space.

I may try to reimage and resort the drives, but I really don't want that pain.

 

[JustCurious]

I don't own a Windows machine anymore, I only use Chrome OS on my computers at home. I have a Chromebox as my main computer connected to two large monitors (I'm typing on it now) and I have two Chromebooks.

 

[easysurfer]

The last upgrade on my old computer caused me to get a new one. What happened was that my video card driver was no longer supported so windows 10 switched to a generic driver. Everything was so distorted it gave me headaches to use it. At some point, I’ll set the old computer as a server, not that I need the storage. I just hate to throw out a working computer.

I'm holding on to using a Win 7 machine til no longer supported for the main reason of not wanting to get messed up win update. Actually, a recent update messed up my system anyhow, but luckily I was able to restore from a system backup.

A part of me would like to say bye-bye Win, but I'm dependent on some Win programs (Garmin update, Turbotax Desktop).

Plus, some Win programs I like (my password manager, budget program, mouse mover utility, to name a few). Sure there may be somewhat equivalent programs in another system, but I think not as smooth as might sound.

 

[dixonge]

I've tricked Windows into not doing automatic upgrades by telling I was on a metered wifi connection.

But on my daughter's wifi, it downloaded and installed the upgrade without my permission. As a result, all of the start menu icons I'd laboriously created and organized were gone.

Fortunately, I was able to go back to the earlier version.

This 'tweaker' app really helps find and organize menu items

https://winaero.com/

 

[GrayHare]

To avoid the forced OS "upgrades", one can still buy a new computer with Windows 7 from many places (Dell, etc.), but not for much longer. Unlike 10, with Windows 7 one can turn off the problematic automagic upgrades and have them stay off.

 

[Ian S]

I foolishly have a relatively new PC with a primary drive of 30GB, and secondary of 200GB.

It is nearly impossible to get Windows to put everything on the secondary. I did get most over there (including temporary windows install files), but not all.

Now, every big update is a crisis of space.

I may try to reimage and resort the drives, but I really don't want that pain.

30 GB is pretty tiny for a hard drive these days even for just the system itself. My dual boot win7/win10 desktop has both systems on a 256 GB SSD. One system would be fine on 128GB or maybe even 64 GB. These days you can find SSDs for 50 cents a GB or less. Money well spent IMHO.

 

[JoeWras]

30 GB is pretty tiny for a hard drive these days even for just the system itself. My dual boot win7/win10 desktop has both systems on a 256 GB SSD. One system would be fine on 128GB or maybe even 64 GB. These days you can find SSDs for 50 cents a GB or less. Money well spent IMHO.

I gotcha. That's not the point, I have a 256GB drive ready to go. But Windows ain't on it.

 

[kcowan]

To avoid the forced OS "upgrades", one can still buy a new computer with Windows 7 from many places (Dell, etc.), but not for much longer. Unlike 10, with Windows 7 one can turn off the problematic automagic upgrades and have them stay off.

I had a surprise auto update last week but I assume that it was one of those random clicks that I sometimes do and nothing sinister from the borg.

 

[akck]

If the PC was a desktop, a cheap new video card from Newegg probably would have been a good solution. If a laptop, then that fix wouldn't likely be feasible.

It’s a desktop and I thought about doing that. But, it was a 9 year old computer, lacking any updated features and was likely underpowered with each windows update. A side benefit is that I got rid of many programs I no longer use, like all the past tax software.

 

[easysurfer]

Say it ain't so.

Was browsing at the Alternateto software site and see that development of the Classic Shell program has been discontinued since Aug 2017 .

 

[easysurfer]

More about Classic Shell being discontinued:

The developer of the program said in an announcement that giving up on Classic Shell is a decision mostly forced by three factors, including lack of free time, frequent Windows 10 updates that break the previous version of the app, and changes that Microsoft makes to the operating system.

“Each new version of Windows moves further away from the classic Win32 programming model, which allowed room for a lot of tinkering. The new ways things are done make it very difficult to achieve the same customizations,” the Classic Shell developer explains.

While the original app won’t receive any new updates, Classic Shell can live on with help from the developer community, as the source code has been released to SourceForge for anyone who wants to fork it and release new updates based on the original version.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/clas...menu-app-officially-discontinued-518808.shtml

Hopefully, someone will "fork it" (I know, sounds funny ).