Windows 10 on July 29th

[Mr. Analog]

So any early adopters thinking of doing the upgrade?

http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/06/01/hello-world-windows-10-available-on-july-29/

[Lazybones]

Likely on my home machine, but in no rush in the office.

[Thorin]

I dunno.  I'm usually a late adopter when it comes to Microsoft software.  But...

1. start menu is back (holy @%&#, I'm finally starting to get used to not having it and now it's back)

2. stuff is supposed to sync across all our Windows devices (hmm, I only have a Windows laptop, not a Windows phone, nor tablet, nor Internet of Things thing, nor Surface Hub, nor Xbox One, nor HoloLens)

3. there's a search widget called Cortana that's supposed to make our lives super-easy (betcha old people will be confused by it)

4. Internet Explorer is now called Internet Edge (I wonder if the change-the-name-to-make-people-think-it's-new tactic will work...)

5. there's a new Office, supposedly specialized to make it easier to edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations on touch devices (this is something that might actually make a difference in tablet users' lives)

6. updated Xbox Live (hmm, don't have Xbox One)

7. photo, video, map, music, people, mail, calendar apps are updated; your data is going to be stored in the cloud (I don't want my data stored in the cloud, I want it local)

8. Windows Continuum is cool, it lets you connect a keyboard and mouse to your Windows phone (hmm, don't have a Windows phone)

9. Windows Hello is a stupid name, but it uses a camera or fingerprint scanner to log you in when you face the device (I think my work will make me continue to use passwords)

Even though most of those features do nothing for me because I only have the Windows PCs, I'm still thinking of being an early adopter this time around just to get the Start menu back.

[Mr. Analog]

You can download addons that simulate the Start Menu

Or you can add a custom toolbar (like I did)
1. Go to the Desktop
2. Right click the taskbar and select Toolbars / New toolbar
3. When it asks you to select a folder put in the following:

Code Select Expand

%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

Instant Start Menu (of sorts)

Microsoft is trying to bundle devices and services together, like Apple, like Google. So it's really not all that different from what other OSs have already done, it feels wrong because this is WINDOWS one of the few OS options (beyond Linux) that actually gives you freedom to do things your own way.

My problem is, as I discovered with XBox Live, their system of integrating accounts is painful. If you are starting fresh with nothing out there already it's easy, otherwise buckle in 'cause it's a pain in the ass to actually integrate devices / accounts if you already had them set up a certain way

[Thorin]

Yeah, I remember your complaints about trying to get stuff tied to your existing account.

I don't like the idea of tying laptop or desktop login accounts to internet accounts, I'd rather keep my logins local.  I really don't like the cloud computing concept, as it sucks whenever you're in an area that doesn't have connection.  Like this past weekend, where we camped in a campsite with zero cell reception (and no wifi either).

[Mr. Analog]

Yeah, I remember your complaints about trying to get stuff tied to your existing account.

I don't like the idea of tying laptop or desktop login accounts to internet accounts, I'd rather keep my logins local.  I really don't like the cloud computing concept, as it sucks whenever you're in an area that doesn't have connection.  Like this past weekend, where we camped in a campsite with zero cell reception (and no wifi either).

I look at it this way some things like GMail I know I will lose when I'm offline, stuff like Steam games though or media I want to have access to I already have synced to the device. I can sync Google Play music and download games and play Steam in offline mode so, realistically it's not that big of a jump.

Personal documents though I wouldn't put in the cloud, for stuff like that I usually use external HDDs for anyway

[Tom]

I've not hated my Windows 10 experience nearly as much as the Windows 8 experience. I have it installed in a VM though, and so far most of the annoyance has been related to how bad the ui rendering is in Virtual Box (It has a working set of w10 drivers now, so its not slow as molasses, but the video driver needs some work, things disappear and flicker a lot).

I do have some legit keys, so I may just find a place to put windows 10 on. My main laptop has a msata 120G disk I haven't merged into my lvm pool yet, and my X220 has windows 7 installed (YAY FREE UPGRADE) and I have a Windows 8 key I bought for like $15 a while back when it was first released. So that might go on my desktop.