W10 'adverts' post 29 July

[Ray Proudfoot 8,903]

You're probably not far off the truth there Jim. :smile:  The days when Bill Gates was in charge seem like a distant memory now. He never would have employed such underhand tactics to get you to change.

[Jimm 437]

You're probably not far off the truth there Jim. :smile:  The days when Bill Gates was in charge seem like a distant memory now. He never would have employed such underhand tactics to get you to change.

To be serious and honest Ray, I believe that Microsoft's goal is to cut down on fragmentation of the OS versions.  They may be trying to compact their support department and only have to focus on one version, this being Windows10.  Ultimately, that may happen with Win7's demise by what, 2020 or so?  I can't say as I blame them for trying to get everyone on the same OS version, just like Apple does with their OSX and even with Android, although the later is a bit more difficult due to phone carrier's stuck in between.

 

If it's any consolation to you Ray, and you know I am a straight-shooter, Windows 10 is just fine.  I've been using it solidly for quite a few months now and P3D is solid on it, as are all the rest of my applications.  I really don't have a single complaint about it that would be worthy of a negative.  I know I don't speak for the rest of the users out there, but my usage of 10 in relation to the purpose for my computer, is rather mixed, but regardless, it works, and works well.  I have an external HDD hooked up on my network via Wifi, it works.  My older inject printer works with legacy drivers, I don't have a desktop system so that could explain having no other hardware issues.  All in all, I am rather pleased with Win10.

 

I'll throw my support to ya Ray if you become the leader of the Last Bastion of Windows 7 Computing.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,903]

Jim,

 

I agree they want to rationalise their OSs to a single one and normally I would take advantage of the offer. But these forced updates put me off. First time it's not been an option and I just don't like it. Having to switch off all that default invasive security is unwelcome too.

 

Second reason is I've seen no benefits for FSX so don't see the point of putting myself through a lot of grief to maintain the status quo.

 

Third reason is I have 2 Windows 7 DVDs with product keys. Where is my Windows 10 DVD with product key? If at some future point I want to install 10 and register it I assume I burn my own and use my 7 key. But I bought OEM versions of 7 so they are tied to a single computer. Yes, Microsoft will probably allow the registration but there are no certainties.

 

7 is supported until 2020 when in all likelihood I will have new computers and 10 will be installed. The price I will pay for 10 will be considerably less than the £100 being touted. Compared to the cost of a new computer the cost is quite small.

 

Those are my reasons why I haven't taken advantage of the free version. I suspect there will be many in the Last Bastion Club! :smile:

[Jimm 437]

Jim,

 

I agree they want to rationalise their OSs to a single one and normally I would take advantage of the offer. But these forced updates put me off. First time it's not been an option and I just don't like it. Having to switch off all that default invasive security is unwelcome too.

 

Second reason is I've seen no benefits for FSX so don't see the point of putting myself through a lot of grief to maintain the status quo.

 

Third reason is I have 2 Windows 7 DVDs with product keys. Where is my Windows 10 DVD with product key? If at some future point I want to install 10 and register it I assume I burn my own and use my 7 key. But I bought OEM versions of 7 so they are tied to a single computer. Yes, Microsoft will probably allow the registration but there are no certainties.

 

7 is supported until 2020 when in all likelihood I will have new computers and 10 will be installed. The price I will pay for 10 will be considerably less than the £100 being touted. Compared to the cost of a new computer the cost is quite small.

 

Those are my reasons why I haven't taken advantage of the free version. I suspect there will be many in the Last Bastion Club! :smile:

Oh I completely understand your reasoning and I don't fault your for sticking with what you have, but eventually, you will switch and if it takes another 3 years, you have to ask yourself whether it's time to upgrade your sim too.  Who knows what will be in store at that time...perhaps we'll revisit this again in 3 years and we'll start to get conversations going like the ones now of those who still use FS2004 and still swear by it.

 

The security was pretty straightforward and simple to disable.  Even in the Pro version, there are a lot of places to switch off, but at least they allow you to.  As for required updates, it can be argued whether it is to annoying the living Harvey out of you or they are just looking out for your security.  I merely switched due to my ever present curiosity thought I cannot say whether it was a good move or not.  To be honest, I never noticed any increased performance, so I guess an all SSD system made everything fast enough...I'm a bit neutral on it and for good reason, it's an OS that pretty much does what it's always done.  I shun the extra stuff like the voice assistant or the MS Store...do without, without getting bugged about it.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,903]

Hi Jim,

 

Yes, a change of sim (which is a distinct possibility) in 3 years time will mean new kit and a new OS. That's the logical time to make the change. Until then my i7 4770K 4.4Ghz, GTX 780 3Gb card is sufficiently speedy for me to enjoy FSX and Concorde. :smile:

 

If you're happy with 10 then fine. Maybe we'll all be flying with VR headsets which requires 10 but how I read the paper whilst flying could prove challenging! :Big Grin:

 

Security may have changed again by then. Time will tell.

[Jimm 437]

Hi Jim,

 

Yes, a change of sim (which is a distinct possibility) in 3 years time will mean new kit and a new OS. That's the logical time to make the change. Until then my i7 4770K 4.4Ghz, GTX 780 3Gb card is sufficiently speedy for me to enjoy FSX and Concorde. :smile:

 

If you're happy with 10 then fine. Maybe we'll all be flying with VR headsets which requires 10 but how I read the paper whilst flying could prove challenging! :Big Grin:

 

Security may have changed again by then. Time will tell.

Ray, don't get me wrong, I loved Windows 7 and if it weren't for the good advice and baseline info I got at the time when I switched, I'd still be on the Win7 bandwagon.  I was just trying to offer some friendly advice that Win10 isn't as evil as some may make it out to be.

 

You'll have to pry my cold dead hands off of a controller before I embrace the VR. lol

[Ray Proudfoot 8,903]

Jim, I'm sure 10 is fine as an OS. But as you said earlier if there are no benefits over 7 for FS then I don't see the point of switching other than saving a few bob.

 

Do you have a product key for your new OS? If your SSD crashed and a reinstall was required would they accept your 7 one.

[Jimm 437]

Jim, I'm sure 10 is fine as an OS. But as you said earlier if there are no benefits over 7 for FS then I don't see the point of switching other than saving a few bob.

 

Do you have a product key for your new OS? If your SSD crashed and a reinstall was required would they accept your 7 one.

Funny you should mention that.  When I got my rig, it came with Win7 Ultimate (my choice).  When 10 came out, it migrated without issue (did a full install instead of upgrade).  I had since done a full system reinstall, within Win10 (not the restore media I got with the computer) and everything came back fine.  All the drivers I needed were installed.  I did have to install some 3rd party applications, but that was no big deal.  On the whole, a reinstall worked fine.

 

You correct, I don't see benefits, heck I don't even know if 10 was supposed to be an improvement, and if it was, I never noticed. Well, ok, maybe the fact that some things in 7 that didn't work right now work fine, so 10 could be a bug fixer. lol

[Ray Proudfoot 8,903]

Jim,

 

Sorry. Are you saying you entered your W7 product key to validate 10 or that it wasn't necessary to enter it as it was already validated?

 

Was the reinstall from your own burned W10 DVD onto a blank SSD?

[Jimm 437]

I never entered a key at all.  The first time I installed Win10, it picked it up from my system.  The reinstall I did a few months later found the key.

 

I also performed both installs of Win10 from a USB key I had handy.  I think it's a little quicker doing it that way over a DVD, plus it's one less disc to store.

[Glynn 405]

I did do the update to W10 a while back but rolled quickly back to Win7, in truth I found W10 really hard on the eyes with all the white and lack of contrast between screen elements.

I just could not get past the look of the thing, shallow I know but it really is an ugly looking OS and hard to look at for any length of time.

[TrabantDave 2]

I'm sticking with 7 for a good few reasons; I did have a drive with Win 8.1 installed on it when I bought my system - Alienware 17 laptop which I chose for the (semi) portability of it and the hardware which is pretty adequate for most needs including FSX, and latterly P3D. When at home it is attached to a 30" Dell monitor and a number of FS-related controllers. I just couldn't get on with Windows 8.1, it simply 'didn't suit' and as I had bought 2x 2.5 SSDs and an mSATA SSD and had a licence for Win 7 64 Bit, the Windows 8 drive was popped into a drawer with the intention of popping it into an enclosure and using it as external storage.

 

In the event, this didn't happen as my wife bought me a USB 3 External drive as a present so the drive has sat idle for a few months until W10 poked its spotty snout above the parapet. I switched out the primary drive and installed W10 as an upgrade from 8.1, but decided after a bit of faffing about and trying to install some legacy programs that W10 will not play nicely with,  I couldn't be bothered, and since then I've done everything required to prevent a crafty 'upgrade' to 10 from happening; it became a war of attrition and I've used the GWX control panel, as well as a couple of other tools, registry fixes and so forth; if anything my resolve has been strengthened against W10 by the continual reissues of KB3035583 and its friends, all components of the forced install of W10.

 

So to sum up my reasons for not going over to W10 are: preferring the Win7 interface, keeping the ability to choose which updates to install, a dislike of MS use of telemetrics, spyware, targeted advertising, invasion of privacy...... the list is endless.

[Wobbie 937]

I'm actually pretty happy with my Windows 10. Hard on the eyes & contrast issues? I dont find that at all. pretty much the same as the older OS's.

 

Maybe I'm a bit different. I prefer to have the latest updated OS. I have 2 laptops, both upgraded to Windows 10. My sim machine was Windows 7 & my work laptop, Windows 8.1.

 The only issue I had was with my Windows 7 laptop where I lost my webcam. Not surprising, as it was a 'house brand' cam, with the last drivers being released in 2007.

 

As far as privacy issues go, I have an Android mobile phone, & I'm sure that, by using that, & my normal PC usage,as well as my GPS usage, Google knows a lot more about me, & where & go, that Microsoft will ever know. Good luck to them, as they, I'm sure, have even tracked me going to the loo!

[Christopher Low 5,324]

In recent months, in an apparent bid to accelerate adoption of Windows 10, Microsoft altered the way it asked users if they wanted to upgrade. It gave the Windows 10 update "recommended" status, normally reserved for critical security updates.

If when prompted to update to Windows 10 users clicked the red "X", the upgrade would not immediately start. However, the update process would automatically be scheduled for a later time. From this week, Microsoft said it would change that process, admitting that it was confusing.

 

I think they actually mean borderline criminal activity.

[Glynn 405]

 

 

I have decided to remain with W7 and have hidden the W10 'advert' that pops up in my Windows Updates every couple of months.

But once 29 July has passed will this 'update' still appear forcing me to keep hiding it? Or will Microsoft finally give up and accept we don't want it?

 

Ray, you may want to think about doing the Win10 update then immediately rolling back to W7.

This will lock in your free W10 entitlement for the future if you decide at some point to move to W10.

The rollback to Win7 from within Win10 works very well.

 

http://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-lock-in-your-free-windows-10-upgrade-and-keep-using-your-old-windows-version/