Windows 10 is being touted as "the last Windows". So with that comes to conclusion a long history of experiences with Windows as we know it.
I'm sure everyone's installation experience installing Microsoft Windows 10 will be somewhat different.
Here was my weekend #firstworldproblem
I'm sure everyone's installation experience installing Microsoft Windows 10 will be somewhat different.
Here was my weekend #firstworldproblem
Start-up: Some History...
Microsoft software will always play a part in my I.T. past. I can't recall the exact year, possibly 1987, but I do recall my first PC: it was my dad's.
It was a Commodore PC. Not the iconic Commodore 64, this was a different beast entirely. No cassette tapes, 640kB of RAM, a 20MB hard drive and a 5¼" floppy disk drive running a Commodore customised version of DOS with an ASCII-based GUI (graphical user interface) called "FriendlyWare" (http://pctimeline.info/comp1987.htm). Incredibly beige with a footprint equivalent to a midi-tower case on its side. With a huge 256-colour monitor on top. To turn the PC on you had to reach around the back for the power switch. It was glorious seeing the boot sequence and hearing the fans and hard drive spin up like you were in the cockpit of a jet fighter. I crashed it a few weeks in after being taught how to navigate the DOS command line tree structure. Restoring the PC took some time as those 5¼" floppy disks didn't hold much.
There were even games on it. The main ones I recall were:
It was my first forays to PC gaming and the beginning of my love of computers and I.T...although it was also the beginning of my vengeful hate of it too.
While we were using this "bleeding edge" machine at home, at school we were still using a Microbee machine which had no hard drive and a seemingly radioactive green monochrome screen. I soon became one of the "go-to" guys to get this up and running - teachers sending students to pull me out of my classes to help set it up for their class to play Gorilla Maths (http://ourdigitalheritage.org/modifyEntry.php?id=843) or a "Settlers" style game where you had to manage resources to survive.
From that very first PC until now there have been numerous PCs, and with that I've seen first hand the evolution of Windows - from DOS3.2 and incarnations to DOS6.2, to Windows 3.1, Windows 3.11, Windows 95, Windows 98, WIndows 98SE, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, to where we are now at Windows 10.
It was a Commodore PC. Not the iconic Commodore 64, this was a different beast entirely. No cassette tapes, 640kB of RAM, a 20MB hard drive and a 5¼" floppy disk drive running a Commodore customised version of DOS with an ASCII-based GUI (graphical user interface) called "FriendlyWare" (http://pctimeline.info/comp1987.htm). Incredibly beige with a footprint equivalent to a midi-tower case on its side. With a huge 256-colour monitor on top. To turn the PC on you had to reach around the back for the power switch. It was glorious seeing the boot sequence and hearing the fans and hard drive spin up like you were in the cockpit of a jet fighter. I crashed it a few weeks in after being taught how to navigate the DOS command line tree structure. Restoring the PC took some time as those 5¼" floppy disks didn't hold much.
There were even games on it. The main ones I recall were:
- a space invaders knock-off where the spacebar took a heavy beating;
- a spider shooting game where spiders on toxic webs descend from the ceiling that you had to either shoot as they dropped or you stamped with your foot;
- a hangman word game;
- a Pac Man knock-off called "Chomp";
- one of the best early versions of Monopoly I'd ever seen, complete with simulated dice, animations, and sound effects coming out of the internal PC speaker;
- and many more (http://www.old-games.com/download/3626/friendlyware)
It was my first forays to PC gaming and the beginning of my love of computers and I.T...although it was also the beginning of my vengeful hate of it too.
While we were using this "bleeding edge" machine at home, at school we were still using a Microbee machine which had no hard drive and a seemingly radioactive green monochrome screen. I soon became one of the "go-to" guys to get this up and running - teachers sending students to pull me out of my classes to help set it up for their class to play Gorilla Maths (http://ourdigitalheritage.org/modifyEntry.php?id=843) or a "Settlers" style game where you had to manage resources to survive.
From that very first PC until now there have been numerous PCs, and with that I've seen first hand the evolution of Windows - from DOS3.2 and incarnations to DOS6.2, to Windows 3.1, Windows 3.11, Windows 95, Windows 98, WIndows 98SE, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, to where we are now at Windows 10.
Phase 1: Preparation
Having had such a long history with Windows backing up all of your files is something that has been ingrained into me for a while now - expect issues and anticipate possible problems with drivers and non-mainstream hardware. All-in-all I had some faith in the updating process. Whether that was misplaced remained to be seen but I had to give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt: After so many Windows releases, they would have to have learned something from the past.
Preparation was more psychological than physical. The majority of my files are backed up in duplicate anyway. It was the trauma of past upgrades gone wrong which I needed to overcome, and I suspect it is the same case for many others out there.
Preparation was more psychological than physical. The majority of my files are backed up in duplicate anyway. It was the trauma of past upgrades gone wrong which I needed to overcome, and I suspect it is the same case for many others out there.
Phase 2: Installation
I installed the upgrade from a Win10Pro(x64) ISO after having to re-download it because the Win10Pro (dual x86/x64) ISO would not fit on a standard 4.7GB DVD.
First thing the install does it make you wait while looking for updates. It seems like a reasonable thing to do if not for the years of Windows updates making me jaded to the idea.
After this you're inundated with blue screens and a notification that "Your PC will restart several times" - a nostalgic reminder of the countless BSoD's (Blue Screen of Death) involving restarts in years gone by.
It then has the hide to tell you to "relax", but that's hardly what they've conditioned us to think up to now. Younger people, who have only experienced the most recent versions of Windows will not feel the same level of anguish as us more veteran Windows users.
Some time later a blue [with black gradient] screen appears and a "This won't take long" message is displayed. I suddenly get flashes of those comedy skits involving a doctor with a rubber glove saying "this won't hurt a bit!" in which the patient has a little trouble believing them before the scene changes to outside the Dr's office where, behind a closed door, echoing screams can be heard.
That message is eventually replaced with "Taking care of a few things". Did it forget something? Is it just ducking out to the shops to get some milk? Is there a mafia hit I didn't know about? Was there something more important it had to do besides giving me my functioning computer back?
First thing the install does it make you wait while looking for updates. It seems like a reasonable thing to do if not for the years of Windows updates making me jaded to the idea.
After this you're inundated with blue screens and a notification that "Your PC will restart several times" - a nostalgic reminder of the countless BSoD's (Blue Screen of Death) involving restarts in years gone by.
It then has the hide to tell you to "relax", but that's hardly what they've conditioned us to think up to now. Younger people, who have only experienced the most recent versions of Windows will not feel the same level of anguish as us more veteran Windows users.
Some time later a blue [with black gradient] screen appears and a "This won't take long" message is displayed. I suddenly get flashes of those comedy skits involving a doctor with a rubber glove saying "this won't hurt a bit!" in which the patient has a little trouble believing them before the scene changes to outside the Dr's office where, behind a closed door, echoing screams can be heard.
That message is eventually replaced with "Taking care of a few things". Did it forget something? Is it just ducking out to the shops to get some milk? Is there a mafia hit I didn't know about? Was there something more important it had to do besides giving me my functioning computer back?
Okay, it's installed. Minimal interaction and not too long. Logging into Windows for the first time and...1024x768 desktop resolution and my 2nd monitor isn't being recognised or detected. Uh-oh...but more silently as my sound isn't working either. My screen looks like a zoomed in watercolour version of itself.
As it turns out, my Nvidia drivers were not current enough and needed an update. So did Nvidia's GeForce Experience software. Once that was installed and updated however, my desktop reverted back to its 1920x1080 loveliness once more. 4K monitors may be my next hardware upgrade.
To get my sound working again on my old 5.1 speakers, I couldn't just use the 5.1 speaker settings - that would've been too easy - instead I had to change my setup to use 7.1 speakers with the side speakers disabled to bring it back to a 5.1 equivalent. I don't know how/whether 7.1 speaker users will have the same problem.
My PC is up and running [in spite of me] but now needs a plethora of updates to various programs and drivers. I don't know how users upgrading with small download quotas will manage. I'm still working through all of the settings, wherever I can find them as a lot of it has "and share with Microsoft" attached to them.
My [tongue-in-cheek] upgrade experience wasn't without its hiccups though it wasn't as bad as I've made it out to be...like getting your injections - smarts a little bit now but should be worth it come flu season.
As it turns out, my Nvidia drivers were not current enough and needed an update. So did Nvidia's GeForce Experience software. Once that was installed and updated however, my desktop reverted back to its 1920x1080 loveliness once more. 4K monitors may be my next hardware upgrade.
To get my sound working again on my old 5.1 speakers, I couldn't just use the 5.1 speaker settings - that would've been too easy - instead I had to change my setup to use 7.1 speakers with the side speakers disabled to bring it back to a 5.1 equivalent. I don't know how/whether 7.1 speaker users will have the same problem.
My PC is up and running [in spite of me] but now needs a plethora of updates to various programs and drivers. I don't know how users upgrading with small download quotas will manage. I'm still working through all of the settings, wherever I can find them as a lot of it has "and share with Microsoft" attached to them.
My [tongue-in-cheek] upgrade experience wasn't without its hiccups though it wasn't as bad as I've made it out to be...like getting your injections - smarts a little bit now but should be worth it come flu season.
Phase 3: Post-Installation
It’s probably unreasonable to ask for a completely flawless upgrade. Asking Microsoft to create a perfect operating system which can uncompromisingly pre-empt and support all past, present, and future software decisions in an error-free, user-friendly interface is asking too much of anyone, including Apple.
As well as the video drivers, other programs and devices seemed destined to come unstuck:
Other things also niggled at me:
None of the niggles were show-stoppers though. Cortana will get to Australia eventually, and the privacy settings were not difficult to change.
There were also some nice surprises:
As well as the video drivers, other programs and devices seemed destined to come unstuck:
- Java Runtime Environment (JRE) needed to be updated
- Anti-virus software needed an update
Other things also niggled at me:
- "Cortana" has not yet made her presence felt. She is not yet ready to go live here in Australia
- Microsoft wants a lot of your information and while I'm flattered that they are interested in my usage in order to improve how Windows works, I prefer to be the one that bestows such details...so I switched most of the settings which says "is sent to Microsoft" or "is shared with Microsoft" off and will switch them on later if I need to.
- Installation of the "free" copy of Minecraft for Windows 10 (beta) was actually very fiddly.
None of the niggles were show-stoppers though. Cortana will get to Australia eventually, and the privacy settings were not difficult to change.
There were also some nice surprises:
- My Datacolor Spyder4Pro (version 4.5.4) screen calibration software, which ran hopelessly in Windows 8.1, was now working perfectly, just as it did in Windows 7. A recalibration after reinstalling the Nvidia graphics drivers and my screens were looking nice again
- ISO disc image files are natively mountable. Microsoft have incorporated their own virtual drive system to load ISO files as drive letters simply by double-clicking the file
- Microsoft have incorporated ISO image file burning capabilities to accompany the drive mounting feature
- File transfer dialogues group together noticeably nicer than previous versions; The pause/resume functionality introduced in Windows 8 is still there
- Improved security measures have been switched on by default. As a developer/tinkerer I wanted to connect my RaspberryPi2 to Window’s “IoT” (Internet of Things). This meant installing Visual Studio 2015 Community and a few addons. But, during the setup process, you are told about setting Windows to “Developer mode” which allows non-verified applications to run on your machine. The flip side of this is that it means that ONLY verified applications will run on a default Windows 10 installation, meaning one less avenue for hidden malware
- My web camera was accessible straight away using the new Camera software built into Windows. While it isn't feature-packed, you are able to take selfies and record video out-of-the-box
Thoughts...
After having used Windows 10 for a few while now, I have found that it grows on you. In a good way. While the differences between it and Windows 8.1, may seem minor, all of the little things add up over time and make a difference. While it still gives off the feeling of being an operating system "still in development" it feels as though the time spent in public testing has actually worn off on it instead of feeling like some PR stunt. Windows 10 is the most polished release Microsoft have done to date.
Just remember to tweak your settings after installation :)
Just remember to tweak your settings after installation :)
Afterthoughts...
Since this article I have also updated my laptop and it updated far more simply than my desktop! I am also preparing my Raspberry Pi2 to be part of the "IoT" in the hope that I can develop something down the road which I can then use in my underwater adventures.
As a cautionary note, as my laptop used Windows 7 Home Premium, I had to download another ISO, this time the Windows 10 Home (x64) ISO for installation, as the Windows 10 Pro (x64) ISO would not detect a valid license key. Kind of makes sense if you ignore Microsoft saying "no more different Windows versions".
As a cautionary note, as my laptop used Windows 7 Home Premium, I had to download another ISO, this time the Windows 10 Home (x64) ISO for installation, as the Windows 10 Pro (x64) ISO would not detect a valid license key. Kind of makes sense if you ignore Microsoft saying "no more different Windows versions".