The KGB Oracle Forums KGB National Announcements, News, and Help The KGB Sentinel WINDOWS 10 RELEASE DATE

Lucky for us there are third-party applications for pretty much all of the paid or missing features in Windows 10. As a base operating system I like it so far. I do wish Microsoft would stop creating simplified menus and configuration areas inside the operating system as it creates a tech support nightmare for me but what can you do.

If anyone does install Windows 10 and can't stand the start menu, use StartIsBack (http://startisback.com/) or Classic Shell (http://www.classicshell.net/) as free alternatives. Start10 (https://www.stardock.com/products/start10/) by Stardock tends to be more exact in its replication of the original Windows 7 start menu, but costs $4.99.

There are ways to restore the Windows 7 and XP style Microsoft games to the newer operating systems as well. If anyone needs them, feel free to PM or e-mail me and I'll be happy to show you how.

All in all though, I'd say the Windows 10 upgrade has been decently smooth. I haven't been getting the support calls I was expecting so there's that. :)

My question is should I convert over...I really like my current Win7 ultimate 64bit, I don't want that App-like operating system,.

You have a year to do so for free. So unless there is a specific feature or the promise of slightly better game performance has you wanting to upgrade, you can hold off with no issue at all right now.

That said, simply installing a start menu modification makes the operating system 10x more useable and eliminates most of the problems that people are going to have with it, just as it did with Windows 8.

The most important thing is looking up drivers for your computer model and verifying that Windows 10 versions are available to support your hardware. Most PCs and laptops will upgrade just fine without problems. You may need to perform some upgrades or re-installation of various applications that were on your PC prior to the Windows 10 upgrade, but that's generally it.

If all goes as planned, you have the ability to downgrade back to Windows 7 for one month after you have performed the upgrade to 10. I have not tested this function myself, but it is there.

If you know how to install drivers and can handle an operating system well enough, you shouldn't have any real trouble getting 10 working nicely.

My biggest issue with the OS are the simplified menus that they include by default such as the display/resolution menu and personalization menus which are slightly different than in Windows 7. You can still locate the "advanced" versions in Control Panel, however. These menus aren't that big of an issue for most anyway as you won't spend most of your time in them. Use them once and you are generally done. The rest of your software should essentially function exactly like it does in Win 7.

This is why /cmd is still KING!

Some of us users pre-date the mouse and interwebs.

Yes, Vuldan...we know, and Dirt in your case.

That doesn't even seem to address the "we are going to collect every single shred of data you have or receive on your computer" part of the EULA.

The moment you connect to the Internet and use any of its features you should expect that everything you do is monitored, recorded and stored for various uses. Social networking leads to information being sold and used for marketing purposes to determine current trends and surveil people across the world.

The EULA you sign when using Windows 10 generally states that you are okay with them recording your preferences when using things like Cortana and other personalized services when using a Microsoft account. I would hope that this information would not be used for other illicit purposes but, if you are worried about that, simply don't sign in with a Microsoft account. Create and use only a local account on your PC and you've reduced a lot of your exposure.

Edit: In all honesty, I don't use ANY of the "apps" or new Microsoft "features" that they've included with Windows 10. To me Windows is simply the base operating system I need to run the rest of my software and nothing more. I generally prefer third-party applications for pretty much everything I want to do anyway. If you use it in a similar fashion, then Windows 10 will simply be a more stable and fast platform to do what you need to do. That's been my experience with it thus far. Who knows what it will be 6 months to a year from now.

Oh, I'm well aware, and do everything I can to mitigate that risk, but I've been looking for why MS decided that we didn't have to pay for upgrades after 20 years of forcing us to. The data mining answers that question pretty neatly.

Microsoft is actively trying to monetize their operating system features and functions just like games are starting to move toward freemium, DLC and paid updates. It's frustrating as hell, but I don't see them moving away from it any time soon as they are pretty much going full speed ahead with this new system.

The best thing you can do is to be proactive about maintaining as much knowledge about the programs and software you use including the operating system and hoping for the best. At the end of the day, all we know is what we've been told and learned for ourselves. They could be doing who knows what with our information. I like to think that they aren't that evil yet.

Queue the Penguin theme music...

This.