Win 10 eval copy

[Troll]

  That's a Win 7 theme I made for myself. Works in 10 just fine. You save it for "sharing" and put it somewhere you can easily find it, like on a flash drive. I'm running 10 in a dual boot configuration, but on a separate HDD so it doesn't mess with any of the 7 files. If you "upgrade" to 8.1 through the Win. Store (it's free) you can set the os to default to the desktop and then set up a partial start menu that sort of looks and works like that in 7 or Vista....They found of that MANY people didn't want their computers to look and work like a telephone, and that was the way they "fixed" it...Seems like they learned their lesson, so far, anyway

[gdrudd13]

nice background. I like that it has a start menu. I never like the interface for windows 8 although I can see how it would be nice for people who really use a laptop for basic purposes. Trying to do anything more and it seemed very clunky and time consuming. That could partly be due to my inexperience with it, but it was enough of a pain it became no longer a viable option as an OS for me.

[Troll]

Here's a screen capture of the desk top and the new start menu

[Troll]

So far, everything works in 10 like it did in 7, and even some stuff I had from XP works the same way...I've been throwing every piece of software at it that I have, and the only thing that wouldn't work is an image stitching program from Win 3.1

[moosewing3]

I actually like 8.1 other than it's a little quirky with Chrome. Does 10 run any better with Chrome?

[49Reo]

When I updated my laptop to Windows 7, it came with 2 licenses; but I like XP, so still haven't upgraded my desktop.....never do today what can be put off .......lol Not even sure the license would still be valid since I bought it 2 years ago

[Troll]

My laptop also runs Vista - hate it - The last one had XP, but it died....

Hey Troll, you have any good copies of Win7 you can sell??  As an upgrade to Vista, or fresh copy?

All copies of Windows, since XP have to be activated, and the hardware they are activated on is locked to that DVD license code at the Microsoft server level. Newegg has 32 and 64 bit retail versions of Win 7 for $99.99....I just ordered one for an upgrade.

[greenbarn]

My desktop is running Windows XP, (don't laugh, I like it) my laptop started out as "Vista"....now THAT was a bad experience! I upgraded it to 7, like it much better. I still have one copy of 7 left, I really should install it on my desk top; then I would only have to remember one system.....for someone who made a living with computers before retiring 4 years ago, it is amazing how fast you fall out of touch.

My laptop also runs Vista - hate it - The last one had XP, but it died....

Hey Troll, you have any good copies of Win7 you can sell??  As an upgrade to Vista, or fresh copy?

[Troll]

They make hibernate  mode available for laptops/tablets by default, and not for desktops....I just got the new build, 9860 over night. Looks like it completely replaced what I had. Some new eye candy features showed up...

[DC]

There a few tweaks that can be done to 8.1 to make it more livable, so not to despair. CNET has information on that, and if you google 8.1, you'll probably find more information than you wanted...You will need some patience, however, I don't think they are planning to release this until 2016.....or at the earliest, fall of 2015..

I went and added Hibernate mode to it a while back.  Weird why that was disabled.

[Troll]

There a few tweaks that can be done to 8.1 to make it more livable, so not to despair. CNET has information on that, and if you google 8.1, you'll probably find more information than you wanted...You will need some patience, however, I don't think they are planning to release this until 2016.....or at the earliest, fall of 2015..

[John Hopkins]

for someone who made a living with computers before retiring 4 years ago, it is amazing how fast you fall out of touch.

Imagine how it is for me..I was the top person in my field in New Zealand in the 70's then I moved back to Britain in the 80's and retired in 1994..

My 47 year old son used to think I was a genius when he was a kid...now I need help just setting up a mobile phone..

John.

[DC]

Great, I can't wait to get rid of 8.1 from my laptop.  It's a freaking disaster.

[49Reo]

My desktop is running Windows XP, (don't laugh, I like it) my laptop started out as "Vista"....now THAT was a bad experience! I upgraded it to 7, like it much better. I still have one copy of 7 left, I really should install it on my desk top; then I would only have to remember one system.....for someone who made a living with computers before retiring 4 years ago, it is amazing how fast you fall out of touch.

[Troll]

I'm running a 4 core AMD Phenom @ 2.9 Ghz, an nVidia GS250 video card with 1 Gb of onboard g-ram, 8 Gb of DDR3 1600 ram...same setup I've been running since 2009. I installed the Win 10 eval edition on an external SATA hard drive I had laying around, so it wouldn't mess up my mature Win 7 setup...I thought it was decently fast with Win 7, but it's even quicker with 10....I'm going to install it on an extra hdd in my laptop, next...According to MS, you need a minimum of a 1GHZ 32 or 64 bit processor and 2 Gb of ram, and a wddm cert video chip...

[John Hopkins]

I used to be a hardware specialist back in the seventies but now I am almost completely ignorant of technology, in my day a zero voltage switch in a chip was the latest thing, now you have windows 10..I had to wait 10 years for dos...

So my question is..I have noticed that with each new version of windows the recommended memory goes up..and often the hardware has to be upgraded or replaced in order to run..

What will I need to run win 10?

John.

[Troll]

Good question. I'm thinking that 8.1, which was actually a whole operating system by itself that they were able to replace 8 with, was actually 9...but what does it matter.....as long as it works!

[greenbarn]

I already decided I'm skipping Win 8.  One look at it, and that's all it took to decide.

Good to hear the next one out is going to actually be an improvement.

So....  What happened to "9"??

[Troll]

   As some of you know, I'm part of the "insiders" at Microsoft. I am running an evaluation copy of Win 10 right now. I beta tested 7, and 8, and now I'm running 10. This is what 8 should have been, then most people wouldn't have hated it so much. Stable, fast, easy to navigate, and no surprises, or stupid "metro" interface. A real start menu, and so far, compatibility with all my stuff. I've been doing everything I normally do with it and not a hint of a glitch.. This is what probably would have passed for final code a few years ago. I didn't have to install any separate drivers, and it even set up my Canon wireless all in 1  during installation. I really haven't had to tweak much...just icon size and desktop theme, so far. I realize most of you don't even think about the OS as more than a means to an end, but this one is going to be a great one...and it comes with enough built in utilities to make most tasks easy right from the beginning!