Windows 10 Review
Introduction
Before I begin I should mention that I am not advertising Microsoft or any other products mentioned in this post. I am merely sharing my experience and what little knowledge on the new OS I have for those who are skeptical about migrating to it. I understand that Microsoft and other product vendors mentioned in this post are competitors of IBM so please do not take this as me advertising or supporting them in anyway. These are my own views.
Since Microsoft put out Windows 10 this past week I wanted to share my initial experience and thoughts. I had the pleasure (a nervous one at that) of upgrading one of my Windows 7 machines to check it out. There are new features, some older Windows 7 items brought back since removed in Windows 8, and some Windows 8 features kept with this new OS.
1. Upgrading from Windows 7 Pro to Windows 10 Pro
The overall upgrade process was pretty simple and did not require a lot of user interaction. Once I reserved my copy of Windows 10 I got the email Microsoft said I would and I was able to navigate to a link to download an upgrade tool to install on my Windows 7 OS. The tool was able to automate the entire upgrade process all the way from downloading the new OS to restarting my machine several times to complete the install. Once the install was complete there was then some initial user setup (user account configuration, time settings, etc.) to run through but overall it was very painless.
Some things to note here are how easy it was to upgrade compared to previous OS'. Another item to note is that some Windows 8 features have been kept as Microsoft continues to push more and more of their consumers data to the cloud via OneDrive as well as with the way that they handle user accounts for computers not joined to domains. They have integrated the use of PIN numbers rather than passwords to be associated with user accounts as well (not sure if this was in Windows 8 or not) and they attempt during the initial configuration to push you into using a PIN rather than a password. They do allow you to continue with using 'less' secure passwords over PIN numbers even though they state in that particular prompt that PIN numbers are 'more' secure. I am still working to understand how the new OS handles PINs and what makes them 'more' secure than passwords. That will probably require it's own blog down the road.
2. Desktop Interface and Design
The initial impression of the desktop is that of, "Hhhmmm, this looks just like Windows 7." Until you click the new Windows start button to realize that the Windows 8 'mobile' interface is now the start menu interface in Windows 10. Not to be discourage, however, as Microsoft did very good with meshing the two together. Notice I stated that the 'Start Menu', as in the Start Menu Shortcut area, was now the Windows 8 mobile interface? That means that the rest of the Start Menu is back to the old Windows 7 layout. The names of buttons and icons have changed a bit but overall it was much easier to navigate at first glance than it was when Windows 8 came out. The Control Panel button is now Settings, the All Programs button is now All Apps ( mobile effect), and so on. Very easy to figure out.
The desktop icons, right-mouse button menu, and the system tray is pretty much the same as it was in Windows 7 just with a new sleek design. The Action Center icon now pops out a mobile interface menu from the right side of the screen but again, the icons are very easy to figure out the meaning of. They even have a very easily accessible 'Airplane Mode' just like most all cell phones have now. So, is that a sign that Microsoft is soon to be rid of the consumer desktop and move everyone gradually to a tablet? I think we have seen this coming for several years now as it was no secret when Windows 8 came out.
3. Settings aka 'Control Panel'
This was the part I was completely lost in when I first started tinkering with things. The first thing you notice is that nothing in this area is like the older interface we had in Windows 7 or 8. The menu interface has changed to more of a mobile interface, yet again, and the icons all have new names. I have spent some time in here primarily because I haven't learned the new default hotkeys for certain shortcuts yet (not that I normally do). In stating this you will find that most settings are still there just in places you wouldn't think they would be. For example, they have split Privacy settings and Security settings into two different menus or application icons when they could have combined them. There may have been a reason for this that is unknown to me but the two go hand in hand in my head.
Starting with the first menu labelled Settings you will notice that Microsoft has integrated a lot of their cloud technology offerings such as OneDrive into the OS for systems backup, data storage, etc. as if to let everyone know that they don't need to be joined to a domain to have a piece of network storage. Cloud is the future but I am not sure the average consumer understands the things they need to consider when moving data to the cloud such as who owns their data when they pass away and how to make sure their spouses have the proper rights to it afterwards. Of course, that is the case with any online service these days.
Another feature you will run across is Maps. Maps is another maps service to allow you to search for places and identify your current location using Microsoft's technology to do so. This is integrated right into the OS so you may check it out just to make sure you are sharing the information you want to and limiting the amount of data you want Maps to use if you are using a mobile hotspot with limited data each month. The other feature to check out is the Tablet Mode (was this in Windows 8?). Turning it on allows you to run your computer more so like a true tablet making it more touch-friendly rather mouse-friendly so you may want a touch screen laptop to use this feature, which are not so hard to come by nowadays.
I am not going to detail all of the icons in Settings however I will point out that there are several areas you need to review beyond what has already been called out. Microsoft has integrated several 'call home' and 'Sync your data with' features to move your Windows OS settings, theme selections, browser settings, etc. to their cloud. Typically when I see call home features enabled by default named 'Other Windows Settings' I tend to get a little nervous. What are they syncing and why? Time to do some deep digging but until digging is complete the feature is going to be turned off. Maybe the new ability to use a Picture Password will help secure that (joking)? Yes, this is something new as well that I ran across. This allows you to use a picture to sign into your account on a touch screen computer rather than typing a password or PIN. It documents the picture and records your gestures using a camera that you then use to unlock and log into your device.
Lastly, you should check out the Privacy icon. There are several items here that you may want to review to ensure you, again, are sharing what you want to share and nothing more. Some things I went after first were Location sharing, Account information, Contacts, and Calendar. All of these have some kind of sharing feature enabled that allow 'Apps' to access the data used by each of them. Messaging was also one that I noticed stated to 'let apps read and send messages (text or MMS). No apps were listed by default so I chose to disable that as well until I had time to do some deeper digging. Feedback Frequency was a concern of mine as well because every application vendor wants 'feedback' via an automated system feature or service. This feature does not allow you to completely disable it from here so I was forced to select 'Basic' rather than the 'Full (Recommended)'.
4. Applications (Browsers, Gaming, etc.)
This is usually where we assume that nothing works because directory permissions are different now and in a different location which causes installs to epically fail. Fortunately this was not the case. I have yet to find a program that would not install without errors other than Java. I, of course, installed Google Chrome and some of my favorite games (I really don't play much) right away just to see what would happen. None of them had errors or crashed during install. Some items I installed are as follows:
Adobe Reader
aVast Anti-virus (Free)
7-zip
Steam Client
Battle.net Client
Diablo 3
Starcraft 2
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 1
Apple Bootcamp Driver Package
Note: You WILL have problems with getting Java installed. Windows 10 will produce a pop up stating that the latest version of Java will NOT run on this version of Windows.
So far all run great and have not crashed during use. I did have to make a few tweaks to the games but it wasn't because of an OS problem. Since I am running this in an Apple Bootcamp partition I am still waiting on Apple to catch up and issue updated driver packages that are fully compatible with Windows 10. Most items work but there are a few 'unrecognized' devices in device manager still.
Conclusion
There is a lot more to explore and mess with when it comes to the business side of things. What security features are there to disable a lot of the cloud and 'call home' features? Do GPOs work the same? What options do we have in the local GPO to secure a Windows 10 business workstation? This is another blog down the road but I figure this is a good start for those who are curious but afraid to go the distance with the upgrade. Someone had to be the guinea pig so why not me. I am completely open to others reviews on the new Microsoft OS and to see what other features are there that I have not explored yet. Feel free to post any comments or questions.
