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Friday, August 7, 2015

My opinions about Windows 10

Positive

  • Slightly enhanced command prompt.
  • Windows 7 backup solution is back, but perhaps something new and better would be good.
  • Multiple real desktops and switching.
  • Snapping windows to corners.
  • Snapping windows to the left or right side makes the window fill the remaining space; this is nice but now it's harder to fill only half of the screen. Edit: After the last cumulative update, the control key actually does modify the behavior. I was sure it did not – at least before the update.
  • Easier to adjust audio volume precicely; not because the resolution is higher, but because the control is larger.

Negative

  • "MBR error 1" on first and consequtive startups after upgrade; solved using commands:
    bootrec /FixMbr
    bootrec /FixBoot
  • Make sure to uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials unless you want to waste time upgrading again.
  • New Photo viewer:
    • Zooming and panning is blurry and blocky, especially while panning.
    • Browsing pictures shows rectangles with a solid color instead of the pictures themselves.
  • Cannot remove pictures (from the UI list) that were previously set on the lock screen.
  • Cannot remove custom high contrast themes. Speaking of that, the amount of options is poor.
  • The font in certain textboxes (particularly search box in Explorer) makes it harder to read.
  • Fine-tuning color of taskbar without changing the color of other things as well seems to be impossible.
  • I have turned off animations globally in Windows, but all modern UIs still animate stuff, including the start menu.
  • Start menu:
    • Documents folder on the start menu is now by default an extra click away.
    • No way to easily remove multiple (live and app) tiles I don't want on the start menu.
    • Noticeable delay before the start menu shows up.
    • Context menu for search results (files, desktop apps) in the start menu is crippled (no shell menu entries).
    • Cannot drag and drop any search results (files, desktop apps) from the start menu to any control/toolbar that accepts dropped files.
  • No distance between border/edge and text in command prompt.
  • [Right click taskbar > Properties] opens "Taskbar and Start Menu Properties", but there is nothing for the start menu there.
  • Command prompt still does not display unicode characters.
  • Harder to see what part of a window is draggable (e.g. caption) because everything is a single color.
  • Disabling Windows Defender is harder (use gpedit.msc).
  • Mixed quality icons (amount of color, proportions, design). 3D or 2D, few colors or many, few details or many... Particularly not a fan of the new shield icon.
  • No shortcut keys for switching to specific desktops (e.g. desktop #1-4)?
  • Default privacy settings are intrusive.
  • I somehow managed to record a "game", but actually I was just my web browser. When I try to view my recordings, the app just closes after a few seconds (maybe crashes).
  • After hibernation or locking the screen, the logon/lock screen does not get ready for input when pressing down the shift-key.
  • The File Explorer window sometimes flashes as if it closes and re-opens, and the current selection clears. Workaround: Do not open new windows in separate processes.
  • After closing the File Explorer, it sometimes re-opens immediately afterwards. Workaround: Do not open new windows in separate processes.
  • While doing something with the start menu and/or the File Explorer, I got an error message from RuntimeBroker.exe: Not implemented
  • The UI language in the OS is English, and my region settings are set to Norwegian/Norway; yet, the modern apps are actually in a completely different language (Japanese). Maybe because I once upon a time set the region of my Xbox 360 to Japan.

3 comments:

  1. "Snapping windows to the left or right side makes the window fill the remaining space; this is nice but now it's harder to fill only half of the screen."
    I think it's easier to use keyboard Win+arrow left/right for this, new in Windows 10 is that it then show other active windows and you can click the one you want to fill the other half.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your comment!

      That is indeed useful when that is the desired behavior. Suppose you have two windows where one is snapped to one side and its width is shorter than half of the screen; now you wish to snap a window to the other side, but without filling the remaining unused space, just half of the screen like before. Sadly, I have found no way to do this while also keeping the "fill" behavior.

      I expected that the shift/control/alt keyboard keys would modify the behavior, but no.

      Delete
    2. It seems like I must rectify my previous message. After the last cumulative update, the control key actually does modify the behavior. I was sure it did not – at least before the update.

      Delete