Windows 10 – Update 3

The questions about Windows 10 upgrade have not stopped.  We get them daily.

“What do you think of Windows 10?”

“My computer keeps bugging me about upgrading.  Should I?”

“Do you think it’s time to upgrade yet?”

It’s looks very pretty.  No.  And No.

We’ve talked about the upgrades in our two previous posts (Part 1 and Part 2)

In their latest campaign to convince users to upgrade, Microsoft has taken to SMB (Small to Medium sized Businesses).  They have a Facebook post that features a video that shows the benefits of upgrading to Windows 10.  Here’s the part that bothers us about the video:

About a minute in, the “Microsoft Spokesperson” shows a business how easy it is to upgrade.  He sits in front of the PC surrounded by “employees” of the company, clicks on the Windows button in the system tray, it launches the upgrade process.  The he says “Just agree to the terms and conditions and you’re done!”.  They all go to lunch and by the time they get back they live happily ever after since the Windows 10 upgrade is complete.

OK, let’s get out of make-believe land and back to reality.

We all have done it.  Most of the time we continue to do it.  We’re used to doing it.  What?  Agreeing to the Terms and Conditions without reading them.

But in this case, is it the right thing to do?  Needless to say, we’re required to accept the terms and conditions on any software that we install, but all those pages contain information that may be good to know.  Especially in this case.

Windows 10 offers two types of install, Express and Custom.  Express means you agree to the terms and conditions, and accept all of the default settings.  For those of you who haven’t seen the default settings, many of them include a feature that sends information back to Microsoft.  Microsoft uses this information to deliver a more personal experience.  In the Express settings mode, this includes a variety of tracking software.

Microsoft has said they’ve discontinued the practice of tracking everything.  However, they just released the latest stats on Windows 10:

“Here’s the list of milestones that Microsoft just achieved:
  • People spent over 11 Billion hours on Windows 10 in December 2015.
  • More than 44.5 Billion minutes were spent in Microsoft Edge across Windows 10 devices in December alone.
  • Windows 10 users asked Cortana over 2.5 Billion questions since launch.
  • About 30 percent more Bing search queries per Windows 10 device compared to prior versions of Windows.
  • Over 82 Billion photographs were viewed in the Windows 10 Photo application.
  • Gamers spent more than 4 Billion hours playing PC games on Windows 10 OS.
  • Gamers streamed more than 6.6 Million hours of Xbox One games to Windows 10 PCs.”

How do they know this?  Hmmm….

PCMDX clients know that we’re huge advocates of Microsoft, however our main focus is privacy and security.  Yes, if “they” want it, “they” will get it, however, we don’t have to leave the door not only unlocked, but open for them.

No, at this time we’re not recommending that those of you using Windows 7 upgrade to Windows 10.  Those of you using Windows 8 or 8.1 will have to decide if privacy or usability is more important.  We’re writing this post on a Windows 10 laptop (it came with the laptop).  It’s much more user friendly than Windows 8.  But we turned off all of the data mining features that we could turn off.

Is this the best operating system that Microsoft has released?  The word “best” is subjective.  What’s best for you may be different than what’s best for us.  Is it the most feature packed?  Absolutely.  Is it powerful in today’s internet world.  Yes.  If you use a PC to check e-mail, update your Facebook status, and surf the web, then there will be little difference between Windows 10 and Windows 7.

But wait!  Microsoft just issued a warning to those who use Windows 7.

And the latest information tells us that Microsoft will start to make the Windows 10 upgrade a “Recommended Update”.  What does that mean?  Glad you asked.  It simply means that if you have your Windows Update settings set to install all updates automatically, it will install the files even if you’re not interested.  This means if you don’t want it, you’ll have to turn off the automatic update function and go to “Notify me of updates but let me decide to download and install them” in the Windows Update settings in Control Panel.  Which means that you’ll need to make sure you install the important updates at least once a month.

Stay tuned.  Microsoft wants you to have Windows 10.