Excellent end results for the OS (it's not all doom and gloom), pity about the duplicity

Forums › Microsoft Windows › Excellent end results for the OS (it's not all doom and gloom), pity about the duplicity

BDAKiwi

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Geek
+1 received by user: 9

#177824 15-Aug-2015 13:14

I made the change from 8.1 to 10 a couple of weeks ago and for the most part it's been fine. Some oh-no-you-don't configuring needed but apart from that it's pretty good. The start menu is still crap (alphabetically listed tiles? Seriously?) so I've installed Stardock's Start10 replacement which pretty much gives me my old W7 functionality back, including the ability to sort and organise start menu items at the start menu. Awesome stuff.

Upgraded my wife's PC last night (7 - 10) and that's also gone pretty well. ESET Smart Security had a hissy fit, fixed by un-installing and re-installing. A few config issues (especially getting Edge exactly as she wanted it, = just like IE was before) but a bit of patience and taking the time to find the odd settings and it's all good.

To spoil an otherwise great experience, along comes MS's marketing weasels, using underhanded methods in the way they handle default settings, trying and probably mostly succeeding in fooling the lazy and the uneducated into agreeing to pass on everything but their PIN no's. Not cool. Not cool at all. I knew to look out for it and they put the options in the 'dead spaces' that people don't tend to look at on a page, made the links tiny and the link descriptions were borderline deceptive.

Stop worrying about what other people think of you. They're really not thinking about you at all.

Michaelfjs

70 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 40

#1367788 17-Aug-2015 10:09

What do you mean by 'agreeing to pass on everything'?

The alphabetically listed programs make sense, what other order would you put them in?

BDAKiwi

41 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 9

#1368229 17-Aug-2015 21:35

A little bit of 'poetic licence' but default settings pass a lot of info back to MS, such as your browsing habits. It also installs stuff that most of us don't need but some buckethead at MS thinks is wonderful, like X-box and monetised ads. To quote How-To Geek:

'You know what we don’t want? We don’t want a Start Menu that tells us “7 Tips for Handling Hot Summer Hikes”, what’s going on with oil futures, what the current state of the hearing of (insert the name of the most recent domestic terrorist here) is, or how things are going in the NFL. We don’t want burger recipes, tips on clearing brain fog, or suggestions for crap we should buy in the Xbox Live store. When did the Start Menu become a BuzzFeed ad?
Further, when we use the search box in the Start Menu we want to search our stuff. Not stuff out there on the web. Not stuff Microsoft wants us to buy from their store. Or, to summarize it succinctly, Lady Gaga should only appear in the Start Menu if you put her there.'

As for the start menu - breaking the start menu into un-associated individual items as tiles - every single program listed alphabetically, no longer by folder category, in that insane tile format so it's about 30 scrolls long. It's unbelievable that after so much fallout with tiles in W8 that they are still insisting on foisting this train wreck of an idea on us. I don't know about you but I use a mouse and a keyboard, the only touch screens in this house for which these tiles are remotely useful are on our Android phones.

So, I want to look for a program. Ummm, what the hell name was it, I know what it does but can't remember its name... I would have to scroll through every single bloody tile in the start menu until I found it. Not going to do it, so I put that stupid away and installed a properly functional start menu replacement.

MS still don't get it - we're PC users with programs and data, not tablet and phone users with apps.

Oh, yeah, Skype. Big full screen window pops up, Install Skype. ... 'F* off, I didn't invite you!!' Closes window. Smaller box pops up You really should install Skype! Look at all the wonder... 'F*!!!! OFF!!!!!!!!! Whose idea was this and can I shove my old keyboard where the sun don't shine? Let's see you program THAT out.'

Oh yeah, yeah - Bing. Ever since Bing was created I've disabled it but when I overwrote W8 with W10 - guess what??!! You guessed? Yeah, Bing, that useless clump of wasted coding that couldn't find a beer in a brewery was the default search engine again, all by itself!

So y'know, it's fair to say that despite a clean and fast 'upgrade' my tolerance levels with MS are lower that they've ever been.

Stop worrying about what other people think of you. They're really not thinking about you at all.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
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#1368329 18-Aug-2015 07:55

Don't hold back now, let us know how you feel. But yeah, those animated tiles and default apps... Make a lot of sense on a tablet, not on a laptop.

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Michaelfjs

70 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 40

#1368360 18-Aug-2015 09:04

As for the start menu - breaking the start menu into un-associated individual items as tiles - every single program listed alphabetically, no longer by folder category, in that insane tile format so it's about 30 scrolls long. It's unbelievable that after so much fallout with tiles in W8 that they are still insisting on foisting this train wreck of an idea on us. I don't know about you but I use a mouse and a keyboard, the only touch screens in this house for which these tiles are remotely useful are on our Android phones.

So, I want to look for a program. Ummm, what the hell name was it, I know what it does but can't remember its name... I would have to scroll through every single bloody tile in the start menu until I found it. Not going to do it, so I put that stupid away and installed a properly functional start menu replacement.

The Windows 10 start menu does use a folder hierarchy, that's why it's better then the win 8 start menu.

Personally, I'm never scrolling through any start menu, in Windows 7, 8 or 10. I just type it. I can't think of anytime I was looking for a program and didn't even know what letter it started with.

BDAKiwi

41 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 9

#1368794 18-Aug-2015 19:21

Looks like my experience wasn't as smooth as I thought then. When W10 installed it separated everything. Ev ry thing. For example, Java. About Java was top of the list, then maybe Adobe Photoshop Elements, then maybe Check for Updates (which program?) further down, Visit Java way at the bottom, all unrelated by folder organisation. Every single link in the start menu was unbound from a folder structure. Generate report... Yeah, OK, which program does that relate to? Get Help, User Manual, etc yada yada yada. All of this not just organised alphabetically without reference to the program they belong to, but in all bloody tiles! I don't want tiles, they are a useless waste of space. I want a list view.

Start 10 put everything back in its place, and now it acts like a start menu should, the place I want to find and start my programs from.

My memory doesn't recall every single program name, I have many which I use a lot, many more that I use infrequently and remembering them all is not on my list of things to do.

Stop worrying about what other people think of you. They're really not thinking about you at all.

BDAKiwi

41 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 9

#1368795 18-Aug-2015 19:23

freitasm: Don't hold back now, let us know how you feel...

Yeah lol once I get started...

Stop worrying about what other people think of you. They're really not thinking about you at all.