Windows 10.

[TomGalletti]

Hey guys,

 

With Windows 10, I am planning to return to Microsoft's OS after 5 years using nothing but OSX. I am relatively proficient with OSX, and I should be able to figure out most basic stuff on Windows (If they still have Control Panel)...

However some things, (Drivers, Viruses, etc) I have never had to deal with on mac, and have no idea about. 

I am most concerned about viruses, as I have absolutely no clue what I should be buying in terms of protection.

 

I was wondering if anyone knew of or could link me to some sort of guide that helps with transitioning from OSX to Windows, as all "How to use Windows" guides I've found are for the totally, unbelievably ignorant and I need something that assumes the really basic knowledge.

 

Thanks, Tom. 

[minibois]

I don't know of any guide like that, but you should use your brain on Windows in terms of 'What should/shouldn't I download?' or 'What should or shouldn't I run?'.

Basically don't run .exe's from sketchy sites, don't download programs from stuff like cnet or file sharing programs (unless the creator has officially said he released it there and you have seen comments of people saying it works).

 

Just be a little more careful than OSX. And you could also get a real time virus scanner (Avast has always been decent, not sure if it is out for Windows 10 though)

[antoainb]

For drivers it'/s really simple, go to the manufacturer's website and download drivers. Unless your computer is really quite old you shouldn't have any problems, and if you only find drivers for Windows 8/8.1 you should be fine as most will work on Windows 10. Any problem you can always post it here or go to your good friend gooogle.

Security wise you shouldn't really need to buy anything. The best way to protect yourself is to use common sense and to make sure you don't download crap that's sketchy. Windows 10 does have real-time protection built in (Windows Defender) which should be fine for most people, but if you want extra peace of mind get a free antivirus like Avast! or Avira. I would also recommend doing occasional scans with Malwarebytes every month or so, just to see if you missed anything, but you should be fine as long as you keep your precaution. 

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

if u return to windows... dont go windows 10 u gonna regret it and wanna go back to osx, win10 released and is buggy as heck still

 

go win7 instead that is atleast fully stable

[TomGalletti]

So people wouldn't recommend purchasing a subscription to any of the mainstream antivirus providers, I should just be really careful and avoid downloading anything from a dodgy looking site?

[GoodBytes]

If you want to try Windows 10. I would wait 1-2 month from now.

The problem is that many manufactures rushed released their drivers to have something out to have their hardware work with Windows 10, mostly for computer manufactures, but the drivers aren't optimized properly, and have lots of bugs. These bugs will look like they are Windows problems but not. For example, some apps might crash  on you without error message. Not because the app is broken, but because the app is fully GPU rendered, and there is a bug in the GPU drivers.

 

But to answer you, once the mess is all settled, all you have to do is install Windows 10. The OS will get all the drivers you need, and their latest versions.

On rare occasions you may need to visit the manufacture website for the part to get the drivers. Some select manufacture don't release their drivers to Microsoft for publishing via Windows Update for some reason, which sucks for the consumer. Usually they are specialty hardware. So, normally it is not a problem.

 

As for virus/malware issue. To be honest, MacOS has viruses and malware, more deadly too, but you have drastically less yes. On Windows you have a basic protection that will detect most popular infections no problem built-in. It is called Windows Defender. With safe web surfing practices, it is enough. If you don't know what you do then you may want to look for an alternative anti-virus and anti-malware software (they are separate). You have free ones, and you have paying ones. Yes it affects they affect system performance. Basically the more aggressive they are, the more impact they'll be on your system, so you have to pick what you care more: performance or absolute protection. Of course they are exceptions, I mean you always have that one company that does a better job than another in scanning algorithm optimization.

 

What are safe web practices:

 -> Keep your system, and all your software that touches the web fully updated

 -> Make sure that all your plug-in: Java and Flash for example are fully updated, if you use them (Flash is built-in Chrome, IE and Edge and auto automated as new releases made)

 -> Only download stuff from sites that are trusted.

 -> Only open e-mail attachments that are from trusted people

 

Windows also has a barrier of sorts, called User Account Control (UAC). Where no one is really the true admin/root of the system, even if your account is set to "Administrator" privileges.

So when you run something that wants to do any changes to the system that affected all users of the system (meaning all other accounts, even if you have only 1 account), or system, it will prompt you that the program wants to modify system files, do you want to allow it: Yes or No. So when you open a video, document, or image for example, and Windows shows that prompt as you double click on it. You know something is wrong. Why would image/document/video or whatever need to modify system files. It doesn't. It probably contains malware or a virus. Don't allow it, and delete the file. It is rare that you will fall onto something like this, but I am explain this guard system that Windows has, which no one has yet been able to circumvent without the system already compromised in some fashion.

 

What is popular these days are not virus, or even malware. But rather: Randsomware. Those are not viruses or malware per se (well you can class it as malware, as it does something bad on your system). They can't be detected, as they appear as normal programs, and when you run it, it encrypts your personal data with a strong encryption, and asks you to pay money to decrypt the files. If you don't or close the program, the decryption key is deleted and you can't decrypt the files.  The best protection is to avoid running executable files (noted by the .exe file extension) from sources you don't trust. Say e-mail attachment.

 

Speaking of file extensions, one stupid thing in Windows, is that file extention are by default hidden. You can show them, luckily, with ease. Simply open a folder, any folder, and click on View, and check the box: "file name extension", and it will always show them from now on. So you can identify image files, executable and so on with ease. Usually randsomware are delivers as a fake picture, where the executable will have a standard default Windows viewer image icon, and have the file name like: image.jpg.exe. The last extension ".exe" is the true extension, the ".jpg" is part of the name. They try and trick people like this, and that is how you get infected by these.

 

The reality, and you'll soon find out, is that most of the time, people don't get "magically infected", they have downloaded and run stuff from non-trusted sources, and ignored or didn't catch the red flags.

 

Much like these scammer calls, which probably you had, which claims that they are from "Windows technical support", or whatever is crazy popular as software, and says that your computer or their software is: non-genuine/has virus or wtv, try and make you freak out, and asks you to download some software so that they can see and control your computer from distance to "fix it", and once connected, they usually run a fake program that says that you have like thousands of viruses on your system, even if you don't, then put a password on your system super fast, then "removes" these viruses (does nothing), and then asks you for hundreds of dollars for their "service". If you hang up or refuse, they don't remove the password, and if you do, they will.. hopefully. Of course, you can usually fix that. I mean Windows has the ability to go back in time (see: System Restore), so it is not the end of the world, but yea, you would probably hang up in the first place. Why would a company call you?, and you'll hear that everything is non professional if you decide to continue for fun. They are red flags everywhere usually.

 

So, I won't worry too much about viruses, and all that. Education is key of course, but that is why most people aren't too concern. Yes, big sites can be compromised and you could have come at the wrong time in, and downloaded something off there and it is an infection, or puts something on the site which exploits a security issue from your web browser which can make it install a virus, and you get screwed, but that is extremely rare. Usually companies are very well protected.

[TomGalletti]

Thank you so much.