How bad is Windows 10?

[IAmAndre]

Hi,

 

After literally months of studies, I think finally found the laptop that I think would fit my needs. It's the new Asus E200HA . The problem is I don't like Windows, and I know that Windows 10 is probably not nearly as good as most Linux distributions or even Mac OS, at least from my point of view.

I'm a developer and I have Linux installed on my main computer. I also have Windows 8 installed (not 10, not 8.1) just for gaming. The last time I used Windows as a primary OS was with Windows 7 and I didn't like the interface, and the different bugs/issues were very frustrating : I would set up Eclipse or WAMP only to find out a few months later that it would stop working all of a sudden (a virus, an antivirus or something else would screw things up), or I would want to change a particular setting but would have to browse through a ton of menus to do that, whereas a simple command would do the trick on Linux.

Now I've heard good things about Windows 10 and I'd like to know how stable it is for productivity purposes, since I'll be using this laptop only when I'm on the go to fix bugs quickly or write some content, and at work for taking notes during meetings. I know that these specs (Atom z8350, 4GB of RAM) would be great for most Linux distros, but what about Windows 10? Should I expect any slowdowns/crashes?

Finally, is this the best laptop I can find at this price. I need something quite good looking, with a good autonomy, easy to carry around and decent performance.

 

Thanks

[TheBestUserName]

I like Windows 10.  It works pretty damn well for me and my son. I'd say it's the best version I've used yet. 

[Matias_Chambers]

It's not that bad once you get used to it.

[AresKrieger]

If it works as intended not too bad, essentially windows 7 with forced updates and some dumb ads

 

If it has a fit on the other had it will annoy the hell out of you until you reinstall it

[Spitfire1911]

If you used Windows 8 then you're already basically used to it but otherwise its basically a combination of 7 and 8

[pyrojoe34]

I like it just fine (have it on both my desktops and my laptop). I only use a local account (no Microsoft account) and turn off all the privacy settings and extra stuff so I haven't had any of issues people talk about like weird popups/ads or apps doing things they don't want (I don't use any app store stuff). Haven't even had issues with updates interrupting me or happening at weird times. No issues whatsoever yet.

[Squirrel724]

I have not had any issues with it and prefer it to Windows 8 by a large margin. 

[pyrojoe34]

1 minute ago, AresKrieger said:

If it works as intended not too bad, essentially windows 7 with forced updates and some dumb ads

 

If it has a fit on the other had it will annoy the hell out of you until you reinstall it

Where are people getting these ads from? I hear people complain about them but I have it installed on 3 computers (since release) and never once seen anything I could ever call an ad? Hell, I've never even had a popup occur. (I do use a local account only, no Microsoft account so I don't know if it's that.)

[IAmAndre]

Interesting. As @pyrojoe34 suggested, would disabling all the updates and stuff (I wouldn't be against watching movies from the Store though) make the laptop snappier and more stable, considering its specs? I'm also curious how Win 10 would run on these specs.

[AresKrieger]

3 minutes ago, pyrojoe34 said:

Where are people getting these ads from? I hear people complain about them but I have it installed on 3 computers (since release) and never once seen anything I could ever call an ad? Hell, I've never even had a popup occur. (I do use a local account only, no Microsoft account so I don't know if it's that.)

From my understanding they are part of the start menu, I haven't used windows 10 since they were added though so I can't say for sure but I know they are there somewhere

[Labeled]

I think a lot of windows hate is misplaced, from 7 onwards I've enjoyed every new version of windows.

[pyrojoe34]

18 minutes ago, IAmAndre said:

Interesting. As @pyrojoe34 suggested, would disabling all the updates and stuff (I wouldn't be against watching movies from the Store though) make the laptop snappier and more stable, considering its specs? I'm also curious how Win 10 would run on these specs.

To be clear. I don't disable any updates. Just all the other stuff under "privacy", cortana, notifications, etc. I leave the updates to do their own thing, they just never interrupt me or force a restart when I don't want it. I get the feeling the people who have the problems with updates interrupting them get them because they block updates over and over until Windows has no choice but to force it to keep it up to date.

 

17 minutes ago, AresKrieger said:

From my understanding they are part of the start menu, I haven't used windows 10 since they were added though so I can't say for sure but I know they are there somewhere

Never seen any ads in my start menu, the only thing I ever see there are the icons I put there for the programs I use.

[Sintezza]

I personally dont like Windows10 atall.

Its the worst version of Windows ever created imo.

And i really dont think that there is more to say about it.

 

I guess if you are a linux user, you will probably not like it either.

But of course its personal.

[IAmAndre]

1 minute ago, Sintezza said:

I personally dont like Windows10 atall.

And i think if you are a user Linux user, you pretty much wont like either most likely.

Can you elaborate please?

[Sintezza]

30 minutes ago, IAmAndre said:

Can you elaborate please?

Well what should i say.

 

- Windows10 seems breaks itself more often then Arch lol.

- Windows10 steals all your personal data and information.

- Windows10 life its own life wenn it comes to updates, so if you are working on an important project, dont be suprised that it desides to reboot it self because of an update.

- Windows10 DE is crap, but thats my opinion.

- Driver updates....

- Very vulnerable and insecure..

 

I really cannot think of manny positive points that windows10 has to offer over Windows8.1, other then DX12.

 

To me Windows10 is just one big pile of garbage.

 

[IAmAndre]

1 minute ago, Sintezza said:

Well what should i say.

 

- Windows10 seems breaks itself more often then Arch lol.

- Windows10 steals all your personal data and information.

- Windows10 life its own life wenn it comes to updates, so if you are working on an important project, dont be suprised that it desides to reboot it self because of an update.

- Windows10 DE is crap, but thats my opinion.

- Driver updates, you never know what breaks next?

 

I really cannot think of manny positive points that windows10 has to offer over Windows8.1, other then DX12.

 

Yeah Windows being Windows. On the other hand, I've been using an Android tablet (Asus Transformer) on the go so far, and with a few apps installed I was able to get some work done, though I wasn't in the best conditions. Do you think even Android is more suitable than Win 10? The problem is I don't want to install Linux on a laptop because you always have compatibility issues. I considered getting a Dell laptop with Ubuntu installed, but their low-end laptops really suck both in terms of design and performance.

[Sintezza]

18 minutes ago, IAmAndre said:

Yeah Windows being Windows. On the other hand, I've been using an Android tablet (Asus Transformer) on the go so far, and with a few apps installed I was able to get some work done, though I wasn't in the best conditions. Do you think even Android is more suitable than Win 10? The problem is I don't want to install Linux on a laptop because you always have compatibility issues. I considered getting a Dell laptop with Ubuntu installed, but their low-end laptops really suck both in terms of design and performance.

Well i personaly dont have any experiance with android OS, so i cannot speak for that.

The only thing i know is that its basicly based upon a Linux kernel aswell.

 

But as far as Linux on your Laptop is concerned, it highly depends on the hardware inside realy.

The main compatibility issues with Linux will be an AMD graphics card.

But that is mainly an issue with Ubuntu based LTS distro´s.

The rolling release distributions like Arch based all have newer kernels which have support for amd graphics now.

The only problem with bleeding edge distro´s like Arch or Manjaro is the risk of breaking the system during updates.

So if you are using your system for work purposes i think it would be better to go with an LTS version of Linux.

However Fedora is a realy stable OS which version 25 to be released out of beta soon.

If the software you need for your work is available on Linux, i would personaly dont toutch Windows10 then.

But if some of the software isnt available trough linux, and there are no viable open source alternatives, then Windows10 is prety much the only alternative.

 

I personally dont like Windows10 atall.

But allot of other people do seem to like it allot.

Its really a personal thing.

Gamers for instance dont really have much else too choose then Windows10.

Allthough gaming on Linux is growing.

But to me Microsoft is heading a direction with Windows which i dont agree on.

And that is basicly one of the main reasons for me not to use it, asside from the spying stuff.

 

 

[GoodBytes]

6 hours ago, IAmAndre said:

I'm a developer and I have Linux installed on my main computer.

Under Windows 10 (after you fully updated it, in the case it isn't out of the box), you have Linux subsystem (Ubuntu) in Windows 10. So you can bash away inside Windows 10, and yes you have access to your system files as well. It isn't a VM, or some strange thing like that. It is literally Linux sub-system running under Windows 10. With xMing installed under Windows, you can even run Linux GUI based programs under Windows. And NO it will not affect your system performance nor boot time. Yes, you can install Linux software, server stuff, and so on (although, I have not done it.. don't know how well that would work). Yes, you can do: sudo apt-get install <app name> and all that good stuff. And no, it doesn't run as root. You setup all that on the first startup of Bash.

 

Here is an old screenshot of me having fun:

 

That said, it is still under Beta.

To enable it, simply do Win+X (or right-click on the Start Button), and select "Programs & Features", then click on "Turn Windows feature on or off", and then check the box for Linux sub-system, and click on OK. Windows will start the installation process, which requires a system reboot. Then open the command prompt (or PowerShell), and type: Bash, and hit Enter. Now, you'll be greeted for the setup screen, once done, you'll have Ubuntu Bash quick access from the Start menu, or you type: bash, under PowerShell or Command Prompt.

 

And yes, since Windows 10, the command prompt  (so in turn: PowerShell, and Bash command line/terminal window) is fully scalable, you have word warping, copy & paste like normal (well, normal under Windows), supports all colors, and can even be put semi-transparent, if that is your thing.

 

And yes, Microsoft continues to work on it to make it better. If you are part of the Windows 10 Insider program (meaning you jump to Beta builds of Windows 10), you get to enjoy improvements, Ubuntu 16.04, and more (more to come. possibly as well). Yes, Canonical is working with Microsoft on this project.

 

Windows 10 runs great with on old and slow hardware compared to Windows 7, and even Windows 8. Windows 10 adapts its memory usage based on the system (will even use memory compression.. yes, you read correctly). If you can get an SSD on the system, the experience will be much better as well, despite an Atom based CPU.. but a slow ass 5400RPM HDD will still do the trick... but that is your HDD fault now, not Windows.

 

Windows 10 can run on 16GB storage, with 2GB of RAM, Atom based CPU. They are products being sold with those specs running Windows 10.

 

[IAmAndre]

1 hour ago, GoodBytes said:

Under Windows 10 (after you fully updated it, in the case it isn't out of the box), you have Linux subsystem (Ubuntu) in Windows 10. So you can bash away inside Windows 10, and yes you have access to your system files as well. It isn't a VM, or some strange thing like that. It is literally Linux sub-system running under Windows 10. With xMing installed under Windows, you can even run Linux GUI based programs under Windows. And NO it will not affect your system performance not boot time. Yes, you install Linux software, server stuff, and so on (although, I have not done it). Yes, you can do: sudo apt-get install <app name> and all that good stuff. And no, it doesn't run as root. You setup all that on the first startup.

 

Here is an old screenshot of me having fun:

 

That said, it is still under Beta.

To enable it, simply do Win+X (or right-click on the Start Button), and select "Programs & Features", then click on "Turn Windows feature on or off", and then check the box for Linux sub-system, and click on OK. Windows will start the installation process, which requires a system reboot. Then open the command prompt (or PowerShell), and type: Bash, and hit Enter. Now, you'll be greeted for the setup screen, once done, you'll have Ubuntu Bash quick access from the Start menu, or you type: bash, under PowerShell or Command Prompt.

 

And yes, since Windows 10, the command prompt  (so in turn: PowerShell, and Bash command line/terminal window) is fully scalable, you have word warping, copy & paste like normal (well, normal under Windows), supports all colors, and can even be put semi-transparent, if that is your thing.

 

And yes, Microsoft continues to work on it to make it better. If you are part of the Windows 10 Insider program (meaning you jump to Beta builds of Windows 10), you get to enjoy improvements, Ubuntu 16.04, and more (more to come. possibly as well). Yes, Canonical is working with Microsoft on this project.

 

Windows 10 runs great with on old and slow hardware compared to Windows 7, and even Windows 8. Windows 10 adapts its memory usage based on the system (will even use memory compression.. yes, you read correctly). If you can get an SSD on the system, the experience will be much better as well, despite an Atom based CPU.. but a slow ass 5400RPM HDD will still do the trick... but that is your HDD fault, now, not Windows.

 

Windows 10 can run on 16GB storage, with 2GB of RAM, Atom based CPU. They are products being sold with those specs, running Windows 10.

 

Now that is awesome ! I can't wait to try it. Thanks !