I had no problem upgrading to Windows 10, that is the shocking news in this article. I didn’t loose any data in the change because I haven’t relied on Windows software to do anything aside from run my computer in well over a decade now. I use Chrome or Firefox to surf. Irfanview to view photos. Google Docs to write documents.
There is malware protection native in Windows 10 as there has been since Windows 7, they just don’t tell you where it is and that it is running anymore unless you go looking for it in notifications; notifications which are now on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. In the series of buttons on the notifications bar that comes up when you click on it, you will see one called settings. This can also be found from the Start menu which Microsoft wisely put back after taking it out of Windows 8.
Settings is where all the functions which used to be found in Control Panel are now located. Rather than have some arcane vernacular unique to Windows, Microsoft has elected to make their OS more like the other OS’ on the market making the learning of multiple platforms less tedious. A wise decision on their part since most people now use an Android variant as their OS.
No one likes change. The Wife complains every time her software is updated and she is my go to tech for hardware. I don’t do hardware, but software I have few problems with. Windows is now more like the other three OS’ that I use. I find that 10 is a major improvement from 8 or 8.1. It has been the least painful upgrade I’ve done in a lifetime of using Windows (starting with 2) DOS, Linux and when I’ve been forced to, Apple products. It found all the drivers necessary to run my hardware before attempting to install new software. For the FIRST TIME EVER I did not have to go out on another system and track down drivers that would have been available had the OS simply checked in advance before replacing the previous software. I didn’t have to do anything other than restart the system and everything worked perfectly. I was as shocked as you are right now.
This is my basic rule of thumb when modifying anything on a computer; backup the data! Always backup your data because it will inevitably be lost. Every single time I’ve upgraded in the past, this has been a true statement. This is the first time that I felt no pain at all in changing to a new OS. I’m seriously waiting for the other shoe to drop. It couldn’t possibly be this easy.
I hear your fingernails being dragged through the dirt as you try to desperately cling to the version of Windows you have now. Don’t deny it, you are terrified. Here is a newsflash for you, you will eventually have to upgrade. There is no avoiding it. On the other hand, there is no need to upgrade now. At some point your hardware will fail and you will be stuck using the latest version of whatever, and you’ll wish you had familiarized yourself with the software previously so as to ease the transition.
Here’s a bit of wisdom from my days as an architectural CAD guru. When AutoCAD transitioned to a Windows-based format the pushback from users who liked the DOS-based version was deafening. Professionals in the design business were swearing up and down that they would never switch to the new version; and yet within a year, all of them had changed programs. Some of them changed to non-AutoCAD drawing systems and had to learn a whole new program anyway, but none of them still used AutoCAD 10. There was no point in continuing to use it because the nature of collaborative design dictated that they had to move with the times. They had to do what everyone else was doing or be left behind. Be driven out of business.
Embrace change. That is my advice. Upgrade or switch to using Linux. You’ll thank me for it.
