Sometime in the fall I took the Windows 10 high contrast pill. And at first I loved it. It was pretty and I might be one of the few old timers growing up on DOS and than early windows systems that really, really like the tiles feel of it. Easy to set up, nice on the eyes. There was also the promise of more streamed functionality and an app store that could compete with google play. And the upgrade was free! NICE! I was all in. So off I went on my journey through the new windows. I think I might have got cut.
So Edge. YEAH I KNOW no one ever uses windows IE neener neener. For years I have rebelled against this notion, I like IE, there I said it. And the idea of an updated version that might have some the options available to Firefox and Chrome while still keeping its simplicity and stability (at least compared to the version of Firefox I have somehow got to stop working completely even after a reinstall) made me a happy man. But man it's a beast of something else.
Right now its only doing 1% CPU use and about 2.5% memory which is beyond awesome, but it has weird spikes of 25% or more depending on what I am up to. However, this not an Edge issue, this is a windows 10 issue as we will discuss.
So right now as I a type in Edge in the blog, because I forgot to open it as "Internet Explorer" mode I can't post screen caps or pics, or links, or anything. So I can't show you my screen cap of my memory use. Nor can I open my google docs since this triggers a seizure inducing flicker that does not end until I close the tab. Clearly this is either a major flaw of Edge or a screw you to Google from Microsoft. If somehow the second is true, than Hurray Coorporations are indeed people....their toddlers. But considering the red underline I'm getting for incorrect spelling for the last 2 paragraphs as I write this up I think its the latter (so no screen caps of that either.
When I first got Win 10, I pretty much convinced myself it was window dressing, pretty much a skin you added on with a few minor tweaks. However, this notion came crashing down as a pack of Win 7 files where segerated or even duplicated in new files. So for some my older programs I had to redig to find them manually since their links where broken on the desktop. That was weird.
Than there are the capatability issues, both backwards, forwards, up down and around. Campaign Cartographer needed a full uninstall, the installation of CC3+ and the expensive token packs I got still don't want to install...so hurray!
For Eddge, some site (again like the blog here) kind of run...wonky. It's not so much they won't run because its acting like a spoiled apple browser hating on certain scripts, its just sometimes a little off. And not extension or add-on seems to exist to help, just the "open in IE" opition....which makes Edge useless?
Than there is my much loved security software, Vipre. I have had a lifetime subscription to them for a long while, and on Win 7, it ran clean and low resource. And while I know its not exactly windows fault (maybe), Its now running 29% or more all the time. So now I need to find a new one that I trust, and from what I found, many others have the same issue, even with better CPU speeds.
Than there is Cortana, stupid stupid Cortana. Yeah, I've turned her off 3 times manually, but after a windows update she keeps popping back on eating up processor power like nothing else. Even after a RAM upgrade she's still eating the wrong memory. So I turned her off with the Regedit trick...yes regedit in my new streamlined family/grandpa/ma friendly OS trying to compete with apple products. FAIL. And guess what, after the longest Windows Update I think I have had since the time of dial up, she came back on again....so what??
Then there's all memory issues with both Edge and Chrome. Chrome in my opinion has been always a memory hog, but 45% for youtube vidoes...what the hell. In Win 7, it never seemed this high.
Next is the store. Honestly I have actually gotten some pretty good stuff off of it, but I am very, very wary of credit carding anything on it, so pay cards for it at the 7-11 store down the way soon I hope. But it does seem a little barren, and I didn't see an easy way to upload stuff. This means they must have a vetting/vendor process not privy to the general public or I haven't bothered looking for. Google makes it look so easy, but I can't give MS too much grief. It's a good way to content control. But is does mean the store looks sparse and bit unloved.
So other than a few other annoyances like the sticky "click for office 365" (NO I will not pay you yearly or micro payments for my office program that you might randomly shutdown or put on your cloud without my permission TYVM) am I satasified with it?
Good stuff? I still love the home panels for surfing my PC, I find easy on my brain for some reason, and really like it. The new mail and calendar stuff is really nice and modern, though oddly sometimes I have to go back to use the 2012 MS desktop mail once and while. And please, please rename "People" back to "CONTACTS" like the rest of the planet and stop trying to be a hipster. Oh and put a link for it in, you know, the MAIL program to reduce window clicking. Also make it easier to synch with other platforms, like google or android so I can manage all my contacts there. Geez.
V__V Meh. Certainly glad this wasn't a paid upgrade. But sadly I'm too scared or lazy to step back. If I go back to Win 7, how many of my recent adjustments get lost in hidden files? And for just how long before they stop supporting Win 7 and I get seriously left behind like I did with vista and other past builds I kept maybe for way too long?
$$$$ For the free stuff. Zero $, for even the NOTION of paying ongong fees for the new office program. I will not lease or rent my document editors. NO.
