Here’s what our readers think of Windows 10
Three weeks have passed since Windows 10 became available for download and, judging by the user reviews left on our product page, it’s been one hell of a start. While many users seemed to agree with our positive assessment, a few of you inundated us with tales of woe, ranging from installation issues to slowdowns to crashing apps. We’ve gathered together some of the best reader reviews below to find out if Windows 10 really is a “must have” upgrade now, or if some of you might be better off waiting for a few of the kinks to be ironed out.
“I feel this OS will be easy to use for all aspects of society, even the non-technical or PC-illiterate users.” –ubertiny
Many users’ first experience with Windows 10 is going to be the upgrade/installation process, and for most it was quick and painless, with ubertiny calling it “as easy as it can get” and kingtigre finding the operation “smooth as butter.” But, while steenbag “was using Windows 10 within 10 minutes of pressing install,” jquest71 botched his first upgrade attempt and ThrashedByPC was plunged into “a maddening 72 hours of chaos and frustration,” including a download that took over 12 hours.
But even an inauspicious start couldn’t sink Windows 10 for jquest71. Once he got it running on his Surface Pro 3, he found the icons “modern and fresh,” with full-screen apps working “much, much better” for him than on Windows 8.1. Hamlinpark calls it “simple and uncluttered,” and unsivil thinks that “even the most primitive Windows users” will find the new interface easy to understand. 13xforever agrees, saying that changes to things like language preference make “sense for an average user,” although they could be a pain in the ass for hardcore polyglots. However, while ethanturk enjoys how the new start menu “functions well and looks great,” many others were less enamored with this attempt to blend the old and the new. Nafem says, “It is too long-winded to find anything,” with boed finding it “cumbersome” and “less efficient than [the] classic shell.” Chingolingo calls it “a lame attempt” at bringing back the Start button, and KenD90027 actually found it to be his “biggest letdown” about Windows 10.
“The return of the Start menu is definitely amazing; the new Edge browser, well, I can say bye-bye to third party browsers now.” — EBD
The Start menu wasn’t the only marquee feature that didn’t make a splash with our readers. If Windows 10 was supposed to be a lighter, more responsive experience, it went unnoticed by many reviewers, with JesseLim calling it only “marginally faster” and boed not noticing an improvement at all. However, he also “didn’t notice any degradation either.” DrRockDC’s Yoga 2 Pro became sluggish and outright “unusable” in tablet mode, while ThrashedByPC’s computer slowed “to a crawl.” Still, some reviewers lucked out, with ubertiny finding the OS “extremely responsive” and Sat12321 says, “My laptop boots up in 15 seconds and apps open up in a flash.”
Among those apps is Microsoft’s new built-in browser, Edge. It loaded quickly and rendered pages well for steenbag, who calls it “a monolithic step forward from IE.” EBD even went so far as to say “bye-bye” to third party browsers. But even if jquest71 found that Edge has “worked extremely well so far,” there are still a few kinks to be worked out. JesseLim says it takes up “huge resources in Flash- or Java-intensive sites,” and Hamlinpark also found a few pages “that seem to have some issues with Edge.” However, he still thinks it’s “fast and usable.”
“Cortana makes setting reminders, checking flight status info, finding places, searching the web and sending emails a breeze.” — nrao6
Cortana was another feature that left reviewers with mixed reactions. Nrao6 was delighted by her ability to set reminders and search the web, but maybe not so much by her jokes. Both EBD and jquest71 found her handy to have around, though the latter noted she’s still “a work in progress,” explaining why users like light8 may have found her “useless and laggy.” Light8 was frustrated by how “she didn’t understand what I was saying or didn’t respond when I called her,” and ThrashedByPC had problems with Cortana “trying to schedule things whenever I tried to use a search.”
However, even as users like DrRockDC, light8 and chingolingo find themselves rolling their systems back to Windows 8.1 (or even Windows 7), plenty are willing to stick with this version of Windows, and encourage others to take the plunge as well. Ubertiny calls it a “super-intelligent, clean, user-friendly OS that has all the right stuff in all the right places.” Kingtigre says it offers “the promise of a better OS,” one that is all about what you need. For nrao6, that means he can “stay focused and get my work done.” For KenD90027, it’s about being “more modern and secure.” And for EBD, it’s simply “the best Windows I have ever used.”
Filed under:
Software, Microsoft
Tags: microsoft, reviewroundup, userreviewroundup, Windows10
Bing beats Google Now to system-wide contextual search
If you can’t wait for Android Marshmallow, Microsoft is offering an alternative for one of its most highly anticipated features. With the Bing Search app installed, you can now get “snapshots” by long-pressing on the home button, just as you would to launch Google Now on Tap. Microsoft’s search engine will then scan what’s on the page and bring up a small overlay card with useful information and shortcuts to related apps. So if you’re watching the trailer for Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, for instance, you’ll get its current IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes ratings, as well as an option to order tickets with Fandango. At the moment the feature is only supported in the US, and you’ll need to download the app to get started — unlike Google’s offering — which will almost certainly curb its popularity. Still, if you’re curious to see what Google Now on Tap is all about, this is a good preview.
Filed under:
Cellphones, Microsoft, Google
Via:
The Next Web
Source:
Bing Search
Tags: android, bignsnapshots, bing, bingsearch, google, googlenow, googlenowontap, microsoft, snapshots
The worldwide smartphone market is slowing down
There’s a statistic floating around that says that nearly everyone on Earth has a smartphone, but just over half of them have access to proper sanitation. Between that stat and this report from Gartner, it looks as if a great many smartphone makers should think about starting their own toilet-making businesses. The research firm believes that while the smartphone market is still growing, that rate of growth has now dropped back to 2013 levels. That’s because China, long-regarded as a rich seam of un-tapped phone buyers has been exhausted, which is what’s prompted these firms to turn to India and Africa. If that all sounds a bit too business-y, here’s the simplified version: everyone who can buy a smartphone already has one, and those people who don’t probably can’t afford them.
Gartner has also tallied the winners and losers for the second three-month period of 2015, and Samsung falls victim to the law of large numbers. Despite shipping just four million fewer devices this year than last, it saw market share fall by 4.3 percent. Samsung’s lunch was mostly gobbled up by Huawei and Xiaomi, while Lenovo, fat and happy after its purchase of Motorola, still managed to watch its figures fall. The other big winner was Apple which, the firm claims, sold upwards of 12 million more iPhones than it did in the same period last year. Gartner also thinks that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus managed to steal away high-end customers from other brands as well as gain plenty more fans in China.
Like the kids who got picked last for school sports, spare a thought for Windows Phone, which has just 2.5 percent market share. That’s still impressive when compared to BlackBerry, which is now marked down as having just 0.3 percent of the world’s smartphone business.
In terms of predicting the future, it looks as if there’s a growing divide between the dirt-cheap manufacturers and firms that are still producing higher-end Android phones. Huawei, ZTE, TCL and Micromax are all considered success stories having turned their attentions to India and other emerging markets. Sony, HTC and Samsung, to a lesser extent, are all marked down as losers that “struggled to achieve growth at the high end of the market.” Given how cheap it is to enter the Android phone business, there’s no shortage of companies who want to undercut the established players. If that continues, however, it’s not going to be long before we see more than just HTC being put on a watch list.
[Image Credit: Bloomberg / Getty]
Filed under:
Cellphones, Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, Google
Source:
Gartner
Tags: apple, Gartner, google, microsoft, samsung
Microsoft studio wants you to choose and shape its next game
Press Play, the Danish developer behind Max: The Curse of Brotherhood and Kalimba is opening up its doors to seek advice on its next game. The Microsoft-owned studio is entering what it calls “open development.” For now that means the public can choose which of its game concepts gets greenlit, but it’ll soon mean a lot more.
There are three ideas being batted around the Press Play office: Dwarka, Karoo, and Knoxville. Dwarka is an “action-packed first-person co-op game,” Karoo is a “physics-based multiplayer construction game.” and Knoxville a “third-person multiplayer action-survival game.” Here are the teaser trailers for all three:
You wouldn’t know it from the teasers, but each of the concepts is already at the prototype phase of development. Press Play’s site has gameplay demos for all three, with Karoo probably being the furthest along. Once a title is chosen, Press Play says it’ll continue to work with the community during development. Some of its plans include “sharing early builds of the game and having community members join meetings and project reviews via Skype.” If you’ve ever wanted more than the regular video diaries and blog posts created by game creators, Press Play’s initiative seems like a unique chance to get involved in game development.
Filed under:
Gaming, Microsoft
Source:
Microsoft
Tags: microsoft, PressPlay
Microsoft shows off first Windows preview since release
Windows is transitioning from something that you buy once every few years to a service that’s updated on a regular basis. Windows 10 has only been out for a few weeks but already Microsoft’s got the follow-up ready for selected users to test. If you’re a member of the Windows Insider program, you can now get a look at Preview Build 10525 which’ll land on your desktop automatically via Windows Update. The two most notable tweaks enable to you tweak the color of the taskbar as well as greatly improved memory management. On the downside, video playback and internet sharing are broken for now, so if you’re interested in updating, just remember that you do so at your own risk.
Filed under:
Desktops, Laptops, Software, Microsoft
Source:
Microsoft
Tags: Build10525, microsoft, Preview, Windows, Windows10
Microsoft patches up IE flaw that gives hackers access to your PC
Microsoft has issued a critical update to patch up an Internet Explorer hole that can give hackers access to your system. Hackers could create websites capable of exploiting the zero-day vulnerability — discovered by Google researcher Clement Lecigne — and get you to click on the URL via email or instant messenger. They will then get the same user rights you have, making the flaw more dangerous if you have administrative access or if you’re handling a server or a workstation. With admin powers, intruders can remotely install applications and steal your data.
You probably won’t have to do a thing if you’ve set up security updates to download automatically, but you can also download the fix from the company’s website. Microsoft recommends installing it for IE versions 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 — and yes, it’s advisable that you get it even if you’re on Windows 10 but too attached to IE to switch to Edge.
[Image credit: geekgiant/Flickr]
Via:
CSO Online, ZDNet
Source:
Microsoft
Tags: browser, internetexplorer, microsoft, securityflaw
Skype for Android gives you custom ringtones and photo forwarding
If you use Skype enough on your Android phone that you can’t always make heads or tails of who’s calling, today’s your day. An updated version of Skype for Android brings the same kind of contact-specific ringtones that you might be used to with conventional calls, so you’ll know if it’s a BFF or someone who can afford to wait. The same update will be handy if you can’t help but share pictures, for that matter — you can now forward the images you receive in chat, guaranteeing that those baby photos will reach the rest of your Skype-using family. Swing by Google Play if either of these new features happens to reel you in.
Filed under:
Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Microsoft
Source:
Skype, Google Play
Tags: android, InstantMessaging, internet, messaging, microsoft, mobilepostcross, skype, smartphone, voip
Xbox One to Windows 10 game streaming is about to look a lot better
Remember that “very high” streaming video setting Reddit users found hiding in the Windows 10 Xbox app? It’s available to all users right now. Today Microsoft announced that the app’s August update would enable game streaming from Xbox One consoles to Windows 10 PCs in 1080p and 60 frames per second. Nice.
Starting today, users with strong home networks can activate “very high” quality streaming under the ‘game streaming’ section of the app’s ‘settings’ menu. The update crams in a bunch of other handy features too, including the ability to right-click users on your friends list to send them a message, new notification preferences, the ability to compare achievements, a new grid view for the My Games section and the ability to add PC games to your game list via a drop down menu. Check out the full list of changes at the source link below.
Filed under:
Gaming, Microsoft
Source:
Major Nelson
Tags: fullhd, gamestreaming, gaming, microsoft, streaming, windows10, xbox, xboxapp
Next month Comcast will turn off the Xbox 360 app Netflix hated
When it launched in 2012, Comcast’s Xfinity Xbox 360 app became a lightning rod for controversy. That’s because to some (like Netflix CEO Reed Hastings) it was a symbol of the cable giant’s abuse of network neutrality by streaming video that didn’t count against its own bandwidth caps. Since then, the app hasn’t quite turned the video market on its head, Comcast failed to acquirre Time Warner Cable, Netflix grew by a few (tens of millions of) customers and now users report the ISP has sent emails out indicating the Xfinity app will disappear September 1st. Windows Central contacted Comcast via Twitter and heard back that “We are removing this to make way for new updates and improvements to our online experience for customers.”
@JCalMN We are removing this to make way for new updates and improvements to our online experience for customers – PL
— ComcastCares (@comcastcares) August 17, 2015
It’s unclear what improvements are on the way, and so far, Comcast has not followed up with an app for Xbox One (or PlayStation, or other set-top boxes for that matter) to replace it. Comcast never added live TV to the app, so it was mostly just a faster way to get video on-demand, something the cable giant may prefer to do with its X1 platform, especially since it’s starting to add games too. Whatever the plan is, the lights are turning out in just a couple of weeks.
Filed under:
Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft
Source:
Windows Central
Tags: comcast, hdpostcross, IPTV, microsoft, VOD, Xbox360, Xfinity
Windows 10 won’t run old games with dodgy copy protection
Do you recall the bad old days of PC games in the mid-2000s, when titles were loaded with copy protection that was not only a hassle, but horribly insecure? Well, Microsoft does — and that could be a problem if you’re trying to run some of those vintage games on Windows 10. The company notes that games which depend on some versions of SafeDisc and Securom DRM (digital rights management) aren’t allowed to run on Windows 10 at all. That could mean that your dusty copy of Grand Theft Auto III, Battlefield 1942 or The Sims won’t load. As Microsoft’s Boris Schneider-Johne says, their DRM intrudes so deeply your system that they introduce a “possible loophole for computer viruses.” Sure enough, at least one of the concerns about burdensome copy protection proved true — it was more of a nuisance to honest gamers than to pirates.
We’ve asked Microsoft for more details, including the effect on other copyright mechanisms. However, you’ll be relieved to hear that there are frequently workarounds. Some developers have already patched out the offending DRM, and digital stores like GOG sell versions that aren’t subject to the restrictive software. And while we wouldn’t recommend it, the cracking tools this copy protection was meant to defeat (but rarely did) should theoretically do the trick. While you could still be locked out of some of the classic games you own, that list might be relatively short.
Filed under:
Gaming, Software, Microsoft
Via:
Rock Paper Shotgun
Source:
Rocket Beans TV (YouTube)
Tags: copyprotection, drm, gaming, microsoft, safedisc, securom, software, windows, windows10
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