WINDOWS 7
settingsinterfaces,one in the traditionalcontrol panel and
anotherin ‘settings’.An, there are overlapsin functionality, but
equallythere are things you can only do in one side. Openingthe
control panel to add system desktopicons only to find they’re
now missingand are in settingsunder ‘Themes’(why?) is only the
beginning.And with each subsequentpatch and versionrelease,
more things move around.
Whereas Windows 7 remainedlargely unchangedsince its
conception,aside from bug fixes, Windows 10 is a continually
shiftingtopology, often with very little warning or notice of what
they’veactuallyaltered at each stage.
If you don’t like change,then stick with Windows 7, becauseit
isn’t broken for the most part.
2.IHaveAFullWindowsLicence
This point highlightsa flaw in the way that the free upgradeto
Windows 10 works, in that it essentiallyconvertsall Windows 7
and 8 licencesto the OEM model.
If you have a full retail versionof Windows 7 or 8, then you’re
entitledto remove it from your existingPC, build a new one and
then install it there.
With an OEM licence,once installedon a PC, the licence is
then permanentlyglued to that hardware, and when it dies the
licence expires with it.
Exactly how much flexibilityMicrosoft allows on hardware
activationchangeshas long been debated,and it seems almost
to dependon who you end up talking to in its supportcentre
whetherit will reactivateyou after, say, a motherboard failure.
Clearly, Microsoft’s thinkingis that by convertingthese retail
licencesinto Windows 10 OEM ones, they’ll be removed from
circulationonce their host machinesdie, necessitatinga new PC
and a new licence sale. Therefore, by offering the free upgrade,
Microsoft has treated OEM and retail customersthe same, to the
detrimentof those who paid full price for their OS.
The logic here would suggestthat if you don’t want your
Windows 7 licence convertingto Windows 10 OEM status, then
you have three choices.- Buy Windows 10.
- Buy an OEM versionof Windows 7, and upgradethat.
- Don’t upgrade.
Given that it’s possibleto still get Windows 7 OEM licencesfor
£20, the second option might well be the preferableone, allowing
you to keep your Windows 7 retail code for some other use.
A retail Windows 7 licence is worth more than the OEM one,
even if the upgradetreats them as equal.3.SoftwareCompatibility
For this user, initially I concludedthat most Windows 32-bit
applicationswould run on Windows 10 withoutmuch of an
issue, becausein pre-release testing that seemeda reasonable
conclusionto make, based on the software I’d tried. Most things
ran on Windows 8, so surely Windows 10 would be the same?
No, not exactly. And actuallysince release, Windows 10
has startedto manifesta dislike to some applicationsthat is
rather aggressive.
If code won’t run or causes a crash, that’s one thing, but recent
versionsof Windows 10 have activelydeletedapps that it has
decidedare incompatiblewith it. There isn’t any choice or debate
here; after the upgradeprocess completes,you’re glibly informed
that your applicationwas deemednot to be compatibleand has
been removed!
What’s really odd about this is that on a few occasions,I’ve
then reinstalledexactly the same code, which Windows 10 has
allowed,and it has run perfectly.If you don’t likechange,
thenstick withWindows7,
becauseit isn’tbroken,forthe
mostpart