A Week With Windows 10

Thinking of making the jump to Microsoft’s new, fancy Windows 10 operating system on your desktop PC or laptop? Not really quite sure what you might be getting yourself into? One of our erstwhile colleagues over at Gizmodo headquarters in the US has spent the last few days chronicling his experiences so far with Windows 10.

We’ll add to this list as each day occurs, so check back regularly!

Windows 10: Day One

Last night, as promised, I installed Windows 10 on my own personal laptop. I left everything to chance. I didn’t back up my data. Hell, I set my Lenovo ThinkPad X240 on the floor of a pizza parlour in San Francisco — dongle and all — and let it install totally unattended. Then, I woke my precious laptop to discover the most painless software upgrade I’ve ever performed. At least, that’s what it feels like so far. I’m going to be honest: I wasn’t expecting my ThinkPad to be a particularly easy target for a Windows 10 upgrade. I originally picked this computer because it’s absolutely jam-packed with features, some of which require additional software.

Windows 10: Day Two

Two days ago, I promised to upgrade my personal desktop and laptop to Windows 10, to demonstrate how wonderful or terrible the migration from Windows 8 might be. Yesterday, I was surprised how painless it felt. Today, I’m feeling a little pain. It started off brilliantly. I spent most of my second day with Windows 10 just working from my newly upgraded ThinkPad X240 laptop, without noticing any major issues with my usual routine. I chatted with colleagues in Slack, wrote and edited blog posts in Chrome, etc, almost the same as I did in Windows 8. Besides, Windows 10’s new UI gestures are freaking fantastic. I’m finding myself using them all the time to deal with my ThinkPad’s cramped screen.

Windows 10: Days Three And Four

This weekend, I took Windows 10 to a LAN party. It was pretty great. Yes, I’m talking about a nerd fiesta where PC gamers link a whole bunch of computers together with network cables and switches so they can yell at each other while they play games. No, I’m not too old for that shit. As part of my week-long experiment with Windows 10 on my own personal computers, I thought it would be a great idea to see how well the new operating system handles games. And I couldn’t think of any better environment to test that than at a bona fide LAN party. So I invited my closest friends, and their friends, to bring their Windows 7 and Windows 8 computers (and a lot of folding tables and chairs — thank you Will!) to my best friend’s house. I brought my two freshly upgraded Windows 10 PCs and a carful of party snacks.

Windows 10: Day Five

The nice thing about reviewing Windows 10 on my own computers is that there’s nowhere to hide. When something goes wrong, I have to troubleshoot on the fly. I can’t say “Oh, I’ll just go back to my personal computer until I figure this out.” You know what’s not so nice? When you shoot the trouble, and yet — somehow — it survives. Though my Windows 10 experience has mostly been positive, the cracks are definitely beginning to show. Add up enough issues, and I’ve gotta wonder if it’s really a good idea for people to start blindly upgrading tomorrow. Let me explain what I’m talking about.

This post is part of a week-long experiment with Windows 10 ahead of the official launch on July 29. What do you want to know about Windows 10? Feel free to leave us a comment below.


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