Another happy Win 10 user here. I reisted it for the first year what with all the fuss about MS trying to force it on people.
But being a VR convert it was inevitable I would have to convert eventually and I havnt looked back.
As for the GUI install Classic Shell
http://www.classicshell.net/ and you can have the Win 7 menu back.
Hi all,
I can also recommend Classic Shell, I've installed and used it on many Win10 boxes with no problems. Yes the Win10 GUI does suck.
I think it is also worth pointing out that you can still legally upgrade for free from windows7 & 8 to Win10 - have a careful read of the following:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/heres-how-you-can-still-get-a-free-windows-10-upgrade/
and
https://www.geeksinphoenix.com/blog...10-upgrade-for-windows-7-and-windows-8-1.aspx
I've done this at least seven times this year (2019) with no real problems. However, do your research first (e.g. for hardware & software compatibility) and take backups before you start ... oh and test that your backups have worked and that you can restore from them. ... and make sure you have a record of your various software licence/activation keys, just in case.
Should you upgrade if you can? YES ... (with some caveats below). Do some research, you'll find that a significant amount of the problems with malware is because people/organisations haven't been patching the their operating systems, software etc.
Bear in mind that you wouldn't necessarily know that your old, unpatched system is hosting malware (even with some old anti-malware software on it) because the malware isn't necessarily going to make itself known to you - you could be hosting an attack on government web sites right now for example - the malware isn't targeting you so unless you watched your network traffic/processor you probably wouldn't know anything about it (and your old anti-malware software wouldn't either). Another example is the malware could be harvesting your banking details, address book entries etc and sending them to some bad actors - the malware isn't going to tell you that it is doing this, and your old anti-malware/unpatched OS isn't necessarily going to notice either.
Research on the WindowsXP malware fiasco in the NHS if you want a "real life" example of why you should keep up to date.
Caveats: 1) if you have some software that you can't live without that only runs on an old OS, don't upgrade - but disconnect your system from the Internet. 2) If you're unsure of your own computer skills, consider getting help before doing anything. 3) There will be a period of time when Win7 loses support from Microsoft but is still supported by your anti-malware software provider you *may* be safe during that period but keep an eye on the support of your anti-malware.
Oh one other thing, yes some of the Win10 automated updates haven't gone perfectly, but they've all been fixable. There is no guarantee that an update to Windows/IOS/Unix will go perfectly in every case, Win10 is no different to any other operating system in that sense. There pretty much is a guarantee that if you don't update (but remain connected to the Internet) then eventually you'll have some malware on-board.
So, if you don't want to upgrade but are happy to disconnect old systems from the Internet, go ahead. If you wish to connect all your boxes to the Internet - be a good net citizen and keep 'em up to date!
Cheers,
SW
