Windows 10, what I like, what I hate

[dreamshark]

 Actually, Windows 10 isn't that bad. Certainly better than Windows 8, which I skipped over completely after being forced to deal with it briefly at work. There is one huge step backwards (philosophically speaking), a few improvements, and mostly it's not that different. 

HERE'S WHAT I LIKE

• Surprisingly, the new Start Menu. I particularly like that the Search/Run window that used to be hidden under the Start button is now prominently displayed on the desktop. My Lenovo even provides a configurable 3-finger tap that instantly positions the cursor to the Search Box. This turns out to be the fastest way to start up a program. At first I reflexively hated the rest of what you find under the Start Button until I figured out how to customize it. I removed most of the default tile icons that Microsoft felt were important (e.g., The Microsoft Store) and replaced them with icons for the programs I actually use. Then I shrank the tiles to small and neatly arranged them in custom groupings. The customization task was a lot harder than it needed to be, but now I like it. 
• Faster shortcut sequence for creating new folders. I still have a tendency to type ALT-FWF because I'm used to it, but CTL-SHIFT-N is better.
• New Photos app with a little bit of built in editing. I THINK I'll like it. But I'm confused about where it is keeping the photos and annoyed that there doesn't seem to be any way to directly save the modified photo - there's only the option to "Save a Copy." Then, presumably, I could go delete the old ugly version of the photo if I knew where it was. Which brings me around to everything I hate about Windows 10: the obfuscation of the file system.
  

HERE'S WHAT I HATE  

Win10's absolute determination to hide the file system from the user. If I wanted a computer that did that, I'd buy a Mac. I'm a stick-shift kind of driver, and I want to control my file system. In addition, at every turn, subtle efforts are made to blur the distinction between local and network data, which just makes me uneasy. 

• The COMPUTER icon that is at the heart of managing the computer has disappeared. It turns out that is actually still there, but hidden under so many layers of subterfuge as to be inaccessible to all but the most dedicated searcher. First, it has been renamed "This PC," so even if you search for it under its old name (My PC) you won't find it. There is no option under the Start Menu to add it to the desktop. The actual control for that is buried under Personalize->Themes, at the bottom of the screen so you have to scroll down to see the link. 
• The File Explorer has been gutted.That nice tree structure in the left pane that let you see how your files are organized is gone, as is the status pane at the bottom. Navigating through my file system suddenly feels like trying to sew while wearing mittens. Again, if this was the experience I wanted from using a computer I would buy a Mac. I think hierarchically and I need to see my my file structure. Fortunately, I waited so long to do this upgrade that workarounds have emerged. I installed a lovely piece of Freeware called OldNewExplorer that restored the missing features to File Explorer, and now I am happy again.  
• Although I like the Search Window and don't actually mind the Internet Explorer replacement (especially the name, which sounds like it came from a Brand Consultant), I dislike the way it munges together searches on the local computer and web searches. It's a brilliant strategy for coercing users into using Bing instead of their preferred search engine, but I don't particularly like being manipulated that way. 
• Everything is now an "App."  This seems to be a leftover from the misguided impulse behind Windows 8, which was to make the PC look as much as possible like an iPhone. It's needlessly confusing, since there actually is a difference between downloading a "mobile app" and downloading a program that is intended to run on the PC itself. Now it's hard to tell which you are doing.

AND HERE'S WHAT I EITHER LOVE OR HATE BUT HAVEN'T MADE UP MY MIND YET
OneDrive. Theoretically, I hate everything about it. But OMG, is it every handy for transitioning files from old computer to new! More later

Comments

[pameladean]

I too immensely dislike all the little subterfuges Windows 10 uses to make you use Bing. It might be a fine search engine, I don't know, but there is no way I'm using it under the circumstances. And I too hate the slopping together of local computer searches and web searches. I don't want to search the web from that location at all, I'm always looking for something to do with the computer. If I want to search the web, I use my browser and my preferred search engine. Every little trick they use just makes me more stubborn. And I also prefer seeing my file structure, though I doubt I use the information the way you do.

I'm glad you mostly have things arranged to your liking.

P.

[dreamshark]

Good for you - resist! Because I'm lazy and I'm in the middle of installing things on the new computer, I've just been typing the names of various programs I want to install into the Search Window. My low opinion of Bing was confirmed fairly quickly when I searched for HitmanPro, an excellent anti-malware program that I have been using on the old computer. Instead of finding me the download page for the software I was looking for, Bing helpfully served me up a "sponsored link" for Malwarebyte, a competing product. Google, on the other hand, immediately found me the page I was looking for. Bing is a marketing-driven fraud, IMHO.

[mdlbear]

Everything I read about Windows 10 makes me glad that I'm still able to use Linux. Even there, I've customized my way out of most of the little stupidifications that Gnome and Ubuntu keep coming up with.

[marahmarie]

I removed most of the default tile icons that Microsoft felt were important (e.g., The Microsoft Store) and replaced them with icons for the programs I actually use. Then I shrank the tiles to small and neatly arranged them in custom groupings.

I do all of exactly the same things on mine (I reinstall Win10 a lot).

I see you wrote this many moons ago; have you gotten anywhere with lack of easy ways to add This PC to your desktop? It might depend on Windows version (mine's 1903) but firstly when I type "My PC" into the search box "This PC" shows as the top result. Right-click and you can "Pin to taskbar" or to "Start" from there.

Alternately you can go to File Explorer/This PC, minimize the window but leave it open, go back to the desktop, then drag the This PC icon in the left sidebar straight to the desktop (just tried it). The icon will say "This PC - shortcut" but can be renamed however.

The File Explorer has been gutted.That nice tree structure in the left pane that let you see how your files are organized is gone, as is the status pane at the bottom.

I still have a file tree so not sure what is missing, exactly. If in File Explorer you go to Options/Change folder and search options/View tab/Navigation pane menu and check Show all folders and Show libraries does that help at all? I have "show the status bar" checked as well but I think by status pane you probably mean something else.

Although I like the Search Window and don't actually mind the Internet Explorer replacement (especially the name, which sounds like it came from a Brand Consultant), I dislike the way it munges together searches on the local computer and web searches.

Yeah, I don't like that either, and definitely don't want to be forced to use only Bing.

Everything is now an "App."

You'd think they'd know better. The coding behind an app and a software tool are different beasts, one is not swappable for another.

And I'm a OneDrive user! Have been for years. If you're still curious about anything ask away (can't guarantee I'll know the answer, but if I do I'll share)!

[dreamshark]

As you noted, I wrote these first impressions long ago. Since I now have "This PC" on my desktop and File Explorer working the way I like it, I've mostly forgotten how I got it that way. I have decided that OneDrive is extremely cool, once I got over the habit of temporarily copying large files to my desktop (which puts them into OneDrive and fills it up). I had to rethink my default file organization system so that the file folders I really want to be backed up all the time will be. It turns out that except for my photos and my iTunes library, all the files I care about fit easily into the free OneDrive.

After I spent all that time customizing the Start Menu I rarely use it because the search box is so much more convenient. I disabled Cortana completely, but can still use the search box for Internet search if I want to. The only times I usually want to are if I want something from Microsoft. Turns out there are a lot of free widgets and additional programs that can be downloaded from there... including A FULL LINUX WITH BASH SHELL!! I installed that and played with it for a while, and it made me very happy. I don't really need Linux for anything in my civilian life, but just knowing that if I want to I can write scripts to search and manipulate my text files is a nice feeling. But so far I haven't.