The countless bugs didn't help(e.g. randomly (dis)appearing keyboard layouts, taskbar in the foreground during fullscreen mode but invisible when leaving fullscreen, ...).
But at least the bugs didn't force me to reinstall the OS multiple times like the updates did - not to mention on one machine I had to switch back to Win 7 because Win 10 was suddenly unusable after a certain big update, even failing to boot most of the time. This was a new one, as before that point I was used to Windows "just working" after installation.
It feels like Microsoft intentionally tries to prove to users how little they care. Resetting desktop wallpapers and open sessions, updating right out of suspend, hiding telemetry options and offline logins behind almost invisible links...no, thanks.
I'd been switching between linux and windows for a while, but with proton and wine to back me up, I can't envision ever installing w10 on any of my machines.
Which I did, so at least my Windows 10 installation is a "local" installation.
But when you stop to think about it: Are we living in a sane world, when I have to "fool" my PC/OS in order to get it to act in a certain kind of way? That, in a nutshell, is my biggest gripe with Windows 10. I have no problems with the defaults being made to accustom the computer illiterate, but you should allow power users to do whatever they want to a their PCs, and this is what MS doesn't allow (anymore, or at least, not in ways that they previously allowed).
Since you asked, the following may be a bit non-conformant to HN standards, so I'll set it in quotes, it's my post/rant on FB venting my initial frustrations with Windows 10: ""Why does less information fit on my laptop despite it having the same resolution as my desktop? OMFG, who the fuck resetted my display scaling?"
"Oh, defaulting to 'public network' is nice. Finally, some common sense. Let's check out the firewall... every Microsoft app has an exception ...well, I'll retract that again. Also, every app I installed now has an exception on public and not on private, so I have to not only add the exception on private, but remove it on public too. At least Windows 7 asked me each time, so this shit wouldn't happen. Wooo! More grinding. Thanks, Bill!"
"Can I add shortcuts to the start menu? NOPE! THIS IS NOW OUR ADVERTISING SPACE!"
"My computer on the desktop, I need that. Where is that option? Looks, looks, looks and gives up Fine then, I'll just create a shortcut if there's no 'real' 'My Computer' for the desktop. It kinda works (but no 'Manage' option on right-click, since it's a user shortcut, not a system one). But it feels like a step back. Why did MS remove 'My Computer'? Oh, because USE THE FUCKING CLOUD YOU MORON! MANAGING YOUR OWN DATA IS SO 1998! WHY WOULD YOU NEED ANYTHING OTHER THAN ONEDRIVE (which is preinstalled, but fortunately still, uninstallable)?"
If Windows 10 would behave like Windows 7 with the extra features (newer UI, UEFI, that stuff), I would've welcomed it, hell, with the company I wouldn't even bat an eye to pay for retail copies. But no, they didn't decide to do a new Windows, they decided to turn your PC into an advanced XBOX. Fuck you! Stop being so DISRUPTIVE TECHONOLOGY and just create good operating systems, FFS. But it's too late now.
And so it goes."
One of the biggest problems with Windows 10 is the dual nature of Settings vs. Control Panel which has made simple things like this that aren't directly on the new interface yet much harder to find.
To get My Computer back on the desktop:
- Right-click on Desktop and select Personalize
- Click Theme on the left
- Scroll down past pretty much everything to "Related Settings"
- Click the "Desktop icon settings" text
- Tick "Computer"
Microsoft should not have introduced Settings until it was ready to move over all first party functionality.
Having one control panel with outdated visuals is much better than having two separate control panels (one of which still has outdated visuals).
<hug>
- You can absolutely add shortcuts to the start menu (and remove any default "advertising" ones).
- My Computer is alive and well under Explorer. Removing the shortcut from the desktop by default isn't some conspiracy to frustrate anyone who dares be a power user; it's a visual cleanup done because a) most people never use that, and b) it remains easily accessible by other means.
In fact, in several ways they seem to be catering even more to power users than they used to. There's WSL, Explorer got updated with tabs among other things, they're building that new open-source Windows Terminal, etc. It would really make zero business sense for them to tick off power users just for the sake of it, especially with how much effort they're putting lately into becoming the ecosystem for developers (VSCode, buying GitHub, etc). I think you're projecting a whole lot of personal anxieties into an operating system and making a handful of minor points of user-friction into something much bigger than it actually is.
From what I understand, you can still do it without an online account... if you don't install with a network connection.
I kicked Win10 around when my threadripper hardware came in and ended up just installing Centos on my primary box. EOL for Windows 7 just seemed to happen really fast.
looks like everyone above me actually listed em all.