Welcome Windows 10! Is it time to upgrade?
Due to the controversial nature of this topic, Windows 10 will be discussed in two categories: personal use and educational use.
Personal UseShort answer: Absolutely, but with caution.
Windows 10 is by far the best operating system that Microsoft has released to date. With that being said, there are many issues regarding privacy invasion as Microsoft makes its services more tailored to each individual user. With an express install of Windows 10, your personal information is shared securely with Microsoft (and if checked) with select 3rd parties. So you may be asking, why would I want this by default? This data collection allows Microsoft to quickly and efficiently create search predictions, help you find files faster, sync your data across all of your devices, but it can also allow ads to be targeted more effectively. The good news is that if you are privacy conscious, all (or 99%) of these features can be disabled. There will be a separate article that discusses how to increase privacy/change the privacy settings of Windows 10 (here). With regard to features, Windows 10 takes all of the good features of Windows 7, removes all of the bad features of Windows 8 and 8.1, and wraps it all up in an attractive, fast, and easy to use package. Besides the aforementioned privacy concerns, Windows 10 has one other major issue. As of today, Microsoft requires that all security updates are installed on home computers as soon as they are released. The issue with this (and this has already become apparent) is that if a buggy update is released, then millions of people can be affected and can cause many heartaches. My advice to cope with this issue (unless you are on Windows 10 Enterprise and can defer these updates) is to keep current restore points and backups of your computers in case you become affected by a buggy update. Also, if you hear that a buggy update has been released, consider keeping that affected computer off the internet for a day until a fix is discovered (I know this is not feasible for everyone, but if the computer is not connected to the Internet, it cannot download the updates). With regards to performance, Windows 10 is fast - very fast. As always, the system runs best with SSD's, but its performance on HDD's is acceptable as well. The main performance increases, especially with games in the future are a result of the new DirectX 12 API, in combination with better OS optimization. Windows 10 will also allow Xbox players to play on their computers - a new standard to beat in the video gaming world. |
Educational UseShort answer: Not yet...
While Windows 10 is shaping up to be a massive success for Microsoft, in an educational setting where privacy of the students takes precedence over everything else, I would not recommend Windows 10 for the simple reason that as of right now, it is not a very private operating system. Even with the professional or enterprise editions of Windows 10, there is not an easy switch that tells apps to stop tracking location, ads to stop tracking searching, or to easily stop Microsoft from collecting all of the data on the computer (some identifiable data and some anonymous data). For more information on what privacy settings are available and what can be changed, please see the the following article. As soon as Microsoft makes its data collection techniques more public, and allows educational institutes the opportunity to easily make their systems more private, I recommend not switching... there are no other paramount benefits to most educational institutions (unless they are using/need DirectX 12). |
Conclusion
Overall, Microsoft's Windows 10 is a better version of Windows 7 with the performance improvements of 8.1. In the near future, I see the operating system becoming more widely accepted (Microsoft is offering it for free beginning on July 29, 2015), especially as Microsoft becomes transparent about the data that is being collected and offers educational and business toggles that allow privacy to prevail.
References:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/09/02/windows-10-updates-u-turn/
http://www.howtogeek.com/223634/should-you-upgrade-to-windows-10/
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/2015/may/28/five-questions-about-free-upgrade-microsoft-windows-10
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/s/6-free-tools-stop-windows-10-spying-everything-133022555.html
http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/09/02/windows-10-updates-u-turn/
http://www.howtogeek.com/223634/should-you-upgrade-to-windows-10/
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/2015/may/28/five-questions-about-free-upgrade-microsoft-windows-10
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/s/6-free-tools-stop-windows-10-spying-everything-133022555.html