Talk:Criticism of Windows 10

Problems with Windows 10

I came to this article to see whether other people are having the problems with Windows 10 that I am having, and I find none of them mentioned! I think this is quite remarkable and unacceptable. Can anyone provide references for these problems so that we can improve this article? Eric Kvaalen (talk) 07:59, 28 December 2017 (UTC)

I've decided to stick the list in here:

1. Slow to start up
2. I've noticed using the Task Manager that it loads all kinds of things that I never use, like Twitter.
3. Even when I'm not doing anything the Task Manager shows that it's using quite a bit of CPU and disk IO.
4. Often the Task Manager shows that "System" is using a lot of disk IO.
5. As I look just now, I see that Microsoft Store is using a lot of disk IO, pushing my disk IO up to 95%. I have never used Microsoft Store!
6. Many times my computer almost grinds to a halt. This seems to happen when I'm using Firefox, so maybe it's partly the fault of Firefox. But even if I kill Firefox (using the Task Manager) it continues to run slow. The cure is to reboot.
7. It has happened that I couldn't even reboot without holding the power switch down for four seconds, which basically crashes the computer.
8. Often when I try to reboot, it tells me that it's closing down various applications (which takes an inordinate amount of time) and then, after closing some of them, it stops trying to reboot and just goes back to normal operation. I have to tell it to reboot again.
9. It takes a long time to do simple things like starting up Windows Explorer. Or if I do a right-click on a file in a folder, it takes a long time just to display the menu of options!
10. When I open a folder, it takes a long time to display my files. It seems to be sorting them by date (as I want), but takes forever to do so. (Even with just 20 files!)
11. When I press the Windows key, it usually takes a long time for the Start Menu (or whatever it's called) to open up. And then if I try to use the arrow keys to select something it doesn't respond for quite a while.
12. When I press Alt-Tab to switch tasks, it often doesn't actually switch to the task I select. I may have to do it several times before it "takes". (Sometimes I use a trick – I hit the left Alt, then while holding it down I press the right-hand Alt, and then I press Tab. This forces it to use an older version of the task-switching facility, which works much better.)
13. Sometimes it switches back and forth between windows without me asking it to do so at all.
14. When I open a new task, it usually opens in a window that is not on top. I have to go find it with Alt-Tab.
15. Windows 10 came with a Mail app that is a disaster. I won't bother saying what's wrong with it because of course you don't have to use it. I managed to get Windows Live Mail to work instead.
16. If you try to save a new document, it usually (or always?) opens a pop-up window, for you to say what to save it as, in OneDrive. Several times I have accidentally saved a file to OneDrive instead of on my computer. Which of course means that when I look for it, perhaps when I don't have Internet, I can't find it.

Now, it's true that I don't have the most powerful computer in the world. But it is one of the most powerful I have ever had! (500 Gb disk, 2.16 GHz dual core, 2 Gibytes of RAM.) And yet I get the worst performance I have ever had. I got this computer in the summer of 2015 and when I started it up it immediately suggested I upgrade to Windows 10, which I did. All these problems I have had since the beginning, so it's not due to some virus or something. Eric Kvaalen (talk) 15:32, 16 August 2018 (UTC)

You say you have 2Gb of RAM. I'd consider that inadequate for Windows 7 (last week I was forced into temporarily using a Win7 box with only 4Gb - it was horrible). Certainly Firefox has had issues in this area, becoming much worse from Firefox 55 or so and finally resolved in Firefox 57. As a criticism of Windows 10, I'd see most of this as due to the upgrade policy it used, pushing upgrades onto people who weren't looking for it, and who had older computers (such as only 2Gb). Personally I avoid upgrading Windows versions. A later version (like many graphically intensive games) assumes a modern spec computer and is unworkable on older machines. Usefully you can either not upgrade the OS, upgrade memory, replace the motherboard entirely, or abandon Windows in favour of a Linux with a much lighter footprint (most of my older hardware ends up as Linux machines. Sometimes thin web browser clients only (I have machines in the workshop that need such a thing as a control panel) or as servers for software development. However the power consumption of dedicated bare-metal servers vs. virtualised machines is now a consideration.)

Take a look at your hardware and budget - can you increase that memory? Probably by discarding the old memory modules and replacing them, maybe by adding two new modules to two already there, making four. Andy Dingley (talk) 10:39, 28 December 2017 (UTC)

Greetings, Andy. This is you new fan/stalker. :)

First, I am not here bearing any ill will. Actually, I am here to help. (Yes, despite the fact that you two dragged my name in the mud in ANI even though I was nowhere near this discussion.) Second, neither you nor Eric expect anyone to find a source for "Mail app is a disaster" or a source that is critical of Task Manager showing things Eric never uses. Also the Alt-Tab trick outright fails verification. As for the Task Manager not being always on top, it can be enabled or disabled, so it is a feature not criticism. So, this belongs to the Reference Desk, with the dishonest sentence "Can anyone provide references [~snip~]?" removed. Third, Eric needs on-premises tech support. Some of these symptoms are characteristics of software bloat or malware infection. I am sure any other IT professional agrees with me on this. (So, please don't accuse them of being my sock, alright?)

FleetCommand (Speak your mind!) 11:03, 28 December 2017 (UTC)

@FleetCommand: I did not "drag your name in the mud". I never even mentioned you nor anyone else by name in that complaint.

I actually do want sources for modifying the article! Let's say Mail (Windows) is a disaster. Then wouldn't that be an appropriate criticism to put in our article?

What I don't like is not that Task Manager shows me things I never use, of course. It's that things I never use are started up without me asking! Maybe that's one of the reasons for the poor performance.

I don't know what you mean by "the Alt-Tab trick outright fails verification". You tried it and it didn't work? Maybe you didn't do it quite right. But that's not the point! My point was that Alt-Tab often doesn't work.

I said nothing about Task Manager not always being on top.

Now tell me, exactly which of the problems I mentioned do you think are caused by software bloat or malware? I would like to see the numbers (Problem 1, yes or no? Problem 2, yes or no? etc.). Remember, all these problems were there from the first day I used this new computer (in August 2015). I have installed very few things – Firefox, VLC, LibreOffice, that's about it.

@Andy Dingley: Thanks for your reply. It could be that more RAM would solve some of the problems, like numbers 1, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11. But even if that's true, is that justified? Should I really need 4 Gibibytes for it to be able to sort 20 files into order by date?? I think it's a severe criticism of Windows 10 if that's the case. As I said, Windows 3 didn't have that problem!

The reason I upgraded to Windows 10 was, besides the fact that my new computer urged me to do so when I first turned it on, that I knew that Microsoft was going to be giving updates to it for the next 10 years. I figured it was the best way to keep safe. You know, WannaCry hit people who were using older versions. I also thought that even if there were problems, Microsoft would eventually get around to fixing those problems. Well, it's been two and a half years and they haven't done so.

I have put Linux on a few computers. But this one came with all four partitions in use, for stuff like re-installation! I wonder whether they did that on purpose to stop you from installing Linux. I could free up a partition by making a CD (or DVD?) of the re-instalation partition, but so far I haven't gotten desperate enough to bother with all that.

Please Ping me if you reply.

Eric Kvaalen (talk) 12:04, 1 January 2018 (UTC)

Possible update throttling on non-upgradable OS

https://www.vistax64.com/threads/windows-update-just-seems-to-hang-while-checking.303992/

Vista has had this issue since the same day that Windows 10 was released - there have also been reports of it on Windows 7 (though they seemingly were fixed around the time GWX was mostly 'dropped'). Seems like MS were trying to 'throttle' the CPU usage of these older machines to make less technical people give up and buy a new Windows 10 PC.

The date just seems like way too much of a coincidence and this was never fixed without manual intervention (i.e. finding the kernel patches from the update catalogue), so this theory doesn't seem too far off the mark.86.187.231.84 (talk) 01:09, 19 June 2020 (UTC)

Does Microsoft really care about customers?

How can Microsoft really care about customers when its customers are literally losing sleep getting up in the middle of the night to check if the darn updates have finally installed on their home computers? The installation is so slow that users literally have to walk away from the computer leaving it running to waste precious earth energy and resources while it slowly putters along installing some ultimately useless feature or system update. Although Microsoft represents a capitalist company, it's product reflects communists wait lines very accurately. 2405:9800:BC30:7644:F136:1B4A:6867:334 (talk) 14:22, 6 September 2020 (UTC)

Not only that. I have noticed last month I wake up anguished, even after sleeping 10 hours. The only thing has changed in my life this last month is I have been forced to use a windows 10 computer instead of my old mac. I like go to sleep watching a video, but it seems that this system activity, its automatic and not consented updates or its checking process if there is any available update disturbs the sleep quality. This didn't happen with the mac. Someone should stop the people on Microsoft. 88.29.7.227 (talk) 16:06, 17 January 2023 (UTC)

I mean, after watching a video if you left the mac alone it entered in a real suspended mode and you could sleep well, but with windows 10 the only thing that enters in suspended mode is the screen, the wifi activity never stops, with all its consecuences in health. 88.29.7.227 (talk) 16:13, 17 January 2023 (UTC)