"Char Jackson" wrote in message
...
I wasn't referring to crashes. I was referring to having a stable
computing platform that can be counted on to be ready to go when the
user is ready to go. Clearly, Windows 10 misses that mark by a country
mile.

I can't say for sure, but I assume there will come a time, perhaps when
I'm in retirement, where the current behavior of Windows 10 would put me
into the first segment above, but at the moment, still being in the
workforce and needing a computer to do my work, I'm very clearly in the
second segment, where Windows 10 falls very short. Can MS get it to
where it needs to be? I think so, but it's been about a decade now since
they've tried to deliver an OS that does what I need, rather than what
they (MS) want for it. Their goals, and my goals, are slipping further
apart rather than getting closer.

Also in my experience, Windows 10 is just as functional as Windows 7.
Anything that can be done in Windows 7 can also be done in Window 10.

Some days that's true. Other days it's not. From that perspective,
things are much worse now than they were before Windows 10 came onto the
scene. When you're using a computer for work, there are lots of times
when you need it right now, not in 10 minutes or an hour, when it
decides it's ready to be available. You're retired, so maybe none of it
really matters to you. If the computer isn't ready to work, you can get
up and get a cup of coffee. You can go for a walk or run an errand. I,
and others like me who use a computer for work, don't have that luxury.

Fortunately, we still have options. For me, that's Windows 7 and a
highly customized Windows 8.1. Highly customized because it literally
took me two years to get Windows 8.1 tamed to where I could start to
depend on it. I could do it faster now, of course, but back then it was
new and people were in the midst of discovering and remediating the
various weaknesses and shortcomings. Now we're in the same situation
with Windows 10, but so far we're finding that the most egregious
behaviors have no easy remedies.


My Windows 7 PC is staying Win 7 forever. I haven't got the patience to have
to disentangle all the little things that will stop working after the
upgrade (always assuming that the PC actually boots in the first place after
upgrade) and will have to be removed, reinstalled and re-customised. Then
there'll be all the software that is no longer compatible or which gets
forcibly removed with no ability to download and install again (Windows Live
Mail, for example).

In other words, what sits on top of the operating system should require as
little intervention as possible, even if the foundations (the OS) are
removed and a new version installed.

If I go for Win 10, it will be on a brand new PC that I can run side-by-side
with the Win 7 PC, while I'm setting up the Win 10 PC to match the Win 7
one, without the Win 7 stopping working until the Win 10 problems have been
addressed.

Too many upgrades of software (not specifically the OS) stop a valued add-on
from working. I loathe the new UI of Firefox and prefer the older versions
that can be customised with Classic Theme Restorer that (you've guessed it)
is incompatible with new Firefox.