What can you do on Windows 10 that you can't do on Windows XP or Windows 7?

In , Shadow
wrote:

I don't know anyone that uses a OS without third party
software.

I should have been more clear in the original question that I agree that if
the functionality is easily available (as add on software) to the user on
WinXP or Win7, then it's not something that Win10 users can do that the
Win7 or XP users can't do.

What I was trying to avoid are the many instances of "versions" of software
which don't work on XP, for example - the example Mayayana gave of a
Firefox "version" that won't work on XP versus a "browser that works on XP"
just as well.

Here's the functionality that we have listed that a user can do on Win10
that they can't do on WinXP or Win7.

1. Windows Store apps
2. Cortana searches
3. DirectX (for gaming)
4. Access 2TB of RAM (instead of 512GB, 192GB, & 128GB previously)
5. HiDPI scale text & GUI to 200% (not just 150% previously)
6. Full-screen console mode ?
7. ?
8. ?
9. ?
10. ?

"mechanic" wrote

| On that point, I think this group is mainly comprised of people from
| an older generation, who are retired with too much time on their
| hands, and are afraid of the future. Thus they hark back to an
| earlier time when they understood the technology. Unfortunately
| since Win98 there have been ten Moore periods so things are a
| thousand times smaller, quicker and more powerful than those days,
| and the software struggles to keep up.

I suppose there's some truth to that, but age also
brings perspective. And the basics haven't really
changed so much. Twenty years ago people went
to websites, wrote papers, sent email. Today it's
faster and more multi-media, but people haven't
changed. And tasks haven't changed much. In fact,
Windows 98 is almost indistinguishable from Win10
in terms of functionality. Today it's all faster and
more stable, but the use of a desktop computer has
hardly changed at all since the advent of the mouse
and GUI.

The big change for me is the speed and
ease of getting information. I suppose the biggest
changes for many people are Facebook and shopping.
The consumer Web. That didn't really exist in '98.

I worry for the youth, many of whom don't
know the experience of actually being alone. More
importantly, they've never had the critical experience
in boredom that all kids used to get. They're tracked
and entertained constantly. Hopefully they'll
develop a kind of immunity and be able to use a
cellphone without living on a cellphone. But that will
be a big challenge. They're not necessarily more open
to the future. They're just more likely to be addicted
to it.

Is my view fear of the future? I don't think so. I see
technophilia and technophobia as two sides of the
same coin. Both attitudes are simplistic projections,
viewing tech as an entity that will either improve
our lives or ruin them. Having a cellphone to make
calls on the road is a great idea. Walking into a tree
while looking at a video of a cat using a toilet
because one can't put down one's cellphone....
not so much.

Bob J Jones wrote:
[...]
It's still shockingly disappointing that the only things we can come up
with that Windows 10 "has" that Win7 & WinXP don't, are these.

If Windows 10 was all that great, then why are zillions of
professional systems still on Windows XP?

Of course Microsoft (and others) have these nice stats [1], showing 10
at second place just after 7 (or vice versa), but the zillions of XP
systems are behind firewalls/gateways, so they can't be counted.

Just keep your eyes open when you see documentaries, news items, etc.
where professionally used systems apear in the picture and all too
often, you'll see the familiar XP logo.

[1] See for example
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows#Usage_share_and_device_sales
and its references.

In article , Mayayana
wrote:

I worry for the youth, many of whom don't
know the experience of actually being alone. More
importantly, they've never had the critical experience
in boredom that all kids used to get.

tl;dr - i suffered through a boring childhood, so everyone else must
also suffer.

They're tracked
and entertained constantly. Hopefully they'll
develop a kind of immunity and be able to use a
cellphone without living on a cellphone. But that will
be a big challenge. They're not necessarily more open
to the future. They're just more likely to be addicted
to it.

some might become addicted to phones, but has more to do with having
addictive tendencies in general than the fault of technology.

On Wed, 02 May 2018 12:07:46 -0400, nospam
wrote:

In article , Doomsdrzej
wrote:

We all know the benefits of a G5 Mac like the one you showed.

you clearly do not, and the same design was used for the mac pro.

So because Apple re-used it, it's perfect? They also re-used the new
keyboard design in their Macbook Air units and it is now the most
common defect on those machines. Apple doesn't always learn.

However,
that machine, while making upgrades easy, was also grossly overpriced,
consumed an inordinate amount of electricity in comparison to the
power it provided and was noisier than the PC competition.

wrong on all counts.

No, I am not. The machine was reviewed on many occasions on Youtube
and the same complaints were made every time. The feelings that I hurt
your feelings by pointing it out doesn't mean that my information is
any less factual.

I mentioned
the iMac specifically because it was a high seller unlike your
machine.

again, most people aren't interested in upgrading. if they were, they'd
have bought something other than an all-in-one, including from dell:

http://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/...e-pcs/sf/inspi
ron-desktops

plus, imacs weren't as difficult to upgrade as you claim either:
https://support.apple.com/library/co...are/images/en_
US/imac/late09_replace_access_door.png

You can upgrade _some_ things but not everything the way that you can
on any desktop PC.

In news wrote:

Huh? If it doesn't run on Windows, then why the heck are you asking
questions about "what is in Windows 10 that isn't in Window 7 or XP"!?

All of us, including me and you and everyone here, uses Windows 10, Windows
7, or Windows XP, and most of us (including me) have used all three.

But being a user doesn't mean we know everything that is in Windows 10 that
is not in Windows 7 or Windows XP.

So the question is relevant no matter what the reasons for the question.

The only connection to the B2B software is that it has the same problem
that Windows has - but - it still is important to answer this question for
ourselves of what can we (you and me and everyone else) do with Windows 10
that we can't do with WinXP and Win7, where the answer seems to be this:
1. Windows Store apps
2. Cortana searches
3. DirectX (for gaming)
4. Access 2TB of RAM (instead of 512GB, 192GB, & 128GB previously)
5. HiDPI scale text & GUI to 200% (not just 150% previously)
6. Full-screen console mode ?
7. ?
8. ?
9. ?
10. ?

In news wrote:

If Windows 10 was all that great, then why are zillions of
professional systems still on Windows XP?

Good point.

I'm not going to be the one to disagree, especially after seeing that we
can't, even together, come up with half of the ten important things that I
had originally thought we'd easily find that Windows 10 does that the
previous WinXP & Win7 can't do.

Of course Microsoft (and others) have these nice stats [1], showing 10
at second place just after 7 (or vice versa), but the zillions of XP
systems are behind firewalls/gateways, so they can't be counted.

Giving away Win10 for free was a marketing stroke of genius, as was and is
the marketing of Windows to every PC sold in (at least) the USA.

(I do not know if every PC sold elsewhere just comes with Windows, like it
does in the USA.)

Just keep your eyes open when you see documentaries, news items, etc.
where professionally used systems apear in the picture and all too
often, you'll see the familiar XP logo.

[1] See for example
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows#Usage_share_and_device_sales
and its references.

All of us, including me and you and everyone here, uses Windows 10, Windows
7, or Windows XP, and most of us (including me) have used all three.

But being a user doesn't mean we know everything that is in Windows 10 that
is not in Windows 7 or Windows XP.

So the question is relevant no matter what the reasons for the question.

What I find interesting is that I don't see any "reviews" that show what we
users seem to have ascertained, which is that this is the only thing that
Win10 does that WinXP and Win7 don't do.

1. Windows Store apps
2. Cortana searches
3. DirectX (for gaming)
4. Access 2TB of RAM (instead of 512GB, 192GB, & 128GB previously)
5. HiDPI scale text & GUI to 200% (not just 150% previously)
6. Full-screen console mode ?
7. ?
8. ?
9. ?
10. ?

In article , Doomsdrzej
wrote:

We all know the benefits of a G5 Mac like the one you showed.

you clearly do not, and the same design was used for the mac pro.

So because Apple re-used it, it's perfect?

straw man. nobody said anything is perfect, however, it was a *very*
well thought out design.

They also re-used the new
keyboard design in their Macbook Air units and it is now the most
common defect on those machines. Apple doesn't always learn.

nope. they didn't reuse the macbook air keyboard.

the keyboard in the new macbooks is an entirely *new* design, and like
everything, has advantages and disadvantages.

one goal was to make it harder for dust and dirt to get in (which can
happen with any keyboard other than sealed ones), but what they didn't
get quite right is if dirt does get in, it's harder for it to get out.

nothing is perfect, and pc laptops also have keyboard and other
failures too.

However,
that machine, while making upgrades easy, was also grossly overpriced,
consumed an inordinate amount of electricity in comparison to the
power it provided and was noisier than the PC competition.

wrong on all counts.

No, I am not. The machine was reviewed on many occasions on Youtube
and the same complaints were made every time. The feelings that I hurt
your feelings by pointing it out doesn't mean that my information is
any less factual.

youtube reviews are not exactly credible unless they're from
established sources, such as ars, cnet, etc.

I mentioned
the iMac specifically because it was a high seller unlike your
machine.

again, most people aren't interested in upgrading. if they were, they'd
have bought something other than an all-in-one, including from dell:

http://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/...e-pcs/sf/inspi
ron-desktops

plus, imacs weren't as difficult to upgrade as you claim either:
https://support.apple.com/library/co...are/images/en_
US/imac/late09_replace_access_door.png

You can upgrade _some_ things but not everything the way that you can
on any desktop PC.

so what?

most people don't upgrade.

those that do should buy a system that is upgradable, and many who do
buy such a system don't upgrade even though they could.

just because *you* want to upgrade doesn't mean everyone else *must*
also do so.

On 5/2/2018 3:16 PM, Bob J Jones wrote:


Giving away Win10 for free was a marketing stroke of genius, as was and is
the marketing of Windows to every PC sold in (at least) the USA.

(I do not know if every PC sold elsewhere just comes with Windows, like it
does in the USA.)

PC's come with windows because there is no viable desktop alternative.
Linux handed that market over to Gates long ago. The monopoly has
that market and it ain't comin' back.

Apple is an appliance.
Linux servers are appliances for enterprise.
On the desktop PC of joe average, there's windows, cuz there ain't
no marketable viable alternative. It's been tried and failed.
As soon as voice interface becomes good enough, Android will
have it all in your pocket.

In article , mike
wrote:


PC's come with windows because there is no viable desktop alternative.

there are.

Linux handed that market over to Gates long ago.

linux never had much of a market to hand over and gates blocked what
little it did have by raising prices of windows licenses if pc makers
offered alternatives.

The monopoly has
that market and it ain't comin' back.

microsoft no longer has a monopoly. now they have to compete on
products.

Apple is an appliance.
Linux servers are appliances for enterprise.
On the desktop PC of joe average, there's windows, cuz there ain't
no marketable viable alternative.

all three false.

It's been tried and failed.
As soon as voice interface becomes good enough, Android will
have it all in your pocket.

android and ios are sufficient for most people. not everyone is a geek.

voice interfaces are good for some things but not everything.

On Wed, 2 May 2018 16:50:18 +0000 (UTC), Bob J Jones wrote:

In , Ian Jackson
wrote:

Should the question not be "What do you feel you really NEED to do on
Windows 10 that you miss not being able to do on Windows XP or Windows

That is the same question, when it's asked of the thousands of people in
these three groups, where any one person will have a "need" that only
Windows 10 provides.

It's still shockingly disappointing that the only things we can come up
with that Windows 10 "has" that Win7 & WinXP don't, are these.

1. Windows Store apps
2. Cortana searches
3. DirectX (for gaming)
4. Access 2TB of RAM (instead of 512GB, 192GB, & 128GB previously)
5. HiDPI scale text & GUI to 200% (not just 150% previously)
6. Full-screen console mode ?
7. ?
8. ?
9. ?
10. ?

Timeine!
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3263...-timeline.html

"mechanic" wrote

| Timeine!
|
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3263...-timeline.html

That's useful? It looks like a file system for
Alzheimers patients. I'd put that in the category
of desperate feature fishing. And most programs,
along with Windows, already have a recent files
list. (Which I don't remember *ever* loooking at.)

"mike" wrote

| PC's come with windows because there is no viable desktop alternative.

That's largely true, but Microsoft also made a
systematic effort to threaten white box sellers
and define a computer without an OS as a
gateway to software theft.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/11...ipped_without/

Back before XP, when you bought a Windows
CD, and you actually got an uncrippled copy of
Windows, it made sense to build a new box
occasionally and use one of your Windows CDs
on it. White box sellers were common.

XP Product Activation was a brilliant plan in
that regard. Most people never noticed it. It didn't
matter for OEM machines. And....oh, woops....
no, you don't get the copy of Windows you paid for
with your new PC anymore.

In a short timespan, in a totally non-confrontational
manner, Microsoft turned Windows computers into
disposable, one-time-use devices and illegally crippled
the software they'd sold you a license for. Suddenly
Windows was like a book that could only be read in
one room, requiring that you buy multiple copies, and
illegally banning you from giving away or selling your
copy. In a completely untenable, yet unchallenged,
move, Microsoft claimed that Windows was intellectual
property licensed to you while simultaneously being
separately licensed to an inanimate object: the computer
motherboard. Not only that... At the same time they also
claimed they were licensing Windows to the OEM! They
claim your OEM copy is licensed from the OEM, making
Microsoft free of support responsibilities.

So they sold it to you, they didn't sell it to you, they
sold it to Dell, and they sold it to a piece of plastic.
Which version they choose to acknowledge depends on
the situation.

The Product Activation scam also produced a
windfall of computer sales for MS and their partners.
As soon as something went wrong with a computer
people were now trained to throw it away. Malware
might be fixed. But something like a failed hard disk
meant buying everything new.

Bill Gates famously told his buddy Buffett that
Berkshire Hathaway should invest in Microsoft
because there's a guaranteed Windows tax on every
machine sold. Product Activation turned that from
being "mostly true in practice" to being precisely
true. And no one even thought to challenge
Microsoft on that.

There are actually some Linux computers out there.
But all I've seen is kiosk systems for the elderly.
Anyone who knows enough to set up Linux and
try to use it doesn't need it pre-installed on a Dell
with shovelware added.

"Wolf K" wrote

| Anecdotal evidence: Was at Staples yesterday, browsed around: Tablets
| and laptops (very thin, convertible, etc) on prominent display, and a
| slew of "all-in-one" desktops (pretty good specs, too). Towers/boxes
| somewhere along the back wall....
|

That's not necessarily what they expect to sell.
It might be more what they want to sell. Tablets
and phones have higher turnover and probably much
higher profit margins.

I used to buy a lot of my computer hardware at
Staples. I rarely go there now. Office supplies are
overpriced. Two aisles are only printers and crazy-
expensive ink. Another whole aisle is phones and
accessories. Then there are 2 or 3 aisles for things
like overpriced appt books and crazy-expensive
printing paper, like labels and business cards. (I
can probably order hundreds of business cards online
for $30. Or I can pay $30 for a small package of
printable business card stock, and spend another
$30 on ink to print them.)

Only a sprinkling of computer supplies and software
remains.

I don't doubt they're following demand, to some
extent. But I think they've also decided to change
their priorities from a hardware and supplies store
to a gadgets and goodies store. Higher margins.

But I still buy kleenex there on sale. And if I ever
need a basic PC for $300-400, I know where to go.

Come to think of it, all of retail has become worrisome.
As the economy crashes for all but millionaires, and
Amazon takes over retail, I increasingly see empty
storefronts, upscale boutiques, restaurants that
regularly change hands, and vast numbers of nail
salons, where women on limited incomes go to enjoy
a 1-hour fantasy of being a rich person with servants,
as South Asian immigrant women labor over their
toenails.

Malls are going out of business. And well they might.
Even before Amazon I couldn't buy a box of nails,
a ream of paper, or a decent pair of pants at any local
mall. They're full of stores selling high markup clothing
to teenage girls. And every mall has the same stores!

To some extent the whole idea of doing things for
oneself is going out of style. As is the community-level
continuity of having local suppliers for basic needs.
What's not online has been put out of business by chains.
The city I live in has lost 3 hardware stores and one
paint store in the past few years. Aside from a handful
of big Ace hardware stores within 20 miles, I have little
choice other than Home Depot, even if all I need is a
box of nails. And if Home Depot's computer decides
nails don't provide enough markup then those will disappear,
too. (In fact, they've already discontinued some sizes.)

In article , Wolf K
wrote:


Study the sale flyers for your local electronics pushers. They indicate
what the business expects to sell to the mass market, aka "Joe average".
I note:

a) Laptops are now "laptop PC's"
b) tablets are more prominent;
c) Google Assistant etc are being pushed really hard;
d) Smartphones are being touted as cameras and fashion accessories;
e) Smart TVs are now standard (and for those who can't afford a new
screen, there's Roku);
f) Mostly Bluetooth speakers, including "water-resistant".

Appliances, all of 'em. The desktop/laptop is now a business machine.

tablets and laptops are not in any way appliances, nor are they only a
business machine either.

a smart tv or bluetooth speaker could be considered an appliance,
however.

roku and similar boxes (apple tv, chromecast, etc.) work quite well
with smart tvs. they're not *only* for people who can't afford a new
tv.

Anecdotal evidence: Was at Staples yesterday, browsed around: Tablets
and laptops (very thin, convertible, etc) on prominent display, and a
slew of "all-in-one" desktops (pretty good specs, too). Towers/boxes
somewhere along the back wall....

yep. towers/boxes aren't big sellers anymore. laptops have outsold
desktops for *years* and smartphones are outselling legacy computers.

mobile is the future.