I refuse to use Windows 8 or later. I've began the switch to Linux. Tired of Microsoft's bull crap.

I've been messing around with the latest version of Mint for the past couple of months on multiple machines. My results ranged from perfect to nearly unusable, but to keep things in perspective the "unusable" case was with a weird manufacturer specific SiS graphics chipset without OEM drivers that locked the screen resolution to 640x480. The next worse case is a similar machine running open source Xorg drivers that works fine resolution wise but randomly corrupts the wallpaper image. I can drop a really cheap nVidia card in either one of these machines and everything will work fine. OEM Nvidia support is fantastic, the driver manager always finds the drivers automatically including mobile Nvidia graphics.

My personal experiences so far...

Fast
Free
Quick and simple install
Updates are easy, non-instrusive, and straightforward
Support for lots of Windows software through Wine or virtual machines
Extremely customizable
No third-party corporate software included
Can try it on literally any hardware before installing

But...

Drivers and software support are somewhat fragmented
Not all Windows software works in Wine
Requires the use of command-line tools, but rarely
Network resources mapped through Wine may be problematic
(had two Windows programs that failed to load files from a mapped drive letter in Wine)

Just had another horrible experience with 10. Turns out Microsoft magically decided to launch the Windows 10 installer on boot on one of the office PCs I maintain for a business. So we were freaking out thinking Windows 10 had installed itself over our previously working Windows 7 setup. Fortunately it didn't, but it completely wrecked IE to the point where it crashes immediately when you try to use it. I reset all factory defaults for it, no luck. Also uninstalled it and downgraded to an older version, same bull****. Now Windows Update is stuck in a loop so I can't update IE once again and the offline installer failed. If I can't fix this mess I'm going to have to reinstall the whole fricking OS. Golf clap, Micro$oft. Golf clap. It's literally the worst browser hijacker I've ever come across. It honestly feels like I'm fighting a malware infection.

If you don't want this piece of software taking over your PC:

I have installed the GWX Control Panel on four machines so far and it did an excellent job of cleaning up the infections. The systems were in various states of intrusion, from being not affected at all to suffering damage from a failed Windows 10 rollback (broken IE I mentioned earlier). The tool identified installed Windows 10 upgrade files, told me the application was installed and running, and told me current Windows Update settings were allowing Windows 10 related content to be installed. The download folders were consuming up to six gigabytes of disk space in multiple cases. Ultimate Outsider's video explains how the virus works and what his program does to rid your system of it. In the three cases there was an infection it completely cleaned up everything with no problems. I put the software in monitor mode so it will run in the background every time I start my PC and notify me of any further spoon-fed changes pushed on me by Microsoft. IMO this is the best solution to the problem.

The one computer that was not infected was my personal Windows 7 desktop. About a year or so ago I had hidden the first update in this entire process, which determines system eligibility for future upgrades of Windows. It was never installed. I am assuming this goes for Win8 as well as 10.

The problem with legal action is the EULA. Unless the terms have been updated to reflect these unsolicited upgrades without notification to the user and re-agreement Microsoft may have legal protection. I'm sure lawyers all around are picking apart the words as we speak.

http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/11/windows-10-class-action-microsoft/

Now five. When I explained his laptop could be a totally different beast the next morning or break entirely altogether he wasn't pleased.

Windows 10 does not contain malware but the updater fits the bill given its aggressive, sleazy, and destructive behavior. 10 does have a crapload more spying features in it though, some of which Microsoft says you cannot disable. Even if you do disable certain features they still won't stop, people have proven this with packet sniffers. Utter BS. Microsoft's current goal is to reach one billion Windows 10 installs. There are currently about 200 million. Guess who has an NSA agenda on the table?

See my above posts.

The three folders used for Windows 10 are completely separate from other Windows system files. The registry entries have their own spot too. It's perfectly safe to delete the program files. If you don't get everything it will just come back like a worm.

And here's a half hour rundown of every piece of spyware in Windows 10...!

No please, any information is helpful. Thanks for explaining. I was curious as to what the additional settings were.

When Windows 8 first came out I almost couldn't believe what was thrust upon the everyday user. Who runs Windows on a tablet these days? We have iOS, Android, Ubuntu for that. I especially don't like how all of these "metro" applications are being thrust upon us. The first thing I do when I set up a Windows 8 machine is run a script to remove all (or most) of the metro applications. I haven't seen anyone yet who uses any of them. Heck, it took me a while just to figure out that Edge isn't IE (despite the similar icon) and "control panel" and "settings" are two different dialogs.

With the release of Windows 8, the modest improvements in 8.1, and now the trainwreck that is Windows 10 I decided to stick with the decision I made to drop Windows in 2012. Original plan was to ride out the entire Windows 7 support cycle until 2020, but it's clear I won't be able to do that. Your mileage may vary.

Microsoft released the 11th version of KB3035583 last week. Gotta hide that one all over again, nice.

Has anyone else tried a version of Linux?

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/08/even-when-told-not-to-windows-10-just-cant-stop-talking-to-microsoft/

https://i.imgur.com/FXXRkeA.gif

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2016/05/23/windows-10-dirty-trick-hits-windows-7-and-windows-8-users

image_(resized).jpeg

Dude I would've switched to Linux sooner had I known about all this Windows 10 spoonfeeding ahead of time. Being a Windows 7 user as well as lots of people I know I have to watch Microsoft's every dispicable move to force people to Windows 10. It will be a matter of time before they figure out how to bypass GWX Control Panel altogether. If that happens I WILL disconnect my machine from the Internet while I continue preparing for the switch.

You're playing right into their hands. If you want to give your name, location, email addresses, phone numbers, personal files, web browsing activity, purchase history, IP address, social security number, credit card numbers, voice recordings, emails, instant messages, and a plethora of other personal information to Microsoft, the NSA, and who knows what other hundreds of corporations for advertising and profitable purposes waiting to be used and abused by intruders then I have no reason to persuade you otherwise.

I know right, getting ridiculous how much we are tracked these days.

Yeah the data is definitely recoverable. Look in [drive letter]:/users/[your user name].

How much you wanna bet the GWX Control Panel doesn't work with this?

http://www.infoworld.com/article/3075480/microsoft-windows/microsofts-get-windows-10-app-kb-3035583-re-appears-for-no-reason.html

Saw a computer refurbishment store at the flea market. The OS on all their used laptops? Linux Mint.

I like Mac, I just don't know anything beyond using it. I've probably installed a Mac program once or twice in my life. I certainly wouldn't spend $1500 on a desktop Mac that's for sure. I can build a decent PC for $400, a gaming PC for $600.

Please hang on to the Dell. Linux Mint is the leading distribution and it just got a major update (version 18). However, it's still in beta. The stable (official) release will come in July. You can install the beta and upgrade to the stable version with a couple of clicks later so I would say go for it. It's amazing.

http://www.linuxmint.com

Or you can create a live CD and just boot it on the Dell without installing. That way you know if your hardware is compatible.

Be sure to remind Dell for me. I have a friend with a Latitude(?) that refuses to show the USB drive in the boot menu no matter what.

Mint 18 stable has been out for a couple of weeks now.

Doing a PC at work. Basically if you have a Windows 7 downgrade and you replace the motherboard, Dell won't give you a product key. They'll give you a product key for Windows 10, but not 7. I need 7 on this machine, so now I have to try installing 10 and getting them to downgrade all over again. I kid you not, the very first attempt I made to "reset" the PC to a Microsoft issued copy of Windows 10 failed with "There was a problem resetting your PC." I try to go back to 7 and hello, startup repair!

image_(resized).jpeg

Yep this worked. Funny, it's the first time anyone in my dept. has gotten a new key from Microsoft.

We have a customer converting 30+ PCs to Windows 10 over the weekend. Have to mentally prepare myself for all the potential calls about issues next week.

I have to respectfully disagree. Last week we had a PC that updated to Windows 10 on its own and failed because it wasn't compatible with the hardware. Now it won't boot Windows 7, so they decided to buy a new PC and have me back up their personal files. However, I'm quite glad it's not giving you any major issues. When this process goes bad it breaks core stuff on the computer and it's often a long trek to try and revert the system to its previous state. And the worst part for a lot of people is, it happens randomly without your consent. So you can't plan for it or back up your most recent Windows profile before it does.

Is that anniversary update playing nice with everyone?

I dunno, it looks like it. It's out, but with a crapload of bugs and freezing issues. It's like they hardly did any testing.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=768&bih=928&tbm=nws&q=anniversary+update

We had a Windows 10 machine randomly take a crap. I'm sorry, but I just can't wrap my head around these issues. This one in particular. In the past you could just press F8 to boot to safe mode or get some sort of error message. This time there's absolutely nothing that tells you what is wrong and the PC is completely unresponsive with just a blinking cursor. I know the hard drive isn't bad because the BIOS shows it as an active boot device. This office upgraded all their PCs to Windows 10 barely a month ago. And already major problems. AFAIK it's a very common issue and the only solution is to recover or reinstall Windows. Imagine trying to run a business when a random workstation decides not to boot every month or so. What a nightmare!

https://www.google.com/search?sclient=tablet-gws&site=&source=hp&q=windows+10+black+screen+cursor