Day 2 With Windows 10, One Strange Glitch After Another

Day 2 With Windows 10, One Strange Glitch After Another

I've made 2 posts on Windows in the last couple of weeks and people seem to think that I'm a Windows hater. I'm not. All of my computers are Windows machines. Every computer in the Fstoppers office is a Windows machine. But I'm not some fan boy who is going to lie about my experience either and Windows 10 so far has not been a good experience. 

Yesterday I wrote a post about how to upgrade to Windows 10. I followed my own instructions and my fairly new and very expensive Alienware 13 laptop and Windows 10 didn't get along. The first attempt to upgrade to Windows 10 gave me this error.

 

Every attempt after that gave me the error: "Something happened"

Nothing infuriates me more than a computer that won't work and I decided to quit before I threw my laptop against a wall. Later that night I decided to try again on my personal laptop at home, a fairly cheap HP Folio 13. Windows 10 installed fine but actually using Windows 10 hasn't been so smooth. 

 

Initial problems with Windows 10

At first my laptop's resolution was way out of whack. After 30 minutes of looking for a display driver my screen snapped back into its correct resolution. I don't know how this happened but I like to believe that Windows 10 was smart enough to find a fix behind the scenes. 

Next, I realized that 2 finger scrolling on my touchpad was working in Google Chrome but wasn't working anywhere else in Windows including Microsoft's new Edge browser. To my surprise, when I woke up this morning 2 finger scrolling began to work. Once again I have no clue what happened but Windows appeared to be healing itself. 

 

The start menu went crazy

Today I decided to spend a bit of time navigating around the operating system. I started with the new start menu which in theory is supposed to be better than the insane tile menu in Windows 8. Sadly the start menu wouldn't work. It's hard to explain what it was doing but I recorded a clip on my cell phone of it's tantrum. Basically as I moved my mouse around tiles and programs began to appear and flicker.

 

After a restart the start menu appeared to be working properly and I must admit, when it actually works, it's great. Way better than Windows 8. 

 

Cortana doesn't work

One of the most praised features of Windows 10 is the search feature which can search your computer and the internet at once. It also includes Cortana, a personal voice assistant who is there to help you with a variety of tasks. To make Cortana work you have to log into your Microsoft account. I'm honestly not exactly sure what my Microsoft account is, what it does, or why I need it, but I had to set one up with Windows 8. This means that every single person in our office who uses a Windows 8 computer has to log in to their computer with MY email and MY password. I'm sure that there is a way for them to get their own Microsoft account but I don't want to deal with multiple user accounts on our office computers as we are always jumping from one machine to another. 

So basically, I don't want to have a Microsoft account to turn on my computer but it seems like I have to now and Cortana was asking me to log in to my account before she could work. Surprisingly I was able to remember my MS account login info but it still didn't work. It kept telling me that I wasn't connected to the internet even though I was. 

 

The error screen telling me I needed to be connected to the internet didn't even properly fit on my screen. Even error screens have errors. So although I would love to give you a glowing review of the new Cortana assistant feature, I can't even figure out how to make it work. 

 

The computer won't "sleep"

I then closed my laptop in frustration and started writing this post on my desktop (Windows 7). As I was writing I noticed that my laptop never went to sleep. It wasn't plugged in and the lid was closed but I could still hear the fan. I opened it back up and checked the battery settings. Sure enough the computer was set to "sleep when lid is closed." When I closed it a second time the computer did go to sleep. I then tried it a third time and the computer stayed on once again. At this point I have no faith that my computer is actually off when I close it and the only way to know is the listen for the fan noise. I've now opened and closed the lid 5 times and the computer will not go to sleep. 

 

Conclusion 

I've always liked Windows because I basically never had to worry about it. It was simply there to load all of the important applications on a daily basis. Windows 7 never bothered me, it just disappeared into the background and allowed me to work. It never made me sign up for accounts, login to unwanted features, or force to "sync" anything. I can imagine a day where Windows 10 works perfectly and it gives me a few extra really powerful features to make my computer experience easier but so far, nothing has been easier. The UI of Windows 10 is beautiful and I've already found a few features that I'm really excited about but at this point I'm still dealing with broken basic functions. 

We can't all use Windows XP and 7 forever. Eventually we'll all have to upgrade. You better believe I will be waiting a long time to upgrade my main office computers to Windows 10 though, it's simply not worth the risk. 

Lee Morris's picture

Lee Morris is a professional photographer based in Charleston SC, and is the co-owner of Fstoppers.com

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66 Comments

Take it away Mr. Rockwell: http://www.kenrockwell.com/apple/why-pros-use-mac.htm

In all seriousness, I just never hear about these problems with Macs. I've been using the same iMac since 2011 and I've never had a single problem with OS upgrades or software installations. It's probably crashed less than 5 times and I probably restart it once every 2 months.

Macs are more expensive than Windows PCs at point of purchase.

But when you factor in resale value, ease of use, direct customer service at the Apple store, and not having to explain to people why you didn't get a Mac, it's a far superior value.

You're not dealing with a brand-new version of an operating system either. Mac users have a very short memory when it comes to problems with Apple products. I remember when OS-X first came out. NOTHING worked. At all. The ad agency I worked for at the time was part of an umbrella group with some big heavy hitters like McCann-Erickson, Lowe, etc. We were small fry in comparison, so we had to wait for the upgrade. Next thing we see is a corporate-wide email advising NOT to install OS-X. It brought all the major agencies to a grinding halt, and created a gigantic IT nightmare to return the machines back to OS-9 to be able to get back to work. It wasn't until the THIRD incarnation of OS-X that it was finally relatively functional, and even then it was still glitchy. I always thought about that time when all the Vista jokes were flying around. ;-)

I remember times before that when the old i-macs would just crash. I'm not a Mac hater, but I don't buy the "never any problems" argument either.

Man when I was in college my department was all Mac computers. Those computers crashed EVERY SINGLE DAY. That experience made me always hate Apple products but eventually I should give it another shot.

TRUTH. I've had to force quit my fair share of applications.

I've upgraded an iMac and Macbook Pro from Leopard through Mountain Lion, Mavericks and now Yosemite. I'd like to go back to Mountain Lion because Yosemite is a piece of garbage. The performance has degraded significantly and that's even after bumping up the RAM. I haven't been impressed with it at all. My Windows 7 systems run better. Hell even my Linux Lite on an old Dell laptop runs better.

I recently bought a MAC PRO and it's working just fine for my business but I keep an old PC around which I just updated with Windows 10...perfect install the first time (Upgrade) and even faster install the second time (clean). I followed your other post on the matter. No issues at all...

u can just install windows on mac =)

No thanks...waste of a MAC to put Windows on it...Yosemite is cruising along just fine.

I'm not surprised that you can do that. I'd assume if the operating system cannot load the file, you can use a compact disk (CD) and boot from it.

In the world of new technology there is no such thing as an problem free platform. That said, even though the systems I design usually reside on the Microsoft platform, all computers at home are Macs. Windows on PC is too unreliable and too virus prone.

The latter is because the market share is too large for Windows which makes it more lucrative for malicious software, and the former is, I would argue, related to the fact that Windows accommodates a wild array of different hardware. Apple has full control over both hardware and software which makes it extremely more easy to create stable software.

Whoa there Cloaked Oldie!

Yes... the first 2-3 versions of OS X were quite bug-ridden. Also, I was also at some large companies (printing mostly) and we stuck to OS 9 for quite a long time before around Jaguar we all started to make the move.... slooooowly.

Problem here is that Windows 10 is NOT a new OS, so I don't see the comparison to the first OSX version at all.

If you're just taking a stroll down Memory Lane... don't let me stop ya.

If that was the case, his system would be operating the way it was before, now wouldn't it? ;-)

> Mac users have a very short memory when it comes to problems with Apple products. I remember when OS-X first came out.

OS X first came out in March 2001, over 14 years ago.

Nice of you to remember. :-)

Spy Black - the difference between the OS X rollout you mention (back in 2001) and Windows 10 rollout is that Microsoft is advocating everyone update to Win10 ASAP. With OS X, Apple was very cautious on signaling that OS X was ready for regular users. It wasn't until OS X 10.2 that Macs came with it preinstalled and set as the default OS. And even then OS 9 was still part of the standard install and ready if the user decided they needed the classic OS to get their work done.

I like Windows 10 a lot. It's only going to get better over time, and I think Microsoft is making the smartest moves ever by making it free, and pushing updates to it automatically on a constant basis.

But even with all that, I'd never trust a Windows machine for real work. When it comes to stuff I rely upon, the Mac is the only choice for me. If Windows works for you, power to you.

Why don't you trust a Windows machine for workload?! I just don't get it. Like, two months ago a friend of mine almost lost two years of design work, because her mac broke down. My PC (laptop), 1 year older than her Mac..never broke down. I've managed to save her stuff...after the huge pain in the ass to get files from a journaled hard drive and encrypted to the bone. After some Ubuntu live sessions with a crapload of commands and specific OS addons i've managed to save most of her Illustrator and Photoshop stuff. As for the Mac, one of the mainboard bridges fell off due to heat...so...
That's a very narrow way to see things man...it really is...

I agree shoving this shìt down everyone's throat is not the smartest move, it's a stupid way for Microsoft to make a point to people that they finally got their act together and made the operating system functional across multiple platforms, albeit with some teething pains.

Having worked with Macs as long as I have, I've learn not to trust them for heavy-duty work, like motion image compositing and 3D modeling and animation, so I feel exactly opposite of you when it comes to doing "real" work. ;-)

I digiteched as well as shoot tethered for my own commercial/fashion photography. I almost never have to "Force Quit" Capture One while shooting tethered to my Windows 10 laptop (Gigabyte P35), but almost every session I digiteched off someone's Macbook Pro or iMac, there's at least one Force Quit that I had to do.

Don't fall into the delusion that OSX and Mac are more stable than Windows. Somethings just run better on one than the other, too.

You're preaching to the choir. ;-)

I may give Mac another shot but I don't believe they are perfect. One of my employees just told me this morning how her iMac won't connect to the internet anymore.

As a mac lover, advocate, and fanboy let me tell you that macs are most DEFINITELY NOT perfect. Hell I could sit down and talk your ear off for 2 hours about everything that's wrong, how I've been burnt, and the fixes that I'd love to see and how it's so often one step forward and two back. But... it's still better than the experience (for me) on windows. Use what is best for you, if you're a windows guy, use windows. Maybe don't install WIndows 10 on your main machine the day it comes out (same advice goes to Mac people), but use what you're comfortable with. But if you think that every mac fanboy out there thinks there's nothing that apple does that's not perfect, they're not real people, they're figments in the imaginations of Mac haters who think that every mac user is a raving steve jobs fan and apologist (except for that one guy that you know who really does think that).

Man, your comment should be awarded a nobel prize!! Sometimes I feel that people who buy mac, buy them for status quo. 2000€ facebook machines, and I somewhat go nuts with them. Real Mac users, that use them for workload (we all know they are optimized and I am still to see a Windows Laptop with a calibrated display) and the Mac Pro is something out of this Earth, both in look and performance. I'm a PC user, with a stable and problem free PC for the past 6 to 7 years and I believe that MS, with windows 7, wiped out most of the problems they had previously.
As for windows 10, it's being a pleasant experience, the lack of window borders and somewhat clean UI makes it much less distractive while working. Looks friendly and not as tough as Windows 8/8.1 with the thick color bezels on the windows.
There are great things in MacOS I do like, hell...I even had a hackintosh once for the fun of it (yeah it was not stable, just worked) and thought on buying a Mac Mini Late 2012.
But as you say, they both have problems that are not adressed by the companies for some reason.

" I'm a PC user" Oh, so you don't use public computers; only personal ones. Okay. I don't have much reason to use any public computers.

No computer is perfect. They are designed by people, they are operated by people, and people are not perfect. That said, in my experience, a Mac gives you a much better TCO than a PC does, and is much less fussy and susceptible to virus/spyware/adware crap than a PC. A Mac is not infallible and if you've used a PC all your life, you may not enjoy the switch. But a Mac is more dependable and if the shit hits the fan, much easier to get fixed or get help with.

But can be a personal computer... In fact, I think more public computers (from what I've seen) tend to be Windows, so I don't know why people think Apple brand computers cannot be a personalized computer.

Switching from a PC to a PC is not fun?

fucking KEN-ROCKWELL

LOL

[QUESTION_MARK_GOES_HERE]

I've worked with more computer platforms and operating systems then most people realize existed, and one thing I've learned in my digital life is to NEVER be the first kid on the block with a new digital toy, software- OR hardware-wise. I have work to do. Let someone else be the beta tester.

you're welcome ;)

The way Win10 is rolled out , new browser missing some options, it is still not finished. Makes sense to wait a month or two.

IBM AS/400 ?! :D

Actually, I never works with any AS computers. I worked with Digital Vax 16's. 400's, 4000's, 1st & 2nd gen Digital Alphas, Sun Sparcstations, SGI Onyx, Indigo, and Indy's, HP 1000 miniframes, as well as Commodore 128s, Amigas, Atari STs, Macs from II Ci onwards, and virtually every incarnation of DOS and Windows machines. I probably forgot a platform or two. ;-)

I've been a Windows Insider since early June, so I've had the Windows 10 since it was beta. Sure I took a chance and had frustrations with it on my Gigabyte P35 laptop, but in its retail form, it has become really polished and with all the new features and at least for me, the stability, I don't see myself going back to Windows 7 or 8, let alone OSX.

I had zero problems with the install, took maybe an hour total, not sure. I hit install and went and drove around. 2 minor post install glitches: had to reinstall my graphics card drivers (and reboot for it to take) and the back button on my mouse got reassigned to multi window view (which was easily reset). All programs work with no issues.

Truth is Lee didn't do an "Upgrade" he tried to do a backdoor clean install. I must say, that is the way I do most every upgrade as well. However, I normally format the drive and start the install of old O/S then blow it away shortly after it starts. Then I do the O/S upgrade. Windows just checks the boot part and if it sees it, it does what it thinks is an upgrade. BTW, Mac's are in no way close to the performance of PC's. If you attend a seminar and it's running slow. They are always using a Mac.

My upgrade went smoothly, and I've had no issues so far. I haven't spent much time with it yet, but fingers crossed.

I wonder why! i've been using windows 10 with all its previous insider builts and never have i had any of those problems. even updated pretty well without any glitch, lightroom and ps are both pretty smooth on it. and yeah at times my laptop would'nt go to sleep when i wanted it to but got fixed in the final builts.

lee if the media creator doesnt work, try rufus ( https://rufus.akeo.ie/)

If you are that worried about the "risk," don't install day one. Wait like a month at least...

I upgraded my Windows 8.1 desktop to 10 yesterday. Thankfully, unlike the majority of the masses, mine took quite a while, but installed and runs flawlessly. It runs faster than it did with 8.1 and all my programs and files are intact. I am shocked, yet overjoyed.

Its a new OS Microsoft should just be allowed to tell people to F-OFF its obviously to early to release Windows 10, and the OS is a data collecting bitch, If non of you have really went into the system you will see that their is a FEEDBACK for every damn little thing you have on the OS, Microsoft even went threw the lengths of creating a Reddit like Upvoting system for their OS FEEDBACK. RELAX "HOLD ONTO YOUR BUTTS" It's a new OS less then 48 hours out in the wild... their is going to be issues.

As far as Apple goes, I own and used them, PC had better long lasting hardware then Apple products. Have fun trying to use that 4GB Soldered to the motherboard RAM in another year, but HEY its thin and shiny.

Do you have a virus perhaps? Been browsing naughty websites?

I just clicked update to windows 10, and everything went perfect. Been running windows 10 for the last 24 hours with no problems at all.
So not everyone is having a hard time like you with the update.

This is actually the first time i'm just making a windows OS update, instead of a fresh install. Really nice that everything is exactly as you left it.

Upgrading to Windows 10 is fine. But we need to keep in mind that we also need to get our drivers and software to catch up with the updated OS.
With my laptop, thankfully, Razer (the brand) provided it's users all the drivers necessary to prevent anything that might conflict with W10.

I am not that great with software, driver, e.g. I can manage to take care of my own PC though. But I suggest to "prepare" your computer for the OS update by researching first what you need to do before and after.

Windows 10... the new Apple add to sell OS X El Capitan.

But, seriously, this sounds like the age old problem with Windows (vs. Mac)... hardware compatibility. I am only guessing here because I haven't had to worry about this issue since Windows Vista was the last straw and I went Mac, but I imagine that the computer makers flooding the market with cheap computers made with who knows what hardware components doesn't make it easy for Windows to work seamlessly on the myriad of hardware out there.

Just recently I read that in the last quarter, Apple was the only computer maker that had growth in sales. The truth is that for the most part, Macs just work.

the Sleep problem, its a driver problem often is the video card driver.

Comparing Apple with Microsoft is like comparing apples and oranges for me :) I use an apple phone, iPad and iMac. I like syncing them and thats what I am used to. I like the Apple OS, thats how I am accustomed to after years of using. From my limited understanding, with microsoft computers for the same amount of money you can buy a much better computer, faster pc than apple. But Apple has always been about imagination, innovation for me. And also easier to use.. I believe it awakens creativity in me. It doesn't have to have the same effect for you. Also when my clients see 27 inch iMacs lined up on stations, there is a whole different atmosphere in the air. If it is arts, cool looks, apple is bringing it to my studios. It has this "wow" effect. Almost part of our decor!.. I haven't had problems with apple operating systems like I did with microsoft either. But there is a reason for that. Microsoft has given me a lot to manipulate on hardware and software than I could handle. Or at least it was that way all the way up to Xp and 7.. With Apple, it is what it is. Some updates here and there and that is that. I can't break it :) thats a good thing. I am just happy that Microsoft is also putting its brave foot forward in trying new systems, even if they fail here and there, thats how we will progress.

So Lee I upgraded 2 computers yesterday, one surface pro 3 and a desktop that I made. The surface did it without a hitch with the get windows 10 app. The desktop on the other hand was a little weird cause the app disappeared the day before, so I had to download it from microsoft and install it. Then it went fine untill today turned on the computer and my dual monitor setup was messed up. The left monitor had it's color in a negative and the right monitor was just fine. Cortona has its few hicups every now and then with it understanding what I just spoke to it and then just hanging on and not doing anything with it.

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