Windows 10

 

So yesterday was "Windows 10 Day". The day the bits were released to the public. As someone who's been using Windows 10 since Windows Insiders first got access, I have some thoughts.

I've used Windows 10 on 3 different devices: the Surface Pro 3 (i5 8GB of RAM), virtualized on my 2012 Mac mini (i7 16GB of RAM) using Parallels, and on a 3 year old 11.6" ASUS Q200E laptop (i3 4GB of RAM). So that's a pretty big range of devices, all with pretty different use-cases. A tablet, a desktop, and a laptop.

I haven't run the final bits on the Surface Pro 3, as I got rid of that last month, but up until that point, it had run very smooth, nearly from the beginning. The only issue I had seen with it was a video driver issue that a clean install fixed. I had run the preview since January and it was solid enough that I could use it for work when needed. It didn't even balk at the proprietary POS software that I threw at it; in fact, the touchscreen made it perfect to use as a dummy register.

The Mac mini was installed early last month, around the same time I got rid of the Surface Pro 3. Parallels is an older version built for Windows 8, but it installed Windows 10 with no issues, except that it won't let go of the mouse if I click into it. That will be fixed with the newer release of Parallels, and is a bit of an annoyance, but Command-Tab releases the mouse to use in Mac OS. As that system has an i7 and 16GB of RAM, performance isn't an issue at all, except for the slowdown introduced by not having an SSD (but that's an issue all around with that system).

Most surprisingly is the performance on an older laptop. 1.8Ghz i3 with 4GB of RAM and some proprietary drivers, I thought the ASUS laptop would be more of an issue. I did recently upgrade the hard drive to an SSD (BTW,  if you want to breathe second life into an older computer, put an SSD in!), but I figured the older, slower processor would slow things down. I was dead wrong. The upgrade (I used the final RTM bits last week) from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 took about 30 minutes, and it actually installed drivers for several peripherals that I had never gotten around to installing properly (multitouch trackpad, touchscreen) during the upgrade process. It runs every bit fast as the Surface Pro 3 did, and faster than the Mac mini given that it has an SSD. It flies. And battery life is better than on 8.1. Between the SSD upgrade and Windows 10, it's like having a brand new laptop.

From the start of the Insider Preview, I was hooked and knew I wouldn't go back, and watching it grow and evolve in response to user feedback was great. Microsoft truly took suggestions and criticisms to heart in designing Windows 10. And since it's "Windows as a Service" now, it will be constantly updated. Word is that a big update is already slated to roll out in fall with extensibility for Edge, support for Continuum (though that's more Windows 10 Mobile), and other features that didn't make it into the RTM.

So should you upgrade? That's up to you. I personally would say yes, however, you have a year to upgrade for free (if you have Windows 7, 8, or 8.1), so you might want to ride it out for a bit. But it's definitely solid and ready to use now. I don't think anyone will regret upgrading. Would it be a reason to switch from Mac OS if you're a Mac person? I wouldn't say so, unless you just need some Windows compatibility. To that point, I haven't even put it into Boot Camp on my Mac mini; I'm just virtualizing it when I need it. But it's fantastic on a laptop, especially one with touch. If you tried Windows 8/8.1 and hated it, or completely avoided it, give Windows 10 a try. It's truly the Windows 7 to Windows 8's Vista. ;)

The AT&T Nightmare

So we all know the horror stories of Comcast, many of us firsthand. So we moved to the new house, we took that opportunity to ditch Comcast and move to something else. AT&T had a decent deal for $50 a month that had 16Mbps Internet, basic cable, HBO, and a year of Amazon Prime. We were already paying $15 a month for HBO Now, and I pay $100 a year for Prime, so it seemed a good deal. The Internet speed wasn't fantastic, but it would be fine.

Install day, which also happened to be the day we moved in (we'd been in the house for 3 weeks without Internet), came. The installer, showed up and spent about two hours at the box outside the house. He had to call in another truck at one point. After all of that, he came in the house. He opened up a wall jack and then decided it would be easier to just punch a new jack into the house. Odd, but whatever. After two more hours of this guy grumbling and complaining his way through the job (mind you, he said he'd been doing installs for AT&T for 7 years, so this should've been routine), he claimed the Internet was up, had us sign for the install, and left. Before he left, he wrote down his cell phone number and said that under no circumstances should we call customer service. Call him and he'd come back out and fix anything that needed to be fixed. I trusted the guy, and as we were still loading in our stuff and unpacking, I didn't test the Internet. I plugged in the wireless router and assumed everything was up. About an hour or so later, we found his bag of tools that he left behind. I also ran a speedtest and found we were averaging0.02Mbps down. I was pretty pissed, but was hopeful it would work itself out. We called him, left him a message about his tools and the speed, and ran out for dinner. He called back and said to just put his bag of tools outside the garage and he'd swing by and pick it up, and also check the connection at the box. The speed didn't increase for days. His bag of tools sat there. We went to Colorado and came back. His bag was still sitting there. It had been rained in multiple times. The Internet speed was up to somewhere between 2-6Mbps and fluctuated a lot in there. We called him again. Over and over. No answer, no call back. When I went to set up my remote access and Plex connection, I couldn't get past the modem. No amount of port forwarding was working, which was frustrating, but not as frustrating as the connection itself. We couldn't even watch TV and surf the web at the same time. God forbid we tried to download anything. It shut the whole connection down. Netflix was a pixelated mess.

So I went back to Comcast. For the same price, we get up to 75Mbps (currently hovering around 45Mbps) down, basic cable, and HBO. No Prime, but AT&T had already sent us the code, which I applied to the account. When Kimberly called in to AT&T to cancel service and relayed our story, there wasn't even an attempt to retain us. No fee for breaking the contract or anything. Comcast was hooked up last night, and the speeds are already great (still not what was advertised, but it's faster than we'd likely use anyway), Plex and my remote access software have no issues whatsoever, and we finally have piece of mind that we can actually fire up Netflix and not have to wait 5 minutes for it to clearly buffer.

At least we scored a free year of Prime, but we've been in the house for a month and 10 days, and we're just now finally getting a decent Internet connection. Luckily I get 7GB of hotspot data through T-Mobile, so any day I had to work, I just tethered, but if that hadn't been the case, life would've been very, very rough. In fact, when I had the S6 Edge, I barely got any signal. It wasn't until switching to the Nexus 6 that I was able to get a strong LTE signal to be able to work off of.

I was hopeful that moving away from Comcast would be a good experience; my parents have had AT&T Internet for years and had no complaints. But this was not just a comedy of errors, it was a nightmare of errors. I never thought I'd be excited to be a Comcast customer again...

Galaxy Tab S 8.4

So with getting the two Nexus 6s for Kimberly and I (which, BTW, she LOVES), she graciously allowed me to sell her phone. I've had it up for several days and gotten plenty of lowball offers, but I was actually hit up by a guy that I do 75% of my trades with with an offer that was too good to pass up. He didn't have cash to offer, but was in desperate need of a phone. What he had was a Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4, which is a beast of a small tablet. (Incidentally, I'll sell my other tablet now, as this is much better.)

It's restoring from my backup right now, so I'll post a proper review in a few days, but here's a few quick specs:

- 8 core Exynos processor
- 2,560x1,600 8.4" AMOLED screen
- 3GB of RAM
- MicroSD expansion (perfect for my comic collection)
- 4900MA battery
- Lighter and thinner than an iPad mini
- Stereo speakers

The specs read like a dream, and I can't wait to really play around with it. The bigger, and much higher res, screen (my other tablet is 7 inches) will be perfect for reading comics on, which is my primary use for it. It's still small enough to easily fit in my small bag and hold one handed too. It's an ugly brown/gold color, but it came with a black/grey flip case that doubles as a stand, so I'll live. lol

Anyway, expect a deeper review in the next week or so once I've gotten a chance to put it through it's paces. :)