You may recall my column dated June 28 in which I urged people to resist installing Microsoft’s new Windows 10 on their otherwise healthy computers until some of the kinks and bugs had been worked out. Give it a few months, I said, before taking the leap. Why give up a good car for a newer model that may, at any moment, without warning, randomly crash?
It seems, however, that employees at some of our big-box electronics retailers differ with my cautious approach. One of my clients, purchasing a new computer from them, expressed her concerns, based on my warnings. She bought her computer last week, knowing that Windows 10 was to be officially released to the public the following week, on July 29 (the day I am writing this column).
Her new computer, which came with Windows 8 installed, also included the option to convert to Windows 10 at no extra charge. “Shouldn’t I wait until Microsoft has worked out some of the initial bugs and issued some updates before moving to Windows 10?” she asked.
“Oh, no, no, no,” the merry band of salesgeeks assured her. “Microsoft has been testing Windows 10 for a very long time and all of the bugs have been worked out in advance. You can make the move to Windows 10 with confidence; all potential problems have been fixed.”
Balance that enthusiasm with reality. True, Microsoft has been testing Windows 10 for a very long time. I belong to what Microsoft calls the Insiders Program, a large group of computer enthusiasts who are allowed to use and test Microsoft products well ahead of the official product release dates. “Insiders” like me have been testing Windows 10 since September of 2014. It has been a bumpy ride, with new flaws being discovered and fixes issued every few days. Windows 10 looks promising, but it is far from perfect.
Windows 10s glaring mortality was painfully exposed on Tuesday, two days before its official release date, when Microsoft compelled users to install a mysterious “security patch” which immediately caused computers around the world to crash without warning. Users who tried to remove the offending patch could only look on in horror as their systems crashed again. This calamity came only days after another Microsoft update, designed to fix graphics problems, caused thousands of systems to become unstable, with many unable to even start properly, sending their computers into Window’s dreaded emergency recovery mode.
Debacles like these are nothing new to long-term Microsoft Windows users. To note only a few examples out of thousands, seasoned Windows veterans may remember in the late 1990s when Windows 95 and 98 computers would crash for no other reason than having been left on for 49.7 days. Windows 2000 was notorious for crashing because of a flawed network driver. In 2002, millions of Windows 2000 computers crashed after installing a group of updates called Service Pack 3. In 2008, updates for Windows XP caused the entire Windows Update process to crash. Windows Vista was known for crashing so often that, in 2007, Microsoft put a page on their official website titled, “Picking up the pieces after a computer crash.” In 2008, Windows 7 was known for crashing simply for having visited a website. In 2012, Windows 8 crashes were known to wipe entire systems clean, causing users to lose all their files. Windows 9 problems were….
Wait a minute. There is no “Windows 9.” Microsoft decided to skip Windows 9, jumping instead from Windows 8 straight to Windows 10. Rumor has it that Windows 8 was such a disappointing mess (sort of like Windows Vista) that Microsoft decided to jump ahead two versions, thinking that would represent more progress and be better accepted by consumers. Whatever the case, please, don’t tell me how flawless Windows 10 is. Put down the can of Microsoft Kool-Aid, step away from the keyboard and take a deep breath.
For a humorous moment, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NsXHPq71Bs and watch as an amused, yet pained Bill Gates looks on helplessly as Windows 98 crashes live during a public demonstration on CNN News.