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Windows 10, From a Linux User's Perspective
Phoronix features today a review of Windows 10 that's a little different from most you might read, because it's specifically from the point of view of an admin who uses both Windows and Linux daily, rather than concentrating only on the UI of Windows qua Windows. Reviewer Eric Griffith finds some annoyances (giant start menu even when edited to contain fewer items, complicated process if you want a truly clean install), but also some good things, like improved responsiveness ("feels much more responsive than even my Gnome and KDE installations under Fedora") and an appropriately straightforward implementation of virtual workspaces.
Overall? Windows 10 is largely an evolutionary upgrade over Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, rather than a revolutionary one. Honestly I think the only reason it will be declared as 'so good' is because Windows 8/8.1 were so bad. Sure, Microsoft has made some good changes under the surface-- the animations feel crisper, its relatively light on resources, battery life is good. There is nothing -wrong- with Windows 10 aside from the Privacy Policy.
If you're on Windows Vista, or Windows 8/8.1, then sure, upgrade. The system is refreshing to use, it's perfectly fine and definitely an upgrade. If you're on Windows 7 though? I'm not so sure. ...
Overall, there's really nothing to see here. It's not terrible, it's not even 'bad, it's just... okay. A quiet little upgrade.
A lot of actual Windows users thought that the UI in Windows 8 SUCKED. It's not just Linux users. Win8 was like Vista. The fact that there is even a Win 8.1 is an artifact of how badly genuine Windows users reacted to Win8.
Pretending that this is just the complaints of Linux users is extremely disingenuous.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
A real Linux user's review: do you honestly think I'm going to install Windows on my computer?
Because that's intuitive.
Settings, even "advanced system settings" should be in the control-panel.
It's like Windows is following the Gnome crowd. "Let's hide configurations, because letting the user adjust the workspace to his work is confusing!"
*spit*
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BMO
Brilliant. Someone hand me a thesaurus and I'll find plenty of reasons why a search bar for finding your bearings in an unfamiliar environment is incredibly fucking stupid. You have to wonder who the genius at Microsoft is that thought this was such a wonderful idea. Joe User who hasn't ever heard of System Restore will not be able to find it when he searches for "fix my computer," but he'll certainly find the "I am from Microsoft and your computer is virus infected!" people promptly thanks to Bing(TM).
Control/command-x/c/v for cut/copy/paste are discoverable and consistent: if you got to the edit menu of any application (visible by the default on non-braindead UIs and the starting point for finding any command), then you will see the icons next to it telling you what the shortcut is. Now that it's discovered, it's consistent everywhere. Except in terminals if you're using control instead of command, because terminals need control-c for interrupt and so break the good UI, but on a Mac it's the same in every single application including the terminal.
In contrast, most of the Windows-key-plus-modifier combinations can only be discovered by reading the documentation. There's nothing that a user is encouraged by the UI to click on that tells them about what these modifiers are (though I vaguely remember that Windows 98 had a 'show desktop' icon in the start bar that told you about windows-d in the tooltip).
Intuitive implies that you are meant to use your psychic powers or some innate knowledge to find how the UI works. Good UIs do not work that way, they make it easy for people to learn and then they allow the user to apply the knowledge everywhere. If someone complains about a UI not being intuitive, then it's a good hint that they don't know anything about HCI.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
"my USB headset doesn't work properly,"
Who the fuck wastes a USB port on a headset? You never head of headphone and mic jacks?
Someone here commented that they'd worked at Microsoft and that they'd done internal user testing of Win 8 and people hated. Of course we all know that management pressed on anyway.
Of course I can't ensure anything of this is true but sounds believable to me.
I agree with other comments that say that most changes to Win 8 and 10 were exclusively to the benefit of Microsoft