Replies

We are all entitled to our own opinion

Quite true…

…but I find that with a few tweaks (Privacy Settings, edit the Start screen, drivers), Windows 10 is the best OS Microsoft has released.

So, without tweaks, Windows 10 is not necessarily the best OS Microsoft has released? Are you saying that Windows 10 is not ready Out-of-the-Box, without resorting to tweaks and system modifications from the default setup? There are many that would agree with you…

Opinion stated as fact does not necessarily make it true.

The opinion was not necessarily stated as fact, only as a legitimate opinion that many (but not all) share…

With each OS there have been many millions of people who have been satisfied since the initial release.

…and there have been many that have legitimate reasons not to upgrade from each OS release. This is why XP held on for so long…

There may be many reasons to upgrade. Windows 10 can be an excellent OS. Likewise, there are many reasons not to upgrade, such as system incompatibilities, legacy mission-critical software issues, legacy hardware support, licensing concerns for said software, etc.

I personally have run into many issues wherein legacy hardware is not supported, and wherein legacy mission-critical software will not be supported for Windows 10 in the near future. That is fact, not opinion.

I like Windows 10 on hardware that was designed to support it, but even hardware that was designed to support Windows 8.x is not capable of running it successfully.

I have always installed every update as quickly as possible without any problems.

Great for you, but not for all of us; hence the reluctance to install Windows 10 on many systems, and the Patch Watch for inspecting these updates prior to blind installation…

Windows 10 resolves this issue by installing the updates automatically.

This also installs additional hardware and software incompatibilities and vulnerabilities to many functional systems, making them completely useless. This is a major issue when the Windows 10 installation bricks a system or renders critical software as nonfunctional upon each subsequent release.

It is MUCH better than any other OS which MS has EVER put out, and will make the computer feel new again.

This is an opinion. IMHO, it is not that much better, and in many cases it is much worse. This is also an opinion, but one that can be shared by many; otherwise there wouldn’t be so many people trying to avoid it.

I’m glad it works for you, but for some it simply does not fit their needs to unnecessarily upgrade.

If one wants to reinvent the wheel, one first should ensure that it is round.

There was nothing wrong with the Digital River site for downloading Win 7 SP1 ISOs and that was a 3rd party site.

Digital River was not a third-party site. As an authorized licensed distributor of Microsoft products, it was in fact a second-party site. Majorgeeks is not. It is actually an unlicensed third-party site distributing legacy software (in this case), unfortunately violating the EULA regarding distribution for the said software.

Unfortunately, Microsoft released Service Pack 3 for Windows XP in 2008, and they are currently cleaning house of older non-supported operating systems (which includes an end of support for Windows XP in 2014) from their servers. This is unlike Microsoft’s online availability of updates for previous versions (e.g. Windows 3.x, Windows 9x, etc.) that were available to download long after the end-of-support was announced for the particular operating systems and applications. This may be an attempt to move everyone to Windows 10 for supported hardware configurations for the future.

This means that direct download of XPSP3 directly from Microsoft’s servers has been removed (or at least severely limited, to the best of my knowledge). The only available downloads of this particular service pack is via third-party sources, such as majorgeeks.com.

You are be several years late in actually downloading the update directly from the source (that being Microsoft).

I haven’t tested the MajorGeeks download, because I downloaded the actual SP3 directly from Microsoft years ago and slipstreamed it into my sources for my XP systems; this particular download from third-parties may or may not be slipstreamed properly… (Feedback is appreciated, if this particular download has been tested by other users…)

It may be important to say that all first-party updates to the Operating System and programs should be downloaded and archived locally directly from the source (but not necessarily installed), whether one intends to install or not, rather than third-party sources; because the first-party updates may not be readily available in the future, depending on the market goals of the company. Another caveat is that first-party downloads are almost always more secure and reliable than third-party sources that may modify or bundle their downloads with PUPs. Everything on the internet lasts forever, unless there are profit margins involved…

Quite frankly, it sickens me when some forum members and even moderators of this forum link to third-party downloads when first-party sources are more than available… I’m losing faith in this forum…

IMHO Microsoft is playing the Shell Game (pun intended) with the Get Windows 10 application and unintended upgrades.

User interaction through sleight-of-hand (especially when the GWX application consistently changes and obfuscates the actual intentions of the end user) are eroding the confidence of many.

Win10 is easily the best OS to date. Just do it and work out any (if any, for me, 4PC’s and some old peripherals, btw all working) bumps. I fully understand that some want to stay on 7, 8, XP, 3.1, DOS but get with it and stop whining. If you really dislike Microsoft and its pushing Win10 just go to Linux and let the fun begin.

Win10 is easily the worst OS to date, too, for many systems. Black-Screens-of-Death, massive overheating on many notebooks, removal of true backward-compatibility, hardware incompatibilities, software incompatibilities, telemetry abuse, unannounced removal of mission-critical software, etc. It’s not whining; these are legitimate issues.

If I wanted to just browse the web, check my email, and play games, I wouldn’t even consider Linux (which can be much more powerful, anyway). I would just pick up my smartphone. I want to do real work that requires an Operating System, not a non-Operating System.

Adobe Reader 9 is seriously out-of-date.

The original post was about Adobe Acrobat, not Adobe Reader. There is a major difference.

That being said, Adobe Acrobat 9 is also seriously out-of date. It may be time to upgrade…

This is the kind of obfuscation that Microsoft is falling to…

I do not want to start an argument regarding this PUP. This is desperation on Microsoft’s part.

Just by the fact that we need to install third-party software (GWX Control Panel) to avoid this PUP from the first party OS vendor is an insult.

If you don’t want Windows 10 install the GWX Control Panel program and run it.

Joe

Already done and done, a long time ago when I first tried Windows 10 unsuccessfully; it’s very useful to install the latest version of GWX Control Panel.

That being said, it almost seems that Microsoft is continually pushing and re-releasing this update in desperation. Plus, the KB3035583 update should be re-hidden in Windows Updates with every re-release.

Maybe it’s because many keyboards no longer have the Pause/Break key, especially on notebooks.

I have always had problems with Outlook.com, so I changed, years ago, to IMAP usage for Outlook.com with my email apps:

Use the following settings in your email app (which works just fine with Windows Live Mail 2012).
If your email app doesn’t support Exchange ActiveSync, it might use IMAP. Unlike POP, which only syncs your inbox, IMAP syncs all your email folders.

Incoming (IMAP) Server
Server address: imap-mail.outlook.com
Port: 993
Encrypted Connection: SSL
Outgoing (SMTP) Server
Server address: smtp-mail.outlook.com
Port: 25 (or 587 if 25 is blocked)
Authentication: Yes
Encrypted Connection: TLS
User name: Your email address
Password: Your password

This works well without the update and even with the update.

Update
Apparently Adobe updated their FTP server policy, requiring a login to use their FTP servers too direct download their software; so these links no longer work (as of December 8, 20015) without an authorized login. Sorry… :(:

Adobe must have backtracked upon their FTP Server policy or changed their configuration, because (as of December 11, 2015) the Adobe FTP site and the download links I listed in a previous post now work properly.

Whenever you download software, it is always best to download directly from the producer and avoid download sites that may install additional junk.

Do you like Windows 10?

I do not like it. User I am.
I do not like Windows 10.

Would you like it here or there?

I would not like it here or there.
I would not like it anywhere.
I do not like Windows 10.
I do not like it. User I am.

Would you like it in your house?
Would you like it with your mouse?

I do not like it in my house.
I do not like it with my mouse.
I do not like it here or there.
I do not like it anywhere.
I do not like Windows 10.
I do not like it. User I am.

Would you like it in your box?
Would you like it with Firefox?

Not in my box.
Not Firefox.
Not in my house.
Not with my mouse.
I won’t install it here or there.
I won’t install it anywhere.
I really hate Windows 10.
I do not like it. User I am.

Would you, could you,
With the bloat?

I would not, could not,
With the bloat.
I do not like it in my box.
I do not like it with Firefox.
I really hate in in my house.
It does not work with my mouse.
I do not like it here or there.
I would not want it anywhere.

I do not like Windows 10.
I do not like it. User I am.

GWX said, “Good to go!”
I tried it thrice, so here I go.
It turned my system into a block.
It tried to start, and then it locked.

Black screens prevailed upon this day.
A rollback was called upon this day.

I will not, could not,
Install this junk.
I feel like Microsoft
Installed a punk.

They tell me that it’s the latest best.
I think they are giving me just a jest.

My old system worked just great.
Windows 10 is obstinate.
If you you want to install it on my system,
There are problems. Here I’ll list’em.

Problem drivers. Faulty Apps.
Makes us all feel like a bunch of saps.
Forced ads and tracking abound,
And I’m having problems with my sound.
Forced upgrades just bricked my book.
I think I’ll take another look.

I would not, could not install Windows 10.
I really hate it. User I am.

If you plan on playing BluRay, plan on buying a DVD BluRay player/cd-dvd reader-writer and Cyberlink’s PowerDVD 14 or 15.
VLC has something that’s supposed to enable VLC to play BluRay [using a BluRay player], however, I never got the plugin assembly for VLC to work within VLC.

+1 on Cyberlink PowerDVD. I also use this software, sometimes. It’s very versatile. It’s just not free…

I like VLC media player, but I have always preferred to use the K-Lite Codec Pack Mega Pack which includes an optimized Media Player Classic. It just seems a little more versatile to me.

(NOTE 1: Some AVs, like McAfee’s junkware, block this site; some do not. but I personally have never had a problem with this software installing open-source codecs. User experience may vary, but I definitely welcome responses to this post…)

(NOTE 2: Always be wary installing third party codecs…)