My biggest problem with Windows 10: Instability

[steven36]

Windows 10's strength -- its comprehensiveness -- is also its biggest weakness. Too many moving parts are making for an unstable computing experience for me. Bring on Redstone!

On my Windows 10 machine, this is how I've come to start my day: I slowly open my laptop lid, cautiously peer at my screen and wonder what is no longer working like it did yesterday.

Some days, I'm pleasantly surprised and things seem stable. But in the past couple weeks, the opposite has been the case. As a result, part of my new morning routine is checking my Windows Update history and my Windows Store app installation history, hoping against hope for clues as to why my machine is not running right.

This is not OK.
I wasn't a big Windows 8 fan. Being a heavy mouse and keyboard user, I liked 8.1 a bit more. Before installing Windows 10, I was really upbeat about its prospects, and my first few days with the new OS made me bullish.

But Windows 10's lack of stability is really starting to be an issue for me in a way that wasn't my experience on Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1. And based on emails and Twitter messages, I'm getting, I am not alone.

I've been running Windows 10 since just before July 29. I installed Build 10240 -- the release many of us call RTM, but which Microsoft officials don't want us to -- and haven't moved to newer Windows Insider test builds. (I did not do a clean install. I installed the final bits from a USB device and upgraded from 8.1.) Since installing this build, I've had problems with Windows Store (it wouldn't allow me to buy apps or get app updates) and Windows Mail.

Update wiped my Mail accounts.
For several days in August, my Mail app was "stuck," but then one of Microsoft's handful of Cumulative Updates seemed to fix this, and seemingly remedied my Store issues, too.

But in September, my Mail problems returned and worsened. First, my Windows 10 Mail app stopped syncing with my Outlook.com and Office 365 accounts as of September 2. Then I got a Mail update around September 8 which totally broke Mail. The update wiped my Mail accounts, so I couldn't access Outlook.com or Office 365 through Mail. I couldn't add these accounts back. I found out later from readers for whom Mail was working that this Mail update included the ability to disable Conversation View, something I very much wanted.

Readers had plenty of suggestions, most of which involved running a PowerShell script from the Command prompt. Yes, I could have done that, but this isn't an acceptable solution for normal users. Microsoft had no suggestions for me; I asked multiple times.

If this was just me having these issues, I might chalk these problems up to my ineptitude or my particular hardware configuration. I have a fairly new Acer S7 Core i7 laptop that came with Windows 8 installed. But it's not just me. I hear daily from people with Windows Store crashes, Windows 10 Mail syncing issues and other app incompatibilities.

On Saturday, after three days of yet another new problem -- my Windows 10 machine was randomly shutting itself off, with no warning, no blue screen and no lack of battery charge -- I decided to reset my machine. Two-plus hours later (the time it took me to reinstall my removed apps, uninstall the apps Microsoft added back to my machine that I didn't want, and re-organize my Start Menu, etc.), success!

My Mail app started working again. I now have the ability to disable Conversation View on the RTM version of Windows 10 -- which now makes the app usable for me. And so far at least, knock wood, my Store is working and my machine hasn't shut itself off for no reason.

Windows 10 has a lot of moving parts. It includes a number of apps, like Mail, which are bundled with the operating system. It was designed to work on thousands of different Windows PCs and tablets, each with different configurations. And it's supposedly designed to allow users to be able to simply update from Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 without needing to do a clean install.

Windows 10 also is the cornerstone of Microsoft's "Windows as a Service" strategy, which means it is getting regular deliveries of fixes and features. Because Microsoft has opted not to detail what's in the various Cumulative Updates for Windows 10, we don't often know what's in the fixes and updates we are getting. To be honest, I'm not sure knowing would matter, as most of us "normal" (i.e. non-power) users are going to just get the updates as they are pushed to us.

Microsoft's original plan, we've heard from various sources, was to roll out Windows 10 in October 2015. Instead, due to OEM pressure, Microsoft began rolling out Windows 10 in late July. An update with a bunch of missing features, known as Threshold 2, is coming later this Fall.

But what I'm more interested in now is Redstone. Redstone is the next set of updates for Windows 10 after Threshold 2. Word is there will be two Redstone updates -- Summer and Fall -- in 2016. And according to my sources, a big focus for Redstone will be on improving the stability of the Windows 10 ecosystem and its many piece parts, via engineering processes instituted by the Windows team.

I'm hoping time and some of these ongoing Cumulative Updates will bring more stability to Windows 10 in the coming months. While I wait for this, I'll keep using Windows 10 on my laptop and hope for better stability. But I'm definitely also not going to be moving my main work machine off Windows 7 in the interim.


Source

[Kalju]

My biggest problem with Windows 10: Instability...?

What's the question? All alpha, beta and developer versions is always unstable.

And if Considering the that Microsoft has in the last decade has been enough turmoil, what more do you wish to get from there.

Microsoft has outlived this form. A is needed to changes.
But not to the end of life old things improve.

[Vakdan]

That's why you don't jump straight away on a new Os without letting some time go by...

[Airstream_Bill]

I like when I click on the File Explorer and get 15 or so open windows. There are other things that happen but that is my Favorite one.

[steven36]

My biggest problem with Windows 10: Instability...?

What's the question? All alpha, beta and developer versions is always unstable.

And if Considering the that Microsoft has in the last decade has been enough turmoil, what more do you wish to get from there.

Microsoft has outlived this form. A is needed to changes.

But not to the end of life old things improve.

The reason was everyone pushed M$ to release Windows 10 early it came out in still preview build state like 3 months ahead of release date. It took M$ 2 years to get windows 7 really stable with Sp.1 and it took 1 year for them to make 8 very stable with the release of 8.1 . I think this part of the reason they decided to not make windows 11 . If they keep updating the same windows it will stay stable once it gets there .

That's why you don't jump straight away on a new Os without letting some time go by...

People most likely would of waited , but since they did not make us pay money., millions installed it within weeks ;)

Even when I got windows 7 free for buying a Vista PC new .. Windows 7 had been out a good while . I got a really good deal on a new PC with the free upgrade. :)

Then they only gave it free to people who bought new PC and some people who were in Collage .

M$ made most of its money from selling PC with windows 7 on it not selling keys .Now days people are not buying PCs there upgrading there Old PC to the free Windows 10.

Maybe in some years when these PCs get very old people will buy again . There 3 billion on the internet But only under 1.5 billion uses computers of all known O/S and over 1.5 billion uses phones . And every year more switch to phones and less uses PCs. Microsoft wants 1 billion to use windows 10 by 2018 but thats PC, tablets and phones combined . :P

[straycat19]

Microsoft hasn't released a stable OS since DOS 4. Everything they release has hundreds of updates/fixes, even their last release of DOS went to 6.22. And look at all the releases of Windows 1. That is why most informed users waited until SP1 was released and tested before considering an OS upgrade. And in some cases decisions were made to skip releases entirely, such as Me, Vista, 8, and now 10. And for those that say that Windows 95 wasn't like that aren't aware that there were multiple releases labeled as 95, 95a, 95b, 95c, and 95d. Probably the best release ever was Windows 3, which only produced 3.1 and 3.11.

[YUMAN]

i'm agree with Steven36, cause me too got the same $hit from Microshit!

-think i gonna rollback to Windows 8.1.1 too

​my biggest problem is Syncing my accounts, Mails, Weather Locations, my settings, my customization, you know it gives me the feeling of getting lost between Windows 8.1 and Windows On Spying 10. when Using Win 8.1 it's just Login with my Outlook ID it gets the Job done, and right now nothing only Changes desktop Background Wall, Outlook Profile Picture will be synced

Any suggestions or comments are Welcome to resolve my problem.

Merci, Thank you!

[dezsez]

M$ are making Windows 10 far to complicated and intricate for the average PC user who just wants a reliable and stable Operating System to browse the internet and do there emails. Windows 10 will end up just like Windows 8 with never ending Updates and Service Packs.

[Holmes]

Your using the rtm tentwoforty version is the problem or maybe you did something wrong somewhere as there are alot of users that are running windows ten that have no problems.