4 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Blindly Upgrade to Windows 10

The newly-released Windows 10 operating system has been well received by the tech community. Yet, no OS is perfect and you shouldn’t blindly upgrade just because you’ve heard good things about it. Before upgrading to Windows 10, be sure to take into consideration these four shortcomings.

Privacy Concerns
By default, Windows 10 provides Microsoft with enough personal information to make some users uncomfortable. One reason for this is due to Cortana needing access to your personal information so it can provide you with accurate answers. In case you’re wondering, here’s exactly what kind of information Microsoft collects about you via Windows 10:

• Search queries submitted to Bing
• A voice command to Cortana
• Private communications including email content
• Information from a document uploaded to OneDrive
• Requests to Microsoft for support
• Error reports
• Information gathered from cookies
• Data collected from third parties

For most users of popular Google applications like Gmail, Drive, and Chrome, this shouldn’t be a problem because Google uses its apps to gather similar data. However, by digging into your settings, you can adjust what information Microsoft collects, but it will be at the expense of using some of Windows 10’s custom features.

No Windows Media Center and DVD Player
In this age of streaming media and cloud services, Microsoft has chosen not to include Windows Media Center or a DVD-playing application with Windows 10. This is sure to disappoint those with a vast DVD collection. Thankfully, a solution to this is pretty simple; download a media app. There are several apps to choose from, one of the most popular is VLC Media Player. You can download it for free here: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html.

Not Enough Universal Applications
Compared to Google Play and iTunes, the app store for Windows 10 is lacking when it comes to universal apps, especially in terms of utility apps. To its credit, Microsoft includes its old standby Office suite in its app store, but having more enterprise-level apps would certainly help (instead of piles and piles of useless games).

When it comes to this shortcoming, there’s not really much you can do about it. Although, as more users adopt Windows 10, it’s sure to see its app library improve. This was the case with iOS and Android when they were first released and now they’ve got the best app selection around. It shouldn’t take too long for Windows 10 to catch up.

Mandatory Updates
Not everybody appreciates having their OS updates and security patches automatically applied to every computer not tied to an upgrade server. Many users, especially enterprises, prefer to have a little more control over their system. One such reason is that IT administrators like to test the updates in order to make sure they won’t break and hinder operations.

At first glance, forced updates may not seem like an issue. However, there are reports from a small number of Windows 10 users where update patches cause endless reboot cycles to their system. When this happens the update installer stops mid-installation, displays an error message, rolls back to the previous system specs, reboots, and continues in this fashion in an endless cycle. The fix here involves editing the registry, something that you may want to contact an IT professional about.

To be sure, Windows 10 is a great new operating system that’s living up to the hype, but we don’t recommend that you blindly update without first knowing what to expect. In a worst case scenario, your company’s legacy software may not be supported by the new OS, which would cause headaches and lost time for you to go back and restore your old system. Don’t let this happen to you. Instead, contact the IT professionals at Horne & Benik for assistance with all of your upgrading needs.