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> I still hear horror stories about BSOD, bloatware, and the surprise update you can't back out of that I'd want to return to far less. Everyone's experience i

> I still hear horror stories about BSOD, bloatware, and the surprise update you can't back out of that I'd want to return to far less. Everyone's experience is going to be different because Windows doesn't benefit from the vertical integration that MacOS does. Bloatware is 100% an OEM issue and so Microsoft's Surface line doesn't suffer since MS is the OEM. There is a "Signature Edition" of Windows that some OEMs will put on systems that's bloatware free however it's not widely deployed because OEMs actually receive money to preinstall bloatware. If you want the SE edition you'll end up paying more and have limited options. I honestly can't remember the last time I got a BSOD on any of the Win7 based or Win10 based PCs or Servers I use. Again that's highly dependent on a number of factors like hardware, drivers, and even the cleanliness of the PC both on software and hardware fronts. The surprise update you can't back out of is a conflation of a couple things and sort of true but also false. The update policy for Windows 10 has changed a lot since it's inception but the crux is that a lot of people are upset that updates are automatic and not easily/entirely disabled. As of today Windows 10 will automatically install updates and will reboot itself when necessary. Reboots aren't random, you define active hours where a reboot will 100% not occur. Reboots will not occur without first showing a notification and giving you the opportunity to delay/postpone the reboot. A reboot can be delayed for up to 5 days and you can actually schedule a specific day/time for the reboot to occur. There is a setting to enable enhanced notifications around updates and scheduled reboots. You can pause updates for 35 days after which a forced update occurs. It is complicated if you want it to be but the default settings work well. The only setting I change is to tell it to update other software on my system in addition to Windows. I've never had a PC reboot on me unexpectedly or disruptively, I have a CAD/CAM box that I RDC into and it's evident that it has rebooted itself but it's not disruptive to my workflow. My only real gripe is that my Laptop will become a lap warmer that sounds like a vacuum randomly when updates are installed.

rhinoceraptor 8y ago
My thinkpad BSODs regularly from the horrible AV the IT department uses. All I want is anything that isn't Windows...
- cptskippy 8y ago
  Conversely my Thinkpad has been perfectly stable even when we switched from McAfee to Trendmicro.
baybal2 8y ago
>A reboot can be delayed for up to 5 days and you can actually schedule a specific day/time for the reboot to occur. There is a setting to enable enhanced notifications around updates and scheduled reboots. You can pause updates for 35 days after which a forced update occurs. And that's why 9 out of 10 people turn them off for good. And because of people not installing security updates because of that, Windows is such attractive target as a botnet breeding ground.
- cptskippy 8y ago
  > And that's why 9 out of 10 people turn them off for good. What are you even talking about? This policy is new to Windows 10 and was introduced in response to the botnet problem. The fact is that people disabled automatic updates in past versions of Windows which lead to the botnet problems because unpatched Windows machines were easy targets. People also failed to reup their AV software so Microsoft introduced Windows Defender which is now free on Windows 10. People also would install exes blindly so Microsoft introduced UAC.
  - baybal2 8y ago
    >What are you even talking about? About people seeing the nag popup and following whatever "howto" to disable it they find. Not less important, people running warez Windows (which, as a simple fact, are a majority outside US and Western Europe) are afraid that the next update will can their hack. To somebody not computer literate "an update" is just something that makes their computer slow, and reboots it for update just in time before somebody's project deadline :) People got so conditioned over the years by that, that they download one of countless "update disablers" as a knee jerk reaction to anything resembling update popup now.
    - cptskippy 8y ago
      Microsoft started providing security updates regardless of activation status to all versions of Windows from XP forward because of the botnet problem years ago.

rhinoceraptor 8y ago

My thinkpad BSODs regularly from the horrible AV the IT department uses. All I want is anything that isn't Windows...

cptskippy 8y ago
Conversely my Thinkpad has been perfectly stable even when we switched from McAfee to Trendmicro.

baybal2 8y ago

>A reboot can be delayed for up to 5 days and you can actually schedule a specific day/time for the reboot to occur. There is a setting to enable enhanced notifications around updates and scheduled reboots. You can pause updates for 35 days after which a forced update occurs. And that's why 9 out of 10 people turn them off for good. And because of people not installing security updates because of that, Windows is such attractive target as a botnet breeding ground.

cptskippy 8y ago
> And that's why 9 out of 10 people turn them off for good. What are you even talking about? This policy is new to Windows 10 and was introduced in response to the botnet problem. The fact is that people disabled automatic updates in past versions of Windows which lead to the botnet problems because unpatched Windows machines were easy targets. People also failed to reup their AV software so Microsoft introduced Windows Defender which is now free on Windows 10. People also would install exes blindly so Microsoft introduced UAC.
- baybal2 8y ago
  >What are you even talking about? About people seeing the nag popup and following whatever "howto" to disable it they find. Not less important, people running warez Windows (which, as a simple fact, are a majority outside US and Western Europe) are afraid that the next update will can their hack. To somebody not computer literate "an update" is just something that makes their computer slow, and reboots it for update just in time before somebody's project deadline :) People got so conditioned over the years by that, that they download one of countless "update disablers" as a knee jerk reaction to anything resembling update popup now.
  - cptskippy 8y ago
    Microsoft started providing security updates regardless of activation status to all versions of Windows from XP forward because of the botnet problem years ago.