Windows 10 impressions exchange / help

[chad.petree]

I recently got my self a Dell XPS 15 ( which I returned because the effing store tried to pass a traditional hard drive as a SSD , but that's a different story , also shame on Dell for still making models with a regular hard drive and selling it as premium laptop ) and I wanted to exchange my impressions with other Mac users and also ask about a couple of things since I'll be using my friends windows 10 laptop until I decide if I'll buy the MacBook pro refresh or a kaby lake laptop .

The new interface and dark theme looks really nice , kudos to Microsoft , but damn windows explorer (Microsoft's version of finder ) is a mess in my opinion , it looks straight out of Windows , Microsoft just made it look flatter but not really , those icons look so outdated and there's just so much going on so many options , is there a way to get a replacement app for it ?

Also while the new interface looks really good it feels at times like two OS glued together , windows explorer (again , sorry I just really hate it ) if you try to change more than the first couple of settings you're thrown again to a windows XP sort of OS, deleting an app for example looks quite terrible .

Is there really no option to completely turn off the display? :/ 0% brightness is just the screen really dim but still on.

Can you make the notifications actually show up , because they just show up on the notification center but I never see an animation with them running across the street (aside from things like "installing " WhatsApp , telegram )

Is it possible to control the apps that automatically start once I start the computer ? Aka something like signing on apps (sorry that's the rough translation I use my computer in German ) , Everytime I started the laptop I had to wait quite a bit of time for it to become responsive since it was loading so many apps and some of them were apparently impossible to disable , why do I need to check for nvidia drivers every single time I turn on the computer ? Or Intel's fast storage app?!!

Is windows defender really safe ? An antivirus is not really necessary unless you're downloading shady apps / pirate apps ,streaming pirate films/porn right ?

How can I pin the recycle bin to the taskbar ? I don't like icons on my desktop.

Can you make the dock bigger ? I use 225% scaling so my dock gets reduced a bit too much for my taste and if I use 250% scaling everything on the os looks too big for me taste .

Can you have tabs on Windows explorer ?

 

[Shirasaki]

I will try to answer all of them from first to the last.
- obviously you can buy windows explorer replacement app, such as Directory Opus. Or there are free alternatives. Just Google it. I use Directory Opus.
- currently I have found no option to completely turn off display unless your PC manufacturer has soft key which allows you to turn off display backlight. I.e. This is not a system feature.
- mine is the opposite: I can see every single notification coming in but none of them stays at Notification Center waiting for me to review and take actions. Maybe bugs?
- if you want to control, you need to be logged in as administrator, and use task manager to manage startup apps. To find it, right click at empty area of taskbar, then you will see a menu item to launch task manager. Click on it. You will then notice a "startup" tab. There is the place you manage startup apps.
- Windows defender is enough if you surf the internet with care. Downloading pirate apps does not necessarily mean you will be infected, given that even legitimate offical apps may be infected. This is another story, though.
- um, I didn't try this before. You can try to drag the recycle bin to taskbar and see if it can be pinned.
- Windows does not do well in here. I cannot help you a lot on this one, since I use 100% on 1080P display. I saw how 100% on 3000*2000 looks like and everything was simply too small to be seen.

 

[campyguy]

I'll offer that Shirasaki offered very good alternatives and advice. I use Directory Opus Pro. Two very good alternatives are used by techs in my offices - FreeCommander and the open source Explorer++ - my techs are pretty whiny, so I hear it from them when something doesn't work...

Defender has been pretty good to use so far - we use Avast for our Macs and WinPC machines, but we also have Malwarebytes solutions installed on our servers. I'd offer that Avast and Malwarebytes offer great protection with little resource overhead and excellent support. I prohibit my employees from "surfing the web" while on my nickel, and only have certain applications installed (AutoCAD, VectorWorks, ArchiCAD, MS Word/Excel/Access, Adobe CC apps) - and I've got a staff member going through every single email for phishing attempts...

As to other options, I'll be honest in that I'm wanting to hold off on further comment until MS's Anniversary Update hits the interwebs as there are so many changes/tweaks/interface mods that I've seen in the current OS build. The Update brings many fixes to Win 10...

As to "waiting", I'm waiting for Kaby Lake machines to replace our older mobile processor Macs and PCs - we've already demoed Kaby Lake laptops with TB3/USB-C interfaces and they're frickin' sweet, and my reps have offered they'll be out for corporate purchase in the next 2 months or so. I'm not spending any more money on Haswell or Skylake processors; most of our heavy-load PCs and Macs are running Xeon processors. The Kaby Lake laptops we're looking at are made by ASUS - I have two accounts with Dell and haven't seen anything from them with Kaby Lake processors so far...

FWIW, make sure you'll be buying a Win 10-installed PC if you go that way after 8/1, so you don't get smacked with the upgrade "fee"...

 

[chad.petree]

I will try to answer all of them from first to the last.
- obviously you can buy windows explorer replacement app, such as Directory Opus. Or there are free alternatives. Just Google it. I use Directory Opus.
- currently I have found no option to completely turn off display unless your PC manufacturer has soft key which allows you to turn off display backlight. I.e. This is not a system feature.
- mine is the opposite: I can see every single notification coming in but none of them stays at Notification Center waiting for me to review and take actions. Maybe bugs?
- if you want to control, you need to be logged in as administrator, and use task manager to manage startup apps. To find it, right click at empty area of taskbar, then you will see a menu item to launch task manager. Click on it. You will then notice a "startup" tab. There is the place you manage startup apps.
- Windows defender is enough if you surf the internet with care. Downloading pirate apps does not necessarily mean you will be infected, given that even legitimate offical apps may be infected. This is another story, though.
- um, I didn't try this before. You can try to drag the recycle bin to taskbar and see if it can be pinned.
- Windows does not do well in here. I cannot help you a lot on this one, since I use 100% on 1080P display. I saw how 100% on 3000*2000 looks like and everything was simply too small to be seen.

Thank you for taking the time to answer everything!

My main Problem with Windows Explorer is that is just too much going on , too many Options I dont Need , maybe with Directory Opus is that ILL be able to hide a lot of the Options, the other Thing I hate about it it's its Looks , it Looks so old fashioned , like using Windows xp in 2016, can you alter the look od it with Opus? I checked some screenshots and it looks just like Windows Explorer

And no my Laptop does not have an Option to completely turn off the Display, I'm sure I'll find an app for it, can't believe this is not a Standard function :/

Maybe it's just Bugs like you said, let's hope Windows 10 anniversary update will fix Things

Yes I know sometimes official apps have malware like what happened with utorrent on mac, but still , what would you describe as "with care" because for me, with care means just that, not downloading sketchy apps, app cracks, sketchy Streaming Websites with 1000 Pop ups etc .

I have tried and it doesnt work, on Google you find tutorials saying that you Need to pin the recycle bar to the start menu and from there drag it to dock, but it does not, Looks like Microsoft patched this Workaround.

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QUOTE]

Whiny sounds like my Kind of People haha , I'll give Them a try! hahahaha don't take this personally but after reading this "I prohibit my employees from "surfing the web" while on my nickel, and only have certain applications installed (AutoCAD, VectorWorks, ArchiCAD, MS Word/Excel/Access, Adobe CC apps) - and I've got a staff member going through every single email for phishing attempts...
" I don't think I'd like working for you haha !


I'm also very hopeful about the anniversary update but I've read quite often that there are basically no ui updates planned, but then again I ahvent used any of the preview builds like you have , hopefully they'll fix Things.

NOOOO no dell XPS with kaby lake in sight? I drool think about a XPS 15 with kaby lake, improved trackpad and a full metal build

 

[Shirasaki]

My main Problem with Windows Explorer is that is just too much going on , too many Options I dont Need , maybe with Directory Opus is that ILL be able to hide a lot of the Options, the other Thing I hate about it it's its Looks , it Looks so old fashioned , like using Windows xp in 2016, can you alter the look od it with Opus? I checked some screenshots and it looks just like Windows Explorer

Directory Opus is designed to replace Windows Explorer, not creating an alternative of Windows Explorer, through providing fancy themes or customization features. I don't use much of its customization because I am used to both Finder and Windows Explorer.
But it does contain a good amount of options helping you to customize the interface, even lister background if you like.

 

[allan.nyholm]

You can use an app like OldNewExplorer to minimize the UI of File Explorer in Windows 10.
Here: http://msfn.org/board/topic/170375-oldnewexplorer-118

I believe QTTabbar will give you some tabs for File Explorer (haven't tried it - seems to be the popular choice over Clover though) - link: https://sourceforge.net/projects/qttabbar/

There's also this app for tabs in File Explorer called Clover (haven't checked up on it in a while - not since Windows 8.1 on which it was working fine) link: http://ejie.me/clover-wings-for-explorer/

If you would like an experience similar to DOpus but free'er then take a look at MultiCommander, link: http://multicommander.com

Recycle bin on the task bar, link: http://winsupersite.com/windows-10/windows-10-tip-put-recycle-bin-taskbar - I have not done this myself in any of my previous attempts with Windows 10 - Instead I choose to have File Explorer show all folders in its sidebar and that gives me the Recycle bin icon there with functionality such as empty recycle bin and what not. You could choose to not have the Recycle bin show on the Desktop if you do this and then use the Delete key on your keyboard for each delete - I mean, instead of dragging to the recycle bin icon on the Desktop.

The link above might be a little outdated for current Windows 10. There's plenty of Google search results on how to place the recycle bin on the task bar for older Windows versions but I suspect it would be doable on current Windows release.

Here's one from Lifehacker: http://lifehacker.com/5360607/get-a-functional-recycle-bin-on-windows-7s-taskbar

 

[campyguy]

Whiny sounds like my Kind of People haha , I'll give Them a try! hahahaha don't take this personally but after reading this "I prohibit my employees from "surfing the web" while on my nickel, and only have certain applications installed (AutoCAD, VectorWorks, ArchiCAD, MS Word/Excel/Access, Adobe CC apps) - and I've got a staff member going through every single email for phishing attempts...
" I don't think I'd like working for you haha !


I'm also very hopeful about the anniversary update but I've read quite often that there are basically no ui updates planned, but then again I ahvent used any of the preview builds like you have , hopefully they'll fix Things.

NOOOO no dell XPS with kaby lake in sight? I drool think about a XPS 15 with kaby lake, improved trackpad and a full metal build

FWIW, whiny is OK by me too. I don't prohibit my workers from bringing in their own tools, and have a guest network that they can hook up to at each of my offices. But, we do a lot of confidential/structural/seismic upgrade work and often have clients in my offices - if I shared how I got into structural work, seeing a seismic upgrade for my client going in incorrectly while acting as the cost engineer, which got me a promotion the next day BTW, I prefer to keep focused. Besides, my workers are well paid and I make sure they go home on time every day, and they keep coming back the next day...

As to Dell, your post got me to thinking and I rang up my reps on that vein, the only call back is that Dell isn't telling any one of them much at this point - pulling an Apple, me thinks? I'm passing on Skylake for now, I'm far more interested in laptops with updated ports as we're moving to the new USB-C port for peripherals. But, yeah, I'd buy that XPS too...

 

[mrex]

Is there really no option to completely turn off the display? :/ 0% brightness is just the screen really dim but still on.

havent seen any laptop that is missing the function to turn the screen off (it is usually fn+F?). what is this laptop? or can you take a pic of the keyboard.

Is it possible to control the apps that automatically start once I start the computer ?

there are many ways to control starting apps (from the app itself to running the config and finally differend user profiles and starting apps). some can be done via Task Manager. but if you dont know what to do, better not to do. many apps usually have a setting "start when computer..." somewhere under.. usually in advanced... settings. if there isnt, then it may be launched under the profile or all profiles.

Is windows defender really safe ? An antivirus is not really necessary unless you're downloading shady apps / pirate apps ,streaming pirate films/porn right ?

windows defender? https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/ click the "protection" column and check the last one.

you should install for example free 'avast antivirus' to the laptop.

 

[Shirasaki]

Oh, for controlling startup, there are methods using "Autoruns" from sysinternalssuite. This software directly modifies registry so that unwanted startup can be removed. But, use it at your own risk.

 

[mrex]

In Win10 you have access to startup via Task Manager (and via services.msc) and can be disabled most of the things which may not be necessary to be launched during the startup. but anything more than that (forking the registry) needs way too much knowledge of the system itself. Even with Task Managar/services.msc you may end up to nonbooting windows if you just randomly disable services.

Lots of things have change with windows and i would rather let them be as they are if not knowing for sure what im doing. I have been tweaking alot earlier versions of windows (from (win98-win7) but nowadays less and less. It was already complicated with 7 but with 8 i only disabled services i know im not needing and without affecting other services.

Btw. Blackviber is a good website to explore windows and its processes with older windows (8-> 2000) and get some kind of understanding about the system and its services. It is not too technical and listed easily to follow.

 

[agaskew]

"Also while the new interface looks really good it feels at times like two OS glued together , windows explorer (again , sorry I just really hate it ) if you try to change more than the first couple of settings you're thrown again to a windows XP sort of OS, deleting an app for example looks quite terrible ."

I kind of agree. MS is trying to deliver one OS for every device, but this means that there are mobile/tablet parts and the more traditional Windows parts. "Settings" is a good example, it shows the basics in a simpler manner but when you delve deeper you get in to the older looking stuff.

The same applies for some programs/apps, for example I have the default "App" version of OneNpte (crippled) and the full Desktop version (much better). Skype is another example, so is Remote Desktop.
I tend to just pick the one that works best for me and ignore the other - too much choice

 

[maflynn]

I kind of agree. MS is trying to deliver one OS for every device

Agree, but I think this time (as opposed to win8), their primary focus is the desktop. With Windows 8, they made the OS more tablet centric and the desktop users suffered under a touch UI that did not fit well with mouse/keyboard interactions. Now at least MS saw the light and corrected that. Nonetheless, they're still trying to shoehorn one OS for every device type.

 

[agaskew]

Agree, but I think this time (as opposed to win8), their primary focus is the desktop. With Windows 8, they made the OS more tablet centric and the desktop users suffered under a touch UI that did not fit well with mouse/keyboard interactions. Now at least MS saw the light and corrected that. Nonetheless, they're still trying to shoehorn one OS for every device type.

I like their idea of a single OS (confession: I cannot stand iOS), however their implementation is still well short of where it should be.

 

[chad.petree]

"Also while the new interface looks really good it feels at times like two OS glued together , windows explorer (again , sorry I just really hate it ) if you try to change more than the first couple of settings you're thrown again to a windows XP sort of OS, deleting an app for example looks quite terrible ."

I kind of agree. MS is trying to deliver one OS for every device, but this means that there are mobile/tablet parts and the more traditional Windows parts. "Settings" is a good example, it shows the basics in a simpler manner but when you delve deeper you get in to the older looking stuff.

The same applies for some programs/apps, for example I have the default "App" version of OneNpte (crippled) and the full Desktop version (much better). Skype is another example, so is Remote Desktop.
I tend to just pick the one that works best for me and ignore the other - too much choice

"Also while the new interface looks really good it feels at times like two OS glued together , windows explorer (again , sorry I just really hate it ) if you try to change more than the first couple of settings you're thrown again to a windows XP sort of OS, deleting an app for example looks quite terrible ."

I kind of agree. MS is trying to deliver one OS for every device, but this means that there are mobile/tablet parts and the more traditional Windows parts. "Settings" is a good example, it shows the basics in a simpler manner but when you delve deeper you get in to the older looking stuff.

The same applies for some programs/apps, for example I have the default "App" version of OneNpte (crippled) and the full Desktop version (much better). Skype is another example, so is Remote Desktop.
I tend to just pick the one that works best for me and ignore the other - too much choice

But the "traditional parts "don't have to look so outdated or just change the icons and call it a day , to be honest I don't know why they don't let the new uninstall menu and call it a day , yes I know that they fear facing a backlash like they did with Windows 8 but they should take some risks also .

Something they should also change is the apps lists they really need something like Android /Mac OS , a list with tiny icons and text does not cut it , I have to scroll a lot even though I have a laptop with a 15" screen :/

 

[chad.petree]

- if you want to control, you need to be logged in as administrator, and use task manager to manage startup apps. To find it, right click at empty area of taskbar, then you will see a menu item to launch task manager. Click on it. You will then notice a "startup" tab. There is the place you manage startup apps.

Thanks , wow what a bunch a background apps x.x , there should be a not so hidden way to access the task manager , aside from the strg+alt+delete key combination

For turning the display off I'm using TurnOffLCDv101, it's not the most ideal solution but it works

I believe QTTabbar will give you some tabs for File Explorer (haven't tried it - seems to be the popular choice over Clover though) - link: https://sourceforge.net/projects/qttabbar/

There's also this app for tabs in File Explorer called Clover (haven't checked up on it in a while - not since Windows 8.1 on which it was working fine) link: http://ejie.me/clover-wings-for-explorer/

Thanks I'm giving QTTabbar a try right now , this is the newest version http://qttabbar.wikidot.com/

havent seen any laptop that is missing the function to turn the screen off (it is usually fn+F?). what is this laptop? or can you take a pic of the keyboard.

Right now I'm using a dell XPS 13

http://images.anandtech.com/doci/8983/keyboard.jpg