Microsoft

Windows 10 Vs Windows 8 Vs Windows 7: The pros and cons

Windows 10, which was launched on July 29th and has already been downloaded over 14 million times.

The operating system has come with a large number of pros, however there are some significant cons too which you need to look into.

While some Windows 7 and Windows 8 users will not get Windows 10 free through an upgrade, a number will be buying and the operating system and ‘Windows 10 Home’ and ‘Windows 10 Pro’ editions retail for $119 and $199 respectively.

Windows-Lifecycle-Page

Some of the biggest benefits of this are:

  • Apps in the new Windows Store will run on any device which means a single version of Angry Birds works everywhere.
  • Microsoft’s ‘Continuum’ feature allows you to potentially connect a phone or tablet to a monitor and keyboard and use it like a PC. Yes Windows 10 really does run through every device and the user interface can adapt to its environment – be that phone, tablet or PC and touch, mouse or keyboard interaction.
  • Windows 10 brings with it DirectX 12 and for serious gamers this is a must have. Initial reports suggested DX12 would bring a 30-40% performance gain over DX11 and whereas the reality is closer to 10-20% that’s still money for old rope. Windows 7 and Windows 8 will never get access to DX12.
  • Windows 10 also supports streaming games from an Xbox One. Controllers for the Xbox One are compatible with Windows 10 PCs and you can be playing The Witcher 3 on your desktop or laptop in minutes.
  • Security – While both Windows 7 and Windows 8 do a pretty good job of keeping users secure, Windows 10 ups its game with several new features. First is ‘Device Guard’ which blocks zero-day attacks by vetting unsigned software programs and apps. Device Guard can also operate virtually so even if it is compromised a remote version can recognise and neutralise malicious software.
  • Next is ‘Windows Hello’ which is enhanced biometric support designed to reduce reliance on passwords by using your face, iris, or fingerprint. You’ll need hardware support for this on your device (webcam, fingerprint reader, etc) but initial feedback is it works well and again should improve over the lifetime of Windows 10.
  • Windows 10 Microsoft now delivers security patches outside Windows Update so they go straight to your computer the moment they are available. In theory this means Windows 10 computers are always up-to-date which gives hackers a much harder time, even if there are also some notable downsides.



When it comes to the cons, take a look at these disadvantages:

      • Stability: Windows 10 is brand new and it has launched with a surprisingly large number of bugs which you won’t find in Windows 7 or Windows 8. Microsoft is about to release a massive one gigabyte download of bug fixes, which gives you an idea of the scale. These numerous patches always bring new bugs of their own.
      • Mandatory Updates – Windows 10 may be more secure and up-to-date because of this, but Microsoft’s decision to force updates upon users also has significant downsides. This has included automatically installing a broken graphics driver which crashed displays, a security patch which crashed Windows Explorer and more.
      • Brutal Enforcement Policies – Of course mandatory updates have led to many users devising elabourate ways to sidestep Windows 10 patches, but there’s little point in this. Microsoft requires users to accept these terms in its Windows 10 EULA (end user licence agreement) and security updates now sidestep Windows Update and are installed to all versions of Windows 10 without warning.
      • Ease of Use – In fairness Windows 7 is so ubiquitous that Windows 10 was never going to be more intuitive to use than its much loved forebear. That said Windows 10 is more intuitive than Windows 8 and much of that comes down to the return of the Start Menu.
      • Lost Features – This won’t affect too many users, but the fact is Windows 10 does kill some features Windows 7 and Windows 8 users consider essential. Anexample is Windows Media Center which is a mainstay in some home media setup Games like Solitaire have been removed and are now ad supported from the Windows Store with payment required to remove them.
      • Internet Broadband use: Windows 10’s mandatory update policy means more increased data usage. The new OS uses a peer-to-peer (p2p) update distribution system called ‘Windows Update Delivery Optimization’ (WUDO).

The benefit of WUDO is that once one Windows 10 device has downloaded the latest updates it will automatically distribute them to other PCs on your network, saving time. The problem is your PC will also start to share this update with other PCs around the world that still need it. This takes the pressure off Microsoft’s servers but also means Windows 10 will consume more of your bandwidth than Windows 7 or Windows 8, neither of which do this.

The good news for those on metered connections is this can be changed by going to:
Settings > Update & Security > the Windows Update section > Advanced options
Select PCs on my local network only for WUDO to only be used for your PCs, or
Switch it off so each PC has to get their own downloads
While the option to disable is nice, WUDO is another example of where Microsoft should be more transparent with Windows 10 and let them know upfront what their devices will be doing behind their backs by default.

Via Forbes

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Ephraim Batambuze III

Digital guy, Web developer, Tech blogger, Gadgets Reviews, Geeky dad. Email:ebatambuze@gmail.com Twitter:@batambuze WhatsApp/Telegram:+256781665128 Skype:ebatambuze

10 Comments

  1. To upgrade or not to upgrade … think I’ll stick with Win7 meantime, at least until the bugs are ironed out. Not loving the mandatory update thing either.

  2. I have downloaded Windows 10 four times on my Windows 8.1 and four times I have removed it.
    It works fine for a day or two and then things stop working. The ‘start’ button and taskbar icons became unclickable and served no purpose after that. The ‘windows’ keys on the keyboard stopped functioning and there was no way to bring up the live tiles page. Every time I downloaded it I had the same problems. Things stopped working. I have now gone BACK to Windows 8.1. for good.

    1. On windows 10 you have to pay for everything, anyways. NOTHING IS LIFE is ever FREE, IE,If you want to use adobe your gonna have to pay for it

    2. I forgot all about this post. Here it is 9 months later and I think Windows 10 is good.
      I finally broke down and ‘went for it’. All the previous problems I had were resolved and once you get it ‘fine tuned’ Windows 10 works pretty darn good.
      Also, by the way, July 29, 2016 is the LAST DAY you can upgrade from a Windows 7 or 8 computer to Windows 10 for FREE. After that it’s like $119 and $199 for pro.
      Fair Warning.

  3. All three versions have the “self-destruct” feature, where updates fail to configure properly leaving you with a computer that will not boot. The tendency of Windows machines to fail to configure updates properly and to go through an endless loop of applying registry edits and restarting has been one of the largest drivers towards the adoption of Linux for all applications involving mission critical data.

  4. I love my windows 7 and therefore don’t upgrade to windows 10 as there are too many cons than pros. Let me see if I can upgrade or buy windows 11 when it is ready or until 2020 when the support for windows 7 stops from MS.

  5. The writer of this article needs to learn how to spell check. It’s ELABORATE not “elabourate” I’m so flipping tired of seeing spelling mistakes on the internet from so called “professionals”

    1. if he spelled it that way then he spelled it right, just not in American English.

      1. WRONG! Elaborate is NOT based on the word labor (English spelling labour)
        Elabourate is just plain ignorance.

  6. -Automatically installs games I don’t want.
    -the “Continuum” feature is stuck on pc for my tablet
    -Windows hello won’t recognize my face through diffent lightings
    -Madatory updates are bugged and keep reversing to previous one, locking the tablet 1 to 2 hour each day(always happens in class, of course).
    -Useless features that eat up RAM.
    -Keeps freezing and crashing.
    -Incompatible with most of my old software from win7.

    I tried to like you windows 10… I really tried…
    I had less problems with linux!

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