Windows 10

[MetalRenard]

Hey folks, I thought I'd start a thread about the new Windows operating system, "10".


First off, is anyone else using it? I have 2 computers, one being a mid-high end laptop and the other a high end workstation desktop PC so I decided it would be worth letting my laptop upgrade to Windows 10. It downloaded over a period of 2 days in the background, took about an hour to install and took me through the typical first steps - privacy included (which I liked) although most steps were skipped as this is not a new laptop - it imported most of my settings from Windows 8.1.

My initial opinion of the OS - GUI is brilliant, a step back and forwards at the same time, both for the right reasons. The new Start menu is easy to use and quite intelligent HOWEVER so far my laptop seems to be running quite a bit slower.
I'm going to give it time to acclimate (so it loads it all to cache and gets used to the new software) before judging, but I hope this isn't a long term issue.

So what do you guys think of the new OS?

[Bounty Hunter Lani]

I've found Windows 10 to be pretty decent, but you're right-- It is going slower. My games have gotten slightly lower fps than normal (Ones that get 62fps now get 56-58, etc.) so that's a little bothersome. 
I have noticed the "Paging file" is by default twice the size of the one I had on Windows 8 and 8.1 (Used to be 968, now it's over 1900) so I feel this could be one cause. Then again, I know almost nothing about the behind-the-scenes workings of computers, so this could be something completely separate from the issue. 

When it first started, my games had much lower fps than normal, but after it updated out, it's where it is now, slightly slower fps than before I upgraded. Hopefully they keep updating to make it as fast as it was, because if it stays slightly slower like this, I'll just downgrade back to 8.1 and deal wivvit. There's no real reason for it to be slower when they said it would be much faster. 


Honestly, I love having even more space on the taskbar than on 8 and 8.1, though. After getting rid of that HUGE search thing on the taskbar, I was able to add in a few more apps onto there, and there's still room! 

All of my apps and such worked with Windows 10, too, but when I open RMXP's playtest thing, it throws up some notifications, and I'm sure it's easily fixed, but... it's kinda annoying to have half of the game's screen taken from the notification for 5-10 seconds 
Also, I think the fonts have changed for RMXP, which bothers me a bit. (I did use a new windowskin, so I'll do more testing on that eventually)

There have been some usually minor bugs, and there still are a couple (One being the personalization settings sitting there with a blank window 10% of the time, which never closes) but otherwise, it's good in that aspect. Plus, the updates apparently fix these bugs as they show up, so good on Microsoft for that. 

The inability to choose which updates you want isn't a problem for me, actually. I usually checked every "Important update" anyway, so... 

Microsoft Edge was actually pretty decent, and since it came with Windows 10, I decided I might as well try it. The speed was a little weaker than Google Chrome for me, and overall, it just felt like a souped-up version of Internet Explorer. It had great speed when opening up (1 second or less) and it didn't have much stuff bloating it like a blimp, too. I found myself trying to figure out how to get things to work, though, and I still can't find where some of the settings are! 

Finally, there's the default apps not working like they're supposed to. 
When I upgraded to Windows 10, they changed the default photo viewer to NOT use the Windows Photo Viewer. Instead, it opens up some kind of photo manager. Not sure why they changed it, but I switched that default real quick 

That's all I can think of for now. 

[MetalRenard]

Hmm thanks for your reply, you brought up lots of things I was already thinking or discovered after a little more time using it.

I'm now pretty confident I know the ins and outs of Windows 10 after going through practically every settings page, menus, options all that jazz and I've researched a bunch of stuff too. It's verdict time:

Windows 10 is definitely better than Windows 8 - it's more user friendly, has access to better tools and will be more secure for the average user.
Windows 10 is NOT currently preferable to Windows 7 as Windows 7 is still currently supported (security updates only) for another 5 or so years and is historically stable, compatible and user friendly.

BIIIG issue with Windows 10: Privacy is almost non-existent if you don't read all the options yourself. Some are not obvious either, you really need to read what each function does, WHO it gives the information to and WHAT information it takes.

Also, did you know that Windows 10, by default, will upload updates from your PC to another random person's PC without telling you? This is to alleviate their servers but it's definitely a shady practice on their behalf. Imagine the bandwidth use! It's literally slowing down your PC (as anything that happens uses up CPU, RAM and Hard drive bandiwdth) AND it slows your internet access! Frankly, I found this outrageous.
Helpful link: How to fix this issue.

[Bounty Hunter Lani]

Also, did you know that Windows 10, by default, will upload updates from your PC to another random person's PC without telling you? This is to alleviate their servers but it's definitely a shady practice on their behalf. Imagine the bandwidth use! It's literally slowing down your PC (as anything that happens uses up CPU, RAM and Hard drive bandiwdth) AND it slows your internet access! Frankly, I found this outrageous.
Helpful link: How to fix this issue.

Thank you! I had no idea that was a thing 
I'll be checking through the settings a bit more carefully next time, I usually skip "Advanced" options because they usually have useless add-ons in them that do nothing but mess with the computer. 
That... really surprised me. Sneaky Microsoft! 

I do have one thing to add about Windows 10 itself, though:
I'm not so sure OBS is 100% compatible with Windows 10. I noticed that I get 15-20fps off of my games just by recording with Intel Quicksync enabled. Usually, Quicksync doesn't slow things down more than 1-2fps, so this is a dramatic jump that's caused me to rate games that work at normal 60fps without recording as "Unrecordable" because of the 45-50fps while recording. 

Hopefully it just needs some kind of update for Quicksync, and it'll work better as time goes on, but I REALLY don't want to decrease the quality of the recording to ensure the 60fps stays 60fps. 

[Bounty Hunter Lani]

I have an update!
Windows 10 has new drivers that are in their infancy at this point, so Intel Quicksync doesn't work well right now. That is the reason I am having the major fps drops!
I heard that in some future builds and driver updates, Windows 10 works perfectly with Intel Quicksync in OBS, but as of right now, the program is considered "Broken" with Quicksync. 

As far as I can tell, Final Fantasy Tactics: Journey of the Five records perfectly, so that's all that matters to me right now. It's the only game that I need to record at this current time, and since it can run at over 400fps while recording, I don't think there's much of a problem quite yet  

And regarding the "Broken" thing, I have heard that games that run DirectX 9.0c or higher have some additional minor fps slowdowns on Windows 10. Hmm...

Anyway, just wanted to get that update here. 

[guarionex]

I'm on my tablet (not home) so I'll keep this short for now.
I did a fresh install of Win 10 Pro on my gaming pc. With my current setup I gained a 47% increase over my Win 8.1 Pro. The pc just flys. As far as gaming goes I haven't experience any drops in FPS with the latest video drivers and directx. I advised everyone to update both to the latest. This is because the latest video drivers enable compatibility with direct 12. Directx12 breaks the previous barrier with GPUs allowing their cores to process information "simultaneously" (keeping it in layman terms) as opposed of how it was before were one gpu core needed to process information then the next and the next.

As far as security goes it is more tight tan Win 7/8/8.1 of course this will depend a lot on how the user accounts are created. I have one admin account on mine with a standard user account in order to prevent an ad!oin/root account to be active all the time.

one thing that I recommend to do is disable WiFi sense. not doing so will share your WiFi key/access with every contact that you have with your Hotmail/live/outlook contact. As stated before, default apps need some tweaking, the bandwidth/update issue should be disabled.

Currently I don't advised removing/disabling IE11 every now and then it'll be launch by windows whenever edge won't display a page well. Edge was design to improve the search through bing and it totally disables functionality and features from other search engines such as Google.

Default apps such as videos/pictures work very well. I prefer videos over media player due to its memory management. My boss seem to display better.

One thing that I noticed, for my storage drive, win 10 is accessing it faster when its partitioned in multiple partitions then as a single drive. I set mine with the following partitions. Videos, pictures, documents, downloads, Virtual and tech drive. Then I set the default path through the settings to point to the partitions. Works very well when you have an SSD and are trying to save some reads and writes.

That's my share for now, I'll add more when I'm home.

[Bounty Hunter Lani]

I don't think my laptop can use Directx12, and I have integrated Intel HD 4000 graphics, but I have am sure that I have all of the latest drivers. 
(Just checked, it's only Directx11 compatible)
I'm not the only one that has had trouble with Intel Quicksync on OBS, which is where the real fps drops have happened. The makers of OBS themselves said it's currently broken, which is where I got the term from in my updated assessment. Have you tried comparing OBS settings, guarionex? The old settings that worked with Windows 8/8.1 will likely lag your game now with Quicksync. I generally got 0 lag before, so it's new to have 15-20fps drops without minimizing OBS.

Since I don't have a GTX whatever-or-other, or multiple GPUs, I can't do what you probably can... This laptop is nowhere near a real gaming PC, but it gets things done and records what I need to 

This is why I am wanting to build my own PC, too. Without a graphics card that isn't integrated, "Gaming laptop" becomes an oxymoron. 

I probably should've mentioned I was using a laptop, too. (Did I? I don't remember if I did)

Also, are you using any developer's builds, or do you have the standard updates everyone else has, guar? Just curious, because right now, I've got the regular build. 

Anyway, I just wanted to update with something else: 
I have gotten used to Windows 10 by now, and things do see to be fast again. Since I don't have to play + record many games for a long time, it shouldn't be too big of a problem if I do get any slowdowns. 

I have yet to encounter any more bugs, though I think Powerdirector 10 may be broken with Windows 10 now. 
I admit that I haven't tried Compatibility mode yet, but the program puts out 40kb files in 2 hours, and when it does put out a file, the sound is 2x the original file and will blast headphones 

Oh yes, and what is "My boss seem to display better"? Lani is confused! 

Okay, that's it for now 

EDIT: PowerDirector put out two files, one at 40kb, and a 3.4gb file somewhere else. Strange, but at least it really is compatible (Kinda) :)

[MetalRenard]

My laptop is unusual in that it has a dedicated GPU (and it's not too shabby) so I'm not having any issues.

Wifi Sense: Oh yeah I forgot that one. I did a custom install so I killed it from the start.

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[guarionex]

@Lani . . . . . LOL I'm sorry I typo lol. I meant to say my vids* not my boss lol I also have Gaines in speed with OBS I'm sure I can make it go faster to butt don't want to see the output files to my SSD. y gaming pc is far from one by today's standards, no water cooling and just a sapphire dual x r9 280 factory overclocked. I know is not the best vid card but I don't game higher than 1080p so it's great for me.

Currently I can say that watchdogs, shadow of mordor, vanishing of Ethan Carter, GTA IV and lords of the fallen run great. no artifacts, slow loadings or lags encountered.

[Bounty Hunter Lani]

Oh guar, you're so modest!
I'd hug a bear to get that graphics card! 

As far as I can tell, your setup is not using Intel Quicksync, so speeds aren't gonna be a problem for you on OBS. Intel Quicksync is broken still, but some updates yesterday have gained it back some more speed... though it messed up my mouse  and touchpad 

Tell ya what-- I'll trade my lappy for your gaming PC 
(Kidding, that's a bad trade. DON'T DO IT!) 

Anyway, from what I can tell, OBS itself isn't the problem, so the program isn't broken. Intel Quicksync is! 
I tried rendering a video with Quicksync enabled, and it took 3 hours. Without Quicksync, it took 1.5 hours. 

At least it's gaining back speed, but still... 
I guess we can confirm that Windows 10 seems to be faster, but new drivers that are installed break Quicksync. 
Wait, why did I smile at that?