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New Development LAptop - Windows 7 or Windows 10???

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    New Development LAptop - Windows 7 or Windows 10???

    Help me out fellow Freelancers and Contractors.....

    My old laptop is on its way out, and I have just bought myself a replacement. It comes loaded with Windows 10 HOME, and I am giving consideration to taking it back down to Windows 7 because Windows 7 looks better (I hate the real thin scroll bars of Windows 10, the lack of header bars to move windows etc) and I hate the Win10 start menu.

    The problem is, there are no Win7 drivers on the HP web site, so its a b***s-ache to go and find them on the original suppliers (intel and Realtek) web sites.

    I am also a little concerned that not all the software I use will run PERFECTLY on Win10 like it does on Win7. Software I currently run is:

    SQL Server 2008R2 and 2016
    Visual Studio 2008, 2010, and 2015
    VB6 (Visual Basic 6)
    Office 2010

    Also, the Win10 version is HOME (Win7 is professional) and I have a home domain which my Pc is a member of - I am not even sure Win10 HOME will allow me to connect to a domain.

    So, what to do? Stay on Win10 or downgrade to Win7. What have other people done?

    (and before anybody asks, yes I knew there was no Win7 drivers for the laptop before the purchase, but most Win7 drivers have started to be removed from HP/Dell/Compaq/etc web sites).

    #2
    Originally posted by jaffab View Post
    Also, the Win10 version is HOME (Win7 is professional) and I have a home domain which my Pc is a member of - I am not even sure Win10 HOME will allow me to connect to a domain.
    If that's the concern, then you could always install Windows 7 Professional and then (before the end of July) you can do the free upgrade and get Windows 10 Professional instead of the Home version.

    Comment


      #3
      Is it possible that as a developer you should be able to work out how to use W10 better?


      It's actually quite good.
      …Maybe we ain’t that young anymore

      Comment


        #4
        I run VS2005 on my Windows 10 laptop (and 2010,2013 and 2015) and never have any issue. Only thing is I've had to give up on my plan to run different DPI on the external monitor as few apps support it well (and VS2005 is all over the shop). But you can't do that on Windows 7 anyway.

        The desktop I bought recently is Windows 7 and I'm contemplating whether to press the update button whilst I still can. In a way it makes sense to keep one of each.
        Will work inside IR35. Or for food.

        Comment


          #5
          I'm getting a new laptop presently, and have the same kind of dilemma, apart from it will come blank so I don't have to descide whether to install 7 or 10 (or even 8).

          Current thinking is to install 7 or 8 Professional (I forget which one I have more spare licences for at the moment) and then I'll take the free upgrade to 10. Anything that doesn't work on 10, I'll create a Windows 7 virtual machine (actually, I already have one that's pretty blank so I'll just copy that from desktop machine to the laptop) and use that when I have to.

          Unless anyone can persuade me to stick with 7 / 8 from the outset.

          Comment


            #6
            My problem is, my laptop is a work laptop. I want it to be productive. I don't want a menu with social media or news (yes, I can unpin, I know), I don't want scroll bars to vanish on me when I am working, I don't want it to be busy downloading upgrades whenever it wants, I don't want to have to resort to registry tweaks if I have to change anything.

            Win10 seems more aligned to teenagers being social and gamers (HP stuffed it full of Candy Crush type junk) than working in a rapid way. I may be unfair, but that is my current view of Win10. I put Win10 in the same box as Windows8 and Windows ME.

            It adds no 'killer feature' which Win7 does not provide. Or correct me, and tell me I am wrong.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by jaffab View Post
              My problem is, my laptop is a work laptop. I want it to be productive. I don't want a menu with social media or news (yes, I can unpin, I know), I don't want scroll bars to vanish on me when I am working, I don't want it to be busy downloading upgrades whenever it wants, I don't want to have to resort to registry tweaks if I have to change anything.
              Sounds like you don't want to be using a Windows machine at all then

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by jaffab View Post
                My problem is, my laptop is a work laptop. I want it to be productive. I don't want a menu with social media or news (yes, I can unpin, I know), I don't want scroll bars to vanish on me when I am working, I don't want it to be busy downloading upgrades whenever it wants, I don't want to have to resort to registry tweaks if I have to change anything.

                Win10 seems more aligned to teenagers being social and gamers (HP stuffed it full of Candy Crush type junk) than working in a rapid way. I may be unfair, but that is my current view of Win10. I put Win10 in the same box as Windows8 and Windows ME.

                It adds no 'killer feature' which Win7 does not provide. Or correct me, and tell me I am wrong.
                Do you want to run on a new machine obsolete software? Just bite the bullet and run Win10 otherwise you will need to upgrade later at more cost to you both time and money.

                You will need to go Win10 Pro if you want to connect to a AD domain, have greater control over Windows updates and you also get Bitlocker too.

                Been using Win10 Pro & Enterprise for both work and home since November 2015 and it's working fine here so far ... even got used to the new start menu not that I used the old Win7 one much anyway. The majority of the issues I have experienced were driver related (running two ThinkPads - W530 and X230) but all is working fine now.
                Last edited by redgiant; 22 June 2016, 15:38.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by WTFH View Post
                  Is it possible that as a developer you should be able to work out how to use W10 better?


                  It's actually quite good.
                  Yeah, I'm not sure I prefer it or not to 7 (far better than 8) but it's fine and probably easier to go with the flow I reckon.
                  Originally posted by MaryPoppins
                  I'd still not breastfeed a nazi
                  Originally posted by vetran
                  Urine is quite nourishing

                  Comment


                    #10
                    So I have decided... back to Windows 7 for me. Windows 10 adds nothing for me. As I type, I am just backing up the Recovery drive of the laptop now - just in case I cant find the drivers I need.

                    The reason is, I forgot that Windows 10 Home does not come with various software such as RDC (which I use a lot) and AD connection. Now yes, I *could* get Windows 10 pro by Installing Windows 7 pro then doing the update, BUT...

                    1) That's a double OS install - who has time for that?
                    2) I never trust an OS which has had another OS put on top of it.

                    If you want to see what I mean about upgrading one OS to another, this is a very interesting video of windows upgrades, from Windows V1 all the way through...

                    What Andy's working on: Chain of fools : Upgrading through every version of Windows

                    Comment

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