Some PC users have stuck to Windows 7 64 for as long as we could possibly could. But eventually some of us have to start dealing with Windows 10. So, the veterans of Windows 10 out there, what advice can you provide for W10 newcomers? Both for play and for work.

I've been using 10 since the day it launched and honestly have no advice because it's virtually indistinguishable for me from Windows 7. I noticed practically zero difference. Turn game mode off I guess, that supposedly does more harm than good.

If you're not super into techy or privacy stuff then you'll probably be just fine.

You can always dual boot, I dual boot windows 7 and 10. I will always use Windows 7 since It's my preference.

One often overlooked thing is that DirectPlay has been deprecated. It's still included on the install ISO, and it's highly recommended to install it via Settings -> Control Panel -> Programs & Features -> Turn Window Features On / Off -> Legacy Components, otherwise a lot of older DirectPlay games like Age of Empires 1-2, Commandos Behind Enemy Lines, Diablo 2, etc, won't start.

If you are a new user and want to block all that crap that microsoft leaves enabled by default watch this vid to know what to turn off

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5caOuLZIOvY

He has one of the most up to date videos on what to turn off on windows 10.

A lot of windows 10 is like windows 7 in ways. like the control panel. but windows 10 has a new settings menu which the guy in the video shows.

once you turn off all the analytics stuff you can just go through everything and set it to your liking. i'm sure everyone here will help you out with other things on windows 10 but I find this to be one of the most important ones to deal with first after a fresh install and updated to the latest update.

If you don't have an SSD and 8GB of RAM, stay away.

Other than that, it really is only the increased telemetry that's an issue, if you care about those things.

And while you're following AB2012's advice on installing DirectPlay, also select .NET Framework 3.5. The occasional program likes it that way.

The first thing I do after a fresh install of Windows 10 is go into Settings->Hardware->Mouse->Extra mouse options (to the right of the main settings)->options for the pointer and then deselect 'increased mouse precision' (*).

It's a very annoying setting that makes the mouse pointer move slower if you slow down the movement of your hand.

Even more annoying, you have to do this for every new user account you create in your install (I usually create five: one for games, one for internet and three extra for additional Baldur's Gate campaigns, as I can only keep those separate by creating separate user accounts, as the saves of the EE version get stored in Documents, not inside the install folder).

(*) note I'm translating from Dutch here, I don't know the actual English wordings of the settings.

What can I say. After being forced to upgrade to W10 my wife, after some time with W10, started to ask me about Linux :D
And when she needs to check something quickly, she just use my old laptop running Mint :D
As I work on the system and I've got it also at home – from what I know – run away! :D

There are tools out there to help you get rid of most if not all of the telemetry and whatnot. I still keep a Windows 10 installation around for games that refuse, for whatever reason, to run under Wine in Linux. But things have been getting better in recent years (something to thank Valve for, I guess), so that list is almost empty now.

To be honest, I've lost interest in Windows after 7 came out. 10 is more like the OS you have to mess with to get it under control while it's trying to shove things down your throat and do things behind your back. Not that most people care at all, so to the average user I guess it may just look like a revamped Windows 7.

I still use both Windows 7 and 10 side by side on two separate PCs (as well as Linux Mint 19 & 20 XFCE, Raspbian Linux, even Windows XP (but that is just for playing some older games)).

I agree with "you'll probably be just fine", but I don't agree that Windows 10 is virtually indistinguishable from Windows 7. The user interfaces are quite different (e.g. the start menu and how it doesn't have subfolders in Windows 10, how Windows 10 has this split-brain syndrome where some of the stuff are in the "new GUI" and some stuff in the older, Windows 7-like GUI).

So there are some GUI changes to learn when coming from Windows 7, but nothing unbearable.

Even as someone who had used Windows 10 since it started, I still found the profound lack of control and power user tools to be absolutely the worst. So I decided to move to Linux. I'd suggest experimenting with live USBs.

I know there are tools for people using 10, but did you notice how they keep having to reuse them instead of one and done?

TBH the main two issues are the phone home stuff and the changes wrought by non optional updates. You can get a tool to remove telemetry, there are also scripts out there. Updates you can turn off and do them manually. Make sure you get at least professional edition, I hear the cheaper versions don’t have the options.

Other than that it’s all much the same, do the usual system cleaning like:
Only install what you need
Install to your folders not windows
Clean up properly after uninstall (use geekuninstaller, then clean user areas)
Uninstall all windows garbage (geekuninstaller can do this) like Xbox dead, cortana, windows store of death etc.

Guys above covered most of the other stuff. Oh and get classic shell (or open shell as it’s now known). Plus turn off every option you can find.

amen

Windows 10 is quite nasty using older hard drives. If you will not run the system on a SSD (highly recomended) or a modern high cache HDD, the system can freeze from time to time due high disk usage.

Cannot recomend enough Casssic Shell, as recomended by nightcraw1er.488

Only one thing to add, if you use WIFI you can tick the "mettered connection" checkbox, Windows will avoid downloading updates and publicity.