I am considering purchasing a new gaming system, as the one I have is bit old, and can not really keep up with current games. I found a few I am interested in, but Windows 7 is no longer offered. While Linux would be better from what I hear, not all games are on Linux yet, so I prefer to stay with Windows. When 10 came out, many sites quoted privacy concerns for 10, or the fact that 10 used the PC to spread patches, etc. Is that accurate? I have not seen 10 in any capacity, so know nothing of it. I was happy with 7, and if there was a way to install it on a new machine, I would, but not sure if the system's drivers would be compatible.

Does anyone use 10? Any concerns? Should I get it, or wait?

Thanks for any insight you may have!

I have been on Windows 10 since release. (Same for windows 8 and 7.)

It works well and I recommend it for a gaming system. The privacy concerns have been overstated, one common misunderstanding in particular was that the data gathering that a lot of authors were concerned with was actually happening on a beta build. In other words the entire purpose of that build was to gather data. A release build offers you control over what is shared. You can disable nearly all of it during the initial configuration or any time after.

Windows 10 does install patched automatically. This can be an interesting philosophical discussion, but in essence it is a good thing because it prevents "Typhoid Marys" of the Internet from having their computer become breeding grounds for all manner of junk and then negatively affecting the rest of us. (Naturally this can cause problems in some select cases, but overall it is a good system and works well.)

P.S. — No I'm not a Microsoft fanboy nor am I employed by them. Like you I also recognize that Windows is really the only choice for a serious gamer at this time. For what it's worth, my server runs Linux. =)

You can tweak and change the majority of negatives, but then again it is Microsoft, some updates can screw the system (like the Anniversary Update, it messed up the OS for a lot of people, myself included).

So, I don't know, I would recommend sticking with the previous versions (if possible, I went back to Windows 8.1) or go Linux.

One concern in this scenario is that when it comes to the same exact hardware Windows 10 offers better performance overall and in particular when it comes to games. This should not be an issue when playing the good old games, but for some modern titles, where FPS does matter, it could be a consideration. Not necessarily a decisive one, but still a consideration.

Wait for what? Windows 11?

I'd say if the system comes preloaded with Windows 10, just use it. There may be (or not) problems here and there but that's life.

For now I choose stay with Windows 7 on my current PC (because I don't want to fight with any directdraw issues on some old games with Windows 8/10), but whenever I get a next PC that comes with Windows 10, then I will use Windows 10 on that PC. I guess there are workarounds and fixes for ddraw issues in games, just like Windows Vista/7 got fixes to fight the rainbow color issues.

My opinion is to ignore windows 8 & 10 and use 7 if you're going to.

edit: Some of it might be over privacy concerns, but the performance seems to be getting worse with updates. I know at least a couple streamers who have had horrible performance not only with them seeding the updates, but with just getting worse where they had to re-install a base Windows 10 and then prevent updates from happening to keep the AU update from going through, and then the games and programs were working 10x faster. Maybe that's for the specific laptop I don't know.

Over the past 20 years I made the following observation. Most (but, of course, not all) problems attributed to Windows are actually problems with cheap (poorly made / non-standards complaint) hardware. Since the install base is so incredibly large, it is bound to include terrible devices, so this is not at all unexpected.

Now, this doesn't mean that Windows doesn't have its own share of problems. As any software, especially one of that size, it does. And sometimes users are rightfully upset with those issues. That said, the vast, overwhelming majority of problems I've encountered throughout my career have been hardware related.

I wouldn't get any more M$ OS's if I were you.

Go Linux.

I Was in the preview and part of the dev crowd... Windows 10 x64 is fantastic with process and memory management. It's low overhead and how it handles graphics is very impressive. making DLL calls and setting up complex routines are pretty simple... and the Linux integration means I don't need to dualbox anymore.

The start menu is a pain in the butt but there is a fix for that... Classic Shell is a great options that integrates seamlessly... and once installed it turns 10 into windows 7 though form and function.

Its firewall is stupid and pretty worthless so if you want basic (block this now) ability GlassWire is a damn good low overhead free app.

Only other thing i can think of is AV... which is far better in 10 now then it was in 8 and 8.1... i would recommend Bitdefender FREE edition... only needs an email to get full version. again its low overhead and an install and forget system once registered.

Edit: i should add i have 200 games though gog and 200 on steam and so far from my year of testing have not had a single issue that was not an old known issue with my games.. for some they ran better or finally launched after years of not working (Psychotoxic and Infernal to name a few)

Sure, in a virtual machine. Its a largest malware known. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°

Pfff the performance is negligible at best, I have the exact same hardware and went through 7,8, 8.1 and 10 and save the fresh installs, not even once the gains where something massive or even worth the upgrades (I just upgraded because of the usability of the system itself).
Even the supposedly CPU benefits of the new iteration of DirectX (that we aren't really getting) should bring isn't showing up to be that good.
And with old games into the mix, compatibility is also a concern.

I have it on two computers now and been using it since the official release pretty much. I've had no complaints really and no known issues with running any of my games so far.

I was able to get an additional 10 or so FPS in games such as Witcher 3. I suppose this has to do with the hardware you are running on.

As to older games, I personally have not had any compatibility issues, but it could be simply due to the fact that we did not play the same old games. I'm sure some of them may potentially be problematic.

Overall, however, Windows 10 is a solid OS, religious fanaticism notwithstanding.

Hmmm... Perhaps.

I can't help but recall Vista being pushed, and 10% of machines actually ran decently, while the other 90% had tons of issues, BSOD, hardware and software issues. How much of this was Vista only running on 'sanctioned' hardware I couldn't say, but if that's the same logic you follow, why didn't they have an issue with XP or earlier versions? Perhaps it was better drivers, I don't know. I recall reading somewhere that Vista was an epic failure because the approach to software OS and driver design didn't mesh well with actual machines.

In the end 'If it's not broke, don't fix it' is a phrase I love to use. I still use XP machines, and I still use Windows 7, and I will never migrate to 8 or 10. Actually when I install this harddrive I'll probably be moving to a Linux based OS, assuming the video performance is workable.