Oh, the irony...

Okay Windows wants to install a bullshit program that leads to Windows 10. I am happy with windows 7. Stop being a Windows fucking fanboy.

I've also tried Windows 10 on a couple of PCs, but for now "downgraded" them back to Windows 7. I hope the ability to re-install Windows 10 later on, when this free offer has ended, can really be done. At least a clean install of Windows 10 seemed possible at this point (after you have done the Win7=>10 upgrade once before), hopefully it stays this way.

They still haven't fixes this? What's the hold up?

This was indeed a stupid bug (or feature), I also ran into it already. The good news is that the start menu shortcuts are still there in the depths of the filesystem (\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\ I think), it is just that for some odd reason they are not all displayed on the Start Menu itself.

Of the GOG games alone, I also found some issues, like Alien Shooter graphics flickering constantly, Carmageddon 2 installation failing (GOG has supposedly fixed this) etc.

For me the biggie though is my old retail CD games, since now apparently a big portion of them can't be played on Windows 10 at all, thanks to the SecuROM and SafeDisc blockage. Maybe a noCD crack will fix many of them (or not, as with Flatout?), but then the heck I want to waste time trying to hunt down for correct noCD cracks for all my hundreds of retail games.

To be fair, SafeDisc hasn't worked on most Windows versions since Windows Vista. You'll have been reliant on NoCD cracks anyway.

Not sure what you mean with SecuROM though - it works fine here.

Hmm, I am pretty sure I was able to play e.g. the retail version of Carmageddon 2 on a Windows 7 PC without a noCD crack... As far as I know, it has SafeDisc.

Also, if what you say was true (SafeDisc games haven't worked on PCs with Vista and above, ie. they can be played only on Windows XP and below), why then would this has been raised as an issue at all that Windows 10 doesn't support SafeDisc (SECDRV.SYS)?

Maybe I misread, but the articles on the subject led me to believe MS security changes to Windows 10 have now made both SecuROM (some versions of it, as "SecuROM" can mean so many different copy protection or DRM variations) and SafeDisc inoperable. I'll have to recheck it.

EDIT: Read here: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/08/17/windows-10-safedisc-securom-drm/

Those changes, now have been applied to Windows 7 & 8 also, so if you installed the latest updates, you cannot play those games anymore without a crack.

You can re-enable at least the SafeDisc driver in Windows Vista, 7 and 8.1 (run certain commands as an admin in the Command Prompt; I tried it and it made at least the GOG version of Flatout work again fine on Windows 7. GOG Flatout seems to have this same SafeDisc issue, even though it is not using a physical CD). In Windows 10, this workaround is apparently not possible because there the driver/service is not merely disabled, but missing altogether IIRC.

On that page I linked to, it mentioned something about signing the driver yourself. I don't know if that workaround was also for Windows 10?

EDIT: Or were you referring specifically to the SecuROM games not working, not SafeDisc? I have to admit I am unsure if that same workaround makes also the affected SecuROM games work, or is there some other similar workaround for them in Windows Vista => 8.1.

Then disable it. There's a simple workaround, not worth whining for. If you're not capable to do that, your tech knowledge needs improvement.
Last time I rolled out Linux Mint in my corporate, for ten or so users, nobody had the courage to try further than one day.... Linux has never been user friendly.

Most probably they would have had a similar experience with e.g. OSX, if they have not used it at all before. They want back to the system which is more familiar to them, instead of having to learn many things anew.

When you use an OS where many things are done differently, there is resistance. After all, remember Windows 8 and Metro UI? It got lots of flak from us Windows 7 users (and for a good reason). :)

Well I have been using computers since the CPM operating system. One thing I have noticed is change in the way Microsoft wants to control what you do with your PC. To me this is totally unacceptable.

If you just use recent software, have no interest in PC security, or MS using your private data for targeted advertising then I would say use it. Luckily for me when win 7 is no longer usable I will not have to spry about it.

I still have an old PC working with Win98 and XP.

I would place more hope in steam OS than win10 and I don't use steam.

Cheers Markl

Yes, there were people complaining as well in this company, but I simply installed free program called Classic Shell and that shut down every single mouth.

The 'nightmare' was Metro UI, Classic Shell was a perfect medicine for that disease.

What an arrogant bastard.

Exactly. It most likely didn't have anything to do with user friendliness but rather with what they were used to.

It took me some time to get used to how stuff is handled in Linux but thanks to "Synaptic" (shipped with Mint and downloading as well as installing nearly all the programs I want with the needed libraries installed automatically too) and the repos, I have to fiddle around way less than I did in Windows and I'm a really lazy user that does like GUIs and not having to worry about tons of programs you need to set up and keep up to date in order to keep your system safe, spyware free and fast. My main use is office, browser-stuff and gaming.

I have two HDs, one with W8.1 Pro and the other with W10 Pro (RTM, but with insider activation). In 8.1, optional updates are set to no install automatically, and thanks to it, since today, when checking for updates, the upgrade to W10 appears in the optional updates market by default, so if I has the optional updates configured to install automatically, the dammed thing starts the upgrade to 10 without my permission.

I call bull on this. What update is that one? It should be the one that tells you you can upgrade, but it shouldn't perform the upgrade on its own.