Upgrades to Windows 10

November 29, 2015 12:16 AM

I just upgraded to Windows 10 from 7 after being nagged enough by it to finally take the time to schedule an update. What are some of the good, new features in it that I should be aware of/take advantage of? Any apps that I should bother to download?
posted by flatluigi to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

I like the Action Center, which is a notification panel that appears on the right side of the screen. I use it for notifications from Gmail, Google Calendar, and Twitter.
posted by neushoorn at 2:53 AM on November 29, 2015

There are useful built-in keyboard shortcuts for common actions. Here is a small selection of them said to be new to Win 10:

http://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2014/10/03/keyboard-shortcuts-in-the-windows-10-technical-preview/

Here is a list with many more:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/keyboard-shortcuts
posted by primal at 4:26 AM on November 29, 2015

The window snap features are very useful for working with multiple windows. Go to Settings>Multitasking to turn them all on. The recent November update added dragging the border to dynamically adjust the size of snapped windows.

Another one is being able to scroll an inactive window when the mouse is over it instead of having to click to give it focus first.
posted by amestoy at 7:38 AM on November 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

The only software that I have had to upgrade was the VPN I use for work. Otherwise everything worked after the upgrade. I have trouble calling up the control panel-type windows for changing settings, but the search function is pretty good.

I have had some issues with power management. It's a laptop, and want to dim the screen when disconnected from the line current, and have gotten some annoying messages about it. You may have to change some of those settings.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:17 PM on November 29, 2015

I love the task view button because I always have a zillion windows/apps open and it's really nice for seeing everything you've got going at once. It also lets you make virtual desktops to keep things in order, for instance you could have all your work related open apps/windows on one, and use another for personal activities.

Since you're going from 7 to 10, the world of Windows Store apps will be new to you. To be honest, unless you have a touchscreen, about 90% of them will be pointless for you. But if you have a Netflix account and you like to watch Netflix on your computer, the Netflix app is very nice and superior to using Netflix in the browser, in my opinion.
posted by katyggls at 9:01 PM on November 29, 2015

I like Classic Shell. I am too old (?) for tiles blinking and changing on my start menu. This will take care of it and will make it look like Windows 7.
posted by nostrada at 4:17 PM on November 30, 2015 [1 favorite]