slumbermachine
I hear over 40% of windows users are still on 7 

Anderton
Since June 2015, W7's market share has declined from 60.98% to 48.81%. 

 
If we are talking about DAW/OS compatibiltiy, shouldn't we exclude those who only use Word, Excel, etc.?
 
Personally, I'm happy with Win7, but still consider XP better in terms of user-friendliness. I have used Win8 on a number of occasions but still don't like it (again, in terms of user-friendliness). Judging from these, I probably won't like Win10 better than Win7.
 
What I've been unhappy with is issues in SONAR (confirmed regardless of OS). Upgrading to Win10 won't fix them.
 

Can you restore the 11/5/2015  back up to the new media?  If so, THAT back up is Win 8.1 which is upgradeable to Windows 10.  Then after upgrade follow this:
 
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki/insider_wintp-insider_install/how-to-do-a-clean-install-of-windows-10/aef0ae63-2117-41ee-a8ea-4a3181625b08
 
Just a thought.  Note that When I did something similar this DID NOT work, but I was able to use the old license key from Windows 7.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/activation-in-windows-10#
 and register it that way...I had to use the feature that allows use of codes received via text on smart phone to make this work.  But all is good now.  The Microsoft Chat would probably work too.
 

I jumped on the windows 8 train early and I loved it.
in my opinion, what is it about win 8 that everyone hates ?
its the dreaded "where did my start button go" ?
 
I noticed instant improvement in transfer times, boot times, program load times.
there is nothing to like about windows 8. it is solid.
 
windows 10 however... im waiting till July, as Craig said there is a big update coming and I want to make sure im solid with all my drivers, exc.
but I will welcome windows 10 as well.
I have always tried to stay on top of technology as its released because you do not want to be that guy left behind.
my way of looking at it is, either you take advantage of the newest technology, or the newest technology will take advantage of you.

bitman
In my experience usb3 drives are backward compatible with usb2 ports.
 
Sorry to add insult to injury.

Mine also.  All the USB drives that I have seen are 3 or 2.

The data mining is, IMO, excessive in Windows 10. I set up many machines, and the number of settings I have to change is staggering compare to Win 7. I also don't care for the occasional "Windows 10 know what driver you need more than you do" even though you have the part number/driver right there. And the GUI still blows, but there is Classic Shell to remedy that.
 
That said, it does run snappier :P
 
But until my current machine conks out, and my FW-1884 is unusable, I stand pat on the studio box on Win7. All of my other house machines are Win 10.

hockeyjx
 
But until my current machine conks out, and my FW-1884 is unusable, I stand pat on the studio box on Win7. All of my other house machines are Win 10.

Hi. Just so you know, I use a Tascam FW 1884 in Win 10 Pro X64 (as a controller) in SONAR Platinum (latest). I had one Windows (10) update take me for a ride (would not connect), but other than that it has been stable on my end.
All the best.

icontakt

slumbermachine
I hear over 40% of windows users are still on 7 

Anderton
Since June 2015, W7's market share has declined from 60.98% to 48.81%. 

 
If we are talking about DAW/OS compatibiltiy, shouldn't we exclude those who only use Word, Excel, etc.?

The OP was talking about Windows users, and I don't know of any market research that specifies market share specifically among DAW users. However I think it's highly likely that the trend toward a declining use of W7 and increasing use of W10 is mirrored among DAW users.

Zargg71

hockeyjx
 
But until my current machine conks out, and my FW-1884 is unusable, I stand pat on the studio box on Win7. All of my other house machines are Win 10.

Hi. Just so you know, I use a Tascam FW 1884 in Win 10 Pro X64 (as a controller) in SONAR Platinum (latest). I had one Windows (10) update take me for a ride (would not connect), but other than that it has been stable on my end.
All the best.

 
Oh, I know I could *probably* get it to work just fine. But there are a few variables there and I need to upgrade machines in the next year or so anyway, so not worth the time in my case.

slumbermachine
Thanks for all the helpful and thoughtful replies.
 
The reason I'm anti-windows 10:
 
I actually like my privacy and do not want a company, such as MS, access to my data. My art is my own to decide to share or not and I don't want my OS to be "cloud" connected or anything else. I want it to be fast, intuitive, and transparent to the user. Something MS has failed at since win 7 since they are pushing their whole 1984 panopticon
**** instead of concentrating on bringing a solid futuristic OS to the masses.
 
As for lack of future support.  I can barely keep a PC running for a year before I'm reformatting, so 3 years would be a long time for one install for me.
 
But who knows, if windows 10 will give me a solid experience cheap, then fine, I'll use it, but just take out the damn network card (cable).

Virtually all the telemetry in W10 can be disabled quite easily.
There is no evidence that Microsoft is collecting personal data even with the telemetry enabled.
This is from people actually examining the telemetry data.  I do not use a microsoft account which is only necessasry for the Microsoft store or Onedrive or Cortana. None of which I use. If I want to I can login with a microsoft account. I disabled Cortana upon installation.
 
Google collects every scrap of personal information it can get its hands on AND SELLS IT. That is their buisness model. They have EVERYTHING YOU HAVE EVER googled. Nobody seems concerned about this. Same with other social media sites.
 
I have found Win 10 to be the best Windows ever. It is the fastest most stable verison to date. On my DAW, I tried an upgrade rather than a clean install which was a first for me. The installation was flawless. Does it have things you do not need, of course. Just don't use them.
 

First of all, I'm not stuck on myself or think my art is so special that someone is secretly hacking my info to see it ( I would play them a personal concert free if they liked it that much)  But, what I do fight for, is my right of choice and consent.
 

microapp
Virtually all the telemetry in W10 can be disabled quite easily.
There is no evidence that Microsoft is collecting personal data even with the telemetry enabled.
This is from people actually examining the telemetry data.

 
Sure... But the fact is, all that is there and I will have to remove it and deal with it nagging me to set it. With Win 8.1 I had to hack up the registry to fix it so it wouldn't send data via update. Plus the fact you accept the license which clearly states MS intent.
 

microapp 
Google collects every scrap of personal information it can get its hands on AND SELLS IT. That is their buisness model. They have EVERYTHING YOU HAVE EVER googled. Nobody seems concerned about this. Same with other social media sites.

 
Which is why I haven't used google for the last few years.  You are controlled if you search using google for information (Yes we get censorship through google). Same reason I wont work for them even though I'm starting to starve.