WIN 10 stable?

[Adie]

WIN10 is 99.9% stable for 99.9% applications.

BUT, some background on the latest version and WIN10 upgrade policies.

As from June 2017 (after the multi core vulnerability could not be kept secret anymore) Microsoft disabled all options to stop automatic updates. They released a document late 2017 about this.

** Snip **
Microsoft has explained that it will provide updates in two distinct methods for its two distinct types of clients.

First are the home users who will not have the option to defer upgrades. The updates will download and install even if they are working on something, making the computer slow in some cases. The PC, however, would restart only if you are not doing anything or it would restart at the scheduled time if you have et one. Where a reboot would be required, the user might have to save his or her work and then reboot before going back to the work he or she was doing. Of course, Windows 10 will let you defer restart, but that is not enough because a download in the background might slow down your browsing in some cases.

** also**
Microsoft has set a date for its latest Windows 10 update, with the rollout of the Fall Creators Update starting on October 17. After that date, millions of devices will get the latest version automatically through Windows Update.
** end **

This background updating is getting worse and worse every week. (my PC need to be rebooted almost every second week due to upgrades). One of the biggest support issues IT departments was faced with are things like disabled connections (WiFi, Printers etc etc) It seems as if most of the 'havoc' was caused by the initial updates. we had very few issues (caused by updates) since Feb 2018.

How does it affect me.
We run a Windows based automation system where we read and write scales, PLC, counters etc at about 80 time a second. On a system with a WIN10 newer than June 2017 the OS will randomly 'freeze'for two seconds to do some background task. This can happen anything from once a day to once a week. Our system will 'pause' the automation if communication is broken for more than one second. This could lead to all sorts of issues at the plant. We had two claims against us for production waist and material losses.

** NOTE ** This happens ONLY on WIN10 later than June 2017. - even my laptop will be 'sticky' if I scroll up/down on some web pages that never happen before Jan 2018.

As we could not get a workaround quick enough we had to do 7 installations with secondhand WIN7 machines. NOT IDEAL but working 100%

So, where does this leave us, We are re-writing the automation module to run on a Raspberry Pi with Android Things. Got two weeks to complete the system. (The admin system will still be Windows based as the 2 second 'freeze' is not an issue.)

Am I happy withe WIN10, NOOOO.

Adie

 

[NJDude]

@Adie

Updates are always a touchy subject in certain fields, I totally understand your pain, in my field (Biopharma) we have similar problems with instruments such as DNA sequencers or Mass Spectrometers which generate a gargantuan amount of real time data, however, with the proper GPOs things can be managed better even on Win 10, of course, I'm talking of the Enterprise edition, also, depends on how good your network is at work.

Another thing, don't put the blame completely on Windows, applications such as McAfee (and alike) can be also a pain in the ass, if you have that in your environment.

Interestingly enough, at least in my case, vendors are now shipping (when they provide the PCs) Win 10 Pro systems, no more Win 7, which means, you will have to adapt.

Life in IT, the fun never stops.

 

[Adie]

1. In my case it is 100% WIN10 post June 2017. We sorted the virus checkers long time ago.
2. You can not install WIN7 on any of the 'proper' new motherboards. It disable the Keyboard. (Intel NUC etc)
3. It is not the updates itself anymore. Those issues 'faded' as the updates carried on. It is pure and simple some background task which was introduced the same time as the automatic updates could not be switched off.

Ohh, and now the customers run out of airtime because of the updates.

Adie

 

[NJDude]

3. It is not the updates itself anymore. Those issues 'faded' as the updates carried on. It is pure and simple some background task which was introduced the same time as the automatic updates could not be switched off.

I'm not a System Admin, but I will keep an eye on those "mysterious" tasks you speak of, so far, at least in my environment everything looks fine. (Win10 LTSB).

 

[OliverA]

We sorted the virus checkers long time ago.

Since MS came out with their anti-virus software (Microsoft Security Essentials?), I've not run anything else nor recommended anything else. I've not had any Virus issues yet (which is anecdotal, I know). At work, the extra layer of AV is provided for our incoming email through the usage of Spamhero's spam filtering (I guess I am using something else, just not local). This is not 100% perfect, but I've made my users aware (and they seem to have listened) not to trust any incoming email that contains attachments that was not expected. So far, hats off to my users, since the few cases of phishing e-mails that do make it through, they report to me. A couple of times where we just wanted to make sure that an attachment was virus free (better safe than sorry), I've used one of the many online scanners (often a couple) to increase the likely hood that the file is virus free (not a 100% guarantee, but has worked so far). As to websites, I ask them to report any suspicious activity to me and to not touch anything on any suspicious pop ups. If necessary (I'm not available) they can in order 1) log out, 2) restart the system, and if push comes to shove, just turn the machine off. Again, hats off, it seems to work. The same advice I give to friends, family and others that ask for advice, and it seems to work well. I've not have had to deal with an infected machine/user account in quite a while. Since I do not believe that any AV software is bullet proof, the next step in reducing incidents is user awareness, period.

Back on topic: By not using any other (non-MS) AV software, the stability of the systems I care for/use seem to have gone up dramatically. I have seen (from non-work users) cases where stability issues were solved just by removing the 3rd party anti-virus software that was installed (and often paid for).

 

[Kevin]

I've always suspected that most of the people who bash Win 10 probably have never even tried it. I've had every OS since Win3.1 and aside from Win ME (and to an extent, Vista), it generally has gotten more stable with each one - notably XP, 7 and 10.

I've had some minor issues with Win 10 but overall I think it is very solid. My biggest complaint would be that they have dumbed down much of the interface to the point that it is kind of difficult to get to 'power user' settings that used to be easy. One example that happened to me recently, I inadvertently changed .bat files to open with Notepad++. Prior to Win 10, I knew exactly how to change this back within Windows Explorer. The only way I found to do this in Win 10 was to edit the Registry.

 

[NJDude]

By not using any other (non-MS) AV software, the stability of the systems I care for/use seem to have gone up dramatically. I have seen (from non-work users) cases where stability issues were solved just by removing the 3rd party anti-virus software that was installed (and often paid for).

I partially agree with that, for personal use I do recommend just using in this case Windows Defender, however, on the corporate side, you need to have a tool to manage your systems, for example McAfee which has an Admin console, unfortunately is a necessary evil.

 

[NJDude]

One example that happened to me recently, I inadvertently changed .bat files to open with Notepad++. Prior to Win 10, I knew exactly how to change this back within Windows Explorer. The only way I found to do this in Win 10 was to edit the Registry.

You can do that under SETTINGS -> APPS -> DEFAULT APPS, you will see several management options at the bottom of that page.

 

[leitor79]

I had blue screen problems with windows 10, but I thik it had to do with defective hard drive.

Not hard drive related, I also had 2 situations; blue screens regarding a windows update package (I don't remember which one) and a neverending downloading-installing-downloading package loop (kb4093112). This issue is still happening and I understand microsoft is still looking for a solution.

In spite of the above, I think windows 10 is the faster and stabler (?) windows version.