Windows 10 @ $WORK (...and $HOME)

Anyone who knows me knows I am an open-source Linux advocate from way back.  And they know I drank the Google Koolade early.  So here I am writing in a Chrome browser running in Linux about ... wait for it ... Microsoft Windows 10.  There I said it.

Turns out Windows 10 is great.

As the Manager of Information Systems here at $WORK I have maintained a love/hate relationship with Windows for the last 20+ years.  Beginning with Windows 3, then 3.1 and 3.11 and engineers wanting me to explain why their system crashed when they lost all their work.  I managed to skip over the ME and CE and went to NT.  Somewhere in there was Win 95, XP, Vista (didn't even try it), Win 7, 8, 8.1 which I campaigned but wasn't comfortable with.  Now its the last Windows you will ever use, 10.  Or so they claim.

From a $WORK perspective where we are still trying to kill off our last XP box, Win 7 is the standard.  Trying to be forward looking I worked in 8 and 8.1.  As a "Microsoft Insider" I started with Windows 10 as soon as they made the first betas available.  From that day to this I am convinced the next migration will be directly to 10.  No muddling through 8 anything.

As for $HOME my wife's Windows 8.1 was already beginning to show signs of windows rot.  Somewhere in the last couple of months it lost track of the CD/DVD drive.  When she went to use a DVD application she was sorely disappointed.  I tried a full compliment of disable/enable, delete device|scan for new devices, update driver, etc.  No love, no CD/DVD drive.

That came to light last week.  Frustrated, I told her to hang tough for the Windows 10 roll-out.  Last Thursday morning I brought her PC to work (we have a fat internet pipe).  In less than 2 hours Windows 10 was loaded (officially reads "Upgraded").  Everything just worked.  All of her ancient legacy apps ... and the CD/DVD drive.  I got big smiles when I took it home and set it back up for her.

Yeah, there are a few quirks.  Settings are a bit different.  But all in all Windows 10 is great.