<p>I just upgraded the operating system on my main computer from Windows 7 to Windows 10. <br /><br />I did so because I had heard that if I did not upgrade, the following two things could happen:<br />1. In a few years (after Microsoft stops supporting Windows 7) I could get lots of viruses and malware.<br />2. As new (and updated) photography software comes out, it may not work on older versions of Windows (like Windows 7).<br /><br />So, with great apprehension, I backed up everything I could on my computer and uploaded Windows 10! It was a free upgrade.<br /><br />It took about 1 hour to download Windows 10. <br /><br />Once installed, it took me about another hour to fine-tune the settings and check everything out. When going through the setup screens, be sure to "uncheck" the "photos" box, otherwise your photos will open in the Windows Photo Viewer rather then PhotoShop or Lightroom.<br /><br />To my pleasant surprise, I found that my desktop looked just the same as it did before the upgrade. All of my programs and files were the same as they were before the upgrade. I did not loose a single software program or photo file during the transition. After the upgrade, I tested each of the below listed photo softwares that I had on my computer. Each one worked just fine in Windows 10, and all of the installed plug-ins and customized settings were just the same in Windows 10 as they were in Windows 7.<br /><br />Photo Shop CS2, Lightroom, Silky Pix, Portrait Pro, Photo Zoom, Painter, Paint Shop Pro, Photomatix, Zerene Stacker, PTGui, Picasa, Adobe Premiere, Nikon NX2, Helicon Filter, Photo Ninja, NIK, <a href="http://www.topazlabs.com/277.html" target="_blank">Topaz</a>, Oloneo Photo Engine, LightZone, Adobe Bridge, Digital Camera Utilities 5, Capture NX, <a href="http://www.pentaxforums.com/userreviews/Sigma-Zoom-Lenses-for-Pentax.html?src=al" target="_blank">Sigma</a> Photo Pro 6, Wacom Tablet <br /><br />After a few days of experience with Windows 10, here's a few of my observations:<br>
<br />1. You have 30 days from Windows 10 install to be able to roll back to Windows 7 at no expense. I'm liking Windows 10, and at this time believe that I'll probably keep it.<br>
<br />2. I love the "Groove Music" app. It comes with the install. Groove Music automatically pulled in all of my iTunes songs. It sounds many times better then listening to this same music on Windows 7 on the same speakers. In fact, it sounds like I bought expensive new speakers! Now I listen to my music while working on post on my photos - FUN. <br /><br />3. I have not had any freeze ups. However, this morning I went to wake up my computer from it's sleep, and the computer would not recognize my remote MicroSoft keyboard. I checked and it was not the batteries in the keyboard. I went ahead and installed another new keyboard (I always keep 3 new ones on hand) of the exact same model. To my surprise the brand new keyboard worked great and I was able to type in my password and it's been working great since. The keyboard that did not work was only about 1 month old. Glitch, maybe - hope it does not come back. If so, I have a "wired" type keyboard that I can always hook up.<br /><br />4. I initially had 2 printers that Windows 10 did not recognize. I was able to find a driver and upload it for my smaller desktop HP printer - now this printer works good. However, Epson does not have a driver for my large format printer for Windows 10! I called Epson. The customer service guy told me that Epson will not be developing/offering a Windows 10 driver for my 8-year old printer unless lots of folks call in and complain about it. So, those of you with an Epson Stylus Pro 7600, <strong>please call this number ( 562-276-1305 ) and tell Epson you want them to develop a driver for the Stylus Pro 7600 printer for Windows 10</strong>. Meanwhile, I'll be using an old laptop with Windows 7 to run my big printer - sure, it's a time wasting work-around, but better then trashing a perfectly good large format printer (or returning to Windows 7, as I expect the large format printer driver will probably be offered in 6 or 8 months).<br /><br /><br /><strong>If you've already upgraded, what's been your experience?</strong><br /><br /><br /></p>
