Hmm, when I upgraded to Windows 8 it did the application scan and listed applications that may have known problems. However it did not uninstall or disable them as I recall, but it's been awhile.

The thing is that it is going to update the OS. That means it may wipe out a lot of things, probably devastate the registry, probably delete stuff in "Program Files". For some programs it will try to migrate them if it's a well behaved application that it can figure out, meaning putting settings back in place when it's done, leaving it showing up in the start menu, etc. So "uninstall" may just mean it's not going to migrate it for you and then you have to dig down into the files to get to it. However maybe Windows 10 takes things a bit further and actually removes the application, as in deleting the files.

I think you can just run the tool to see if you're compatible. Anything that's flagged you can just make sure you have a backup of and that license keys are available if you have to reinstall. Or if it's flagged, give up and don't do the upgrade. It doesn't hurt to do the check.

The pro version doesn't require this. I also read somewhere (but have not verified) that they changed their mind at the last minute and added the capability to not update automatically to Home edition (see, a public outcry does work).

Luckily I have the Pro edition of Windows 8 anyway (for $14 it was a no-brainer to get that edition).

From what I saw somewhere else, you can give this command to get your existing Windows 7 or 8 key:
wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey
Then you enter that key when installing from the ISO.

http://hothardware.com/news/of...

I saw a review that was a big negative on Edge. A highly glowing review about Edge of course, because you're not allowed to be really negative about anything from Microsoft without setting yourself up for termination. So the review was mostly "It's awesome, but really new so there are bugs, but it's great and you'll learn to love it, but it doesn't have all the features or polish you expect because it's new, but it's going to be a hit!"

Hurray, a feature from the 80s finally showing up on Windows.

The first warning sign I saw was that there was no negativity. Every article was glowing, with maybe a line like "it's not perfect, but you should go get it now." Yup, that's someone trying to be edgy in the Microsoft approved way.

How do we find this out? My experience is that it won't give me even a hint of a chance to opt out of pointless applications during install and that I have to scrub them all away later on.

Did File History stick around? So far, every single version of Windows has completely changed how they want to do backups and the like. Not sure why.
Though I turned off File History, it's not really how I want to do backups. Microsoft works too hard to make something too easy for the consumer and thus ends up ruining the concept. Ie, no one seriously puts all their stuff into "libraries", so why have a backup solution that mindlessly backs up only full copies of the libraries? It would help if Windows could make a good distinction in the basic user directory between "these are useful files to backup" and "this is cruft that can be discarded" so it's a tedious process to pick and choose what to back up and what to leave alone (especially with the tool to migrate to a new computer).

I want something like Time Machine on the Mac (works the same way on every edition since it was added), simple to use, convenient to use, low overhead, easy to restore, easy to browse what is backed up, easy to exclude stuff, no planning out complicated backup strategies or cycling through incrementals, etc.

Laptops are ergonomic nightmares. Attach a real keyboard except for those times when you're stuck in a weird locale (ie, on the bus).

I have a macbook pro, but never open it. It's not a laptop for me, but a very thin desktop. So I use the mouse and keyboard, much more sensible (after you swap off Apple's idiotic idea of reversing the scroll direction to match phones).

Alt key is same as meta most of the time. For alternate characters you use AltGr, even though it's not on US keyboards.

I rarely use it on Windows 8. It's a stupid key. I don't use the feature to find program by name, it's too weird for me. If a program isn't pinned or on an icon, it's just not going to have a name I know by heart (ie, I'd probably type Word instead of Microsoft Word). For explorer it's pinned there and easy to use (and right click to get recent entries is more convenient than just getting explorer).

When I do use the windows key, it's to pop up (ugh) metro then click "all programs" to get a bizarrely organized start menu where I can browse for stuff I don't know the name of or to see what's there (things install with readme files or extra utilities that you'd never see if you didn't have a start menu or some other way to browse through it all).

Windows 10 now has a real start menu again, so even they recognize the folly of removing it even if their fanboys won't.

Hmm, do they get used symmetrically? The right shift key for me is used but not that often, whereas the other keys like Windows (ugh), Alt, Command, etc, are really rarely touched and never on the right side (though I never need AltGr).

I still remap it to control. It's the only proper use of that key. If you have tools that use control key, it's extremely inconvenient to use the "standard" control key position, it just doesn't work for touch typists.

The capslock functionality itself is mostly useless too. You'd only really need it if you were using some language that only used upper case keywords, but even then it's cumbersome to keep turning it on and off.

There's no reasonable expectation that the guy won't get kicked in the balls either.