What should I know about Windows 10 updates

In August, a new Windows Update was issued - 10.  Users were allowed to join the queue to download it for free.  Those in the know could go straight to the download area on the Microsoft website and download it at will as long as their current copy of Windows was genuine.  For the less than expert Windows user, installing a major system upgrade is not always a straightforward process.

The recent 10 update was much quicker to install in comparison with Windows 8.  Initially the reports were good.  Unnecessary "improvements" that Windows 8 had introduced had been consigned to history, much to the relief of many users - charms, hidden icons that had to be "found" in the corners of the screen, changes to the start menu etc, and the number of re-starts required was considerably less. The overall appearance of the system is more similar to the familiar desktop from Windows 7 and previous versions, and the system uses tiles in a helpful way, not at the expense of everything that people had ever learned previously.  The fact that not everyone has a touch screen has been recognised.  

Microsoft have stated that Windows 10 will be their final operating system - there will not be an 11 or 12, and for some mysterious reason, there was no Windows 9!  However, it became apparent that the system had several bugs including a real issue with email.  Sent email simply disappeared for a lot of users. Despite users being told that running sfc/scannow from the command prompt would fix the problem, although it did for some, it did not for all.  There were many disgruntled users on forums all over the internet expressing their anger.  A recent update seems to have fixed the problem for some, but at this moment we do not know how many people are still affected.  One of the changes made by Microsoft was that for Home Users updates would be installed in the background, without control from the user being required, and that the content of the updates would not be disclosed.  

The Windows Media Centre is no longer part of the operating system and has been replaced by various apps.  The game Hearts is no longer part of the operating system.  Solitaire was reinstated after it disappeared from Windows 8.  There is also no direct DVD playback software loaded.  Users will have to download VLC player or something similar.