Since Windows 10 came out in summer 2015, it has gone through a gauntlet of criticism and evolution on its path to hundreds of millions of computers around the world. With the October 2017 Fall Creators Update, the OS has accumulated enough changes to warrant a new evaluation. What's changed -- and what hasn't? Let's take a look. Pros The foundation is solid: While Windows 10 has some issues (which we'll get into), the core platform boots quickly, offers smooth navigation, migrates users away from Internet Explorer, brings performance enhancements for gamers with DirectX 12, and delivers a competent Siri/Google Assistant competitor with Cortana, which can conduct Web searches based on voice and keyboard input and help manage your calendar, travel plans, email, and text messages. You also get the Start menu that was missing from Windows 8. Overall, Windows 10 feels like the upgrade that we didn't quite get with Windows 8, and the Fall Creators Update extends the vision further.

Microsoft Edge becomes a compelling alternative: The company released test versions of Microsoft Edge (its replacement for Internet Explorer in Windows 10) for Android and iOS in the days leading up to the release of the Fall Creators Update, so now users of this browser can now smoothly sync their web activities across mobile and desktop devices. (This is functionality that Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari users have had for some time, so it's a major gap closer for one of Microsoft's core apps.) You can browse the web on your Android phone, set it down, open Edge on your Windows 10 PC, and pick up right where you left off. Edge's library of extensions remains small -- and it's still absent in the mobile version -- but it has a lot of the major ones, including LastPass, 1Password, Evernote, Reddit Enhancement Suite, Pinterest, and a number of popular ad blockers. Cortana gets some nice upgrades: Cortana can now alert you if someone is calling your Android phone and contact them via text message, if you have the Cortana app [TKTK catalog link] installed on that phone.

You can also now tell her with voice commands to log you out of Windows, shut your PC down, restart, or lock the screen, assuming you have a microphone connected to or built into your PC. Cortana also has some enhanced dictation abilities, letting you speak entire emails, though it's not sharp enough to replace pro speech-to-text options like Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Enhanced Task Manager: Gamers will enjoy this new feature: The Performance tab now has a separate tracker for your video card.

You now get handy graphs to see how much your GPU is getting pushed, how much RAM it's using, your driver version and date of release, and the name of the card itself. This is handy, not just for testing but also for troubleshooting other people's computers. Knowing what video card a person has is critical to understanding a problem they may be having with it, and now they can just open the Task Manager with the Ctrl+Shift+Esc keyboard shortcut and read off the product name to the person trying to help them. Cons Previous Windows installations take up a lot of space: After upgrading to the Fall Creators version of Windows 10, the Disk Cleanup utility reported that the previous version of Windows 10 -- automatically preserved as a backup in case something goes wrong -- was taking up 25 gigabytes of space. Since laptops with about 128GB of storage have become common, this is a lot of real estate for a large number of users. You don't want a system backup on your main drive anyway; keeping the backup separate means that you can restore it if the main drive gets corrupted by a virus or physically damaged, or if your computer is lost or stolen. Windows already has solid built-in tools to create and restore system backups, so it's puzzling that they're not used here.

Fast downloads of the latest free software. Windows Live Movie Maker. We don't have any change log information yet for version 16.4.3528 of Windows Live Movie.

Microsoft also offers 50GB of cloud storage via OneDrive for $2 a month, but that doesn't enter into the process either. Not to mention that the Disk Cleanup Utility is under a few layers that most users probably won't dig through to begin with, so they'll just lose storage space and need to dig around the Internet to figure out where it went, which is a poor user experience. Still underwhelming control over updates and user info: When Windows 10 launched in the summer of 2015, there were frequent complaints about how much information the operating system could communicate back to Microsoft, and complaints about the vague characterization of the actual info being transmitted.

In previous versions of Windows, it would check automatically for updates by default, but you could choose to disable this function and delay updates indefinitely. This was desirable because Windows updates sometimes break one thing as they fix another, to the point where you might not be able to get Windows to load at all.

It was better to wait and see if the updates were causing problems for others and to give yourself the time to create a system backup if you desired. Unfortunately, Windows 10 still doesn't let you freeze updates, only postpone them, and your settings for sending diagnostic data to Windows 10 are still 'Basic' or 'Full.' Microsoft characterizes the first setting as 'the data necessary to keep Windows up to date and secure,' but the company has yet to articulate much beyond this or provide a compelling explanation as to why this can't be controlled by the owner of the computer.

Live Tv Online Software Free Download For Pc. Granted, tech support is more manageable when everyone is using the same version of the product, but this approach takes too much agency out of users' hands. Bottom Line If you want an operating system where you have full control over updates, privacy, and system backups, Windows 10 isn't the best choice, unfortunately.

But with the enhancements to Edge and Cortana and their integration with OneDrive and Outlook.com, Microsoft offers an interesting alternative to Windows 7, and even to the Google and Apple ecosystems. From It's the Windows you know, only better Windows 10 is so familiar and easy to use, you'll feel like an expert. The Start Menu is back in an expanded form, plus we'll bring over your pinned apps and favorites so they're ready and waiting for you. It starts up and resumes fast, has more built-in security to help keep you safe, and is designed to work with software and hardware you already have. The web that works the way you do. Windows 10 comes with Microsoft Edge, an all-new browser that's built to give you a better web experience.

Write or type notes directly on webpages and share them with others, read online articles free of distraction, and save your favorite reads for later access. And with Cortana enabled, you get instant access to key actions--like making reservations or reading reviews--without leaving the page you're on.

Meet Cortana, your truly personal digital assistant. Cortana works across your day and your devices to help you get things done. By learning more over time, Cortana becomes more personal and useful to you. Cortana's also best at reminders, delivering them at the right time and place so you forget less and can do more. Multi-doing helps you get to 'done' faster. Easily snap up to four apps in place and see all open tasks in a single view.

You can even create virtual desktops when you need more space or want to group things by project. Windows Store is your one-stop shop. Introducing the new Windows Store, a unified shopping experience across every Windows 10 device. Browse the store on your PC, tablet, or phone and easily purchase great digital content including apps, games, music, movies and TV shows. Xbox is coming to Windows. Get the biggest Xbox franchises with the best of Xbox Live.

Start recording gameplay in seconds, compete against console players, and stream games from your Xbox One console to your Windows 10 device from anywhere in your home. Great apps come standard. Windows 10 comes with great built-in apps like Maps, Photos, Mail & Calendar, Music, and Video. And these apps use OneDrive to back up your information and sync seamlessly across your Windows 10 devices, so you're never far from what you need. Full Specifications What's new in version This is the first official release of Windows 10 General Publisher Publisher web site Release Date July 28, 2015 Date Added July 28, 2015 Version Category Category Subcategory Operating Systems Operating Systems Windows 7/8/8.1 Additional Requirements Microsoft Account, Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 and the latest Windows Update.

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor or SoC RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) for 32-bit or 2 GB for 64-bit Hard disk space: 16 GB for 32-bit OS 20 GB for 64-bit OS Graphics card: DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver Display: 800x600 Download Information File Size Not Available File Name External File Popularity Total Downloads 982,974 Downloads Last Week 2,636 Pricing License Model Purchase Limitations Not available Price $119.