After every big Windows 10 update is released, we get calls from our computer customers having a whole variety of issues – that’s certainly the case for the latest big update, 1803 April 2018 Update – but how many users have been affected by computer problems (that can affect laptops, desktops and some tablets) caused by Microsoft’s Operating System since its launch approximately three years ago?
According to UK consumer watchdog Which, no less than 50% of all Windows 10 users have been beset by problems with their PC. New Zealand results will be very similar.
This conclusion comes from a survey of 1,100 people, with the issues encountered ranging from minor glitches to show-stopping bugs preventing the PC in question from working.
The most prevalent flaws in those encountered by respondents were software compatibility issues, as cited by 21% – including apps that failed to run entirely following an update. Hardware problems, such as a peripheral not working following an upgrade, were also commonplace, affecting 16% of those surveyed.
Often Windows updates will install new software for your hardware (known as drivers) only to have some sort of bug and fail to work properly. This happened, for example, with laptop fingerprint sensors that then failed to work at all and blocked many people from even being able to start their computer. Other users with desktop computers had trouble with gaming graphics cards with great performance being reduced to a snail’s pace as Microsoft decided to replace the manufacturer's driver with their own. The gaming PC computer became only good for Free Cell (as good as a game as it is).
Some folks said their laptop was slower following an update, and others ended up with a computer that failed to work or boot entirely. Of those unfortunates that fell into the latter camp, 46% said they had to pay someone to repair their computer.
Other issues included users finding their networking for file sharing was no longer working. It seems that Microsoft in their wisdom has decided to take the opportunity of putting all your network settings back to default every time there is a big update. For most people this breaks computer networking and requires a technician or someone with a reasonable amount of computer networking skills to correct it. Luckily, it’s fairly easy.
The watchdog is also pushing for Microsoft to make it clear that there are possible downsides to the big computer updates that come out twice per year, and to give users a (more informed) choice of whether or not to accept any given upgrade.
Of course, you really need to run with the latest updates to ensure your Windows 10 computer (desktop, laptop or tablet) has the best levels of protection, which is why some are advocating that critical security updates should be a separate consideration that users will always be supplied with – while feature updates are a choice.
More choice is always good, in theory, although there’s something of a can of worms here in terms of the danger of fragmenting the user base across different versions of Windows, particularly when some features are going to change things in a big way. Also, how the consumer can make an informed choice when they are not computer experts may cause some concern.
Microsoft has apparently agreed to consider these various proposals, and issued a statement to say: “We want to make sure our customers receive the right support they need to get the best Windows update experience, and we will continue to review customer enquiries and issues on a case-by-case basis to ensure individual help and resolution where possible.
Many I.T. help-desk departments have commented that more people had contacted its computing help-desk concerning problems with Windows 10 over the last three years, than all other operating systems – both desktop and mobile – combined. That said, if you are going to use Windows, you have little choice but to use 10, as Windows 7 and 8 are falling out of support reasonably soon.
Matthew
Thanks to www.techradar.com for some content of this blog.
https://www.chnz.co.nz/laptop-repair