Corel and Windows 10

[Mike Troncalli]

Just curious if anyone has Corel Draw X5 and has used it with Windows 10 yet? I'm running 8.1 right now and figure 10 will be ok, but just wanted to see if anyone else has made the leap yet?

[Dave Sheldrake]

Runs fine on mine Mike

That said I don't use 10 on the works machines yet (don't fancy being a bug tester for Microsoft)

[Mike Troncalli]

Yea Dave, I hear ya.. Not a huge fan of windows anyway, but I detest 8.1 even more... My laser PC is just that.. Dedicated to the laser.. I run Corel, Laser driver software and dropbox.. Nothing else... So really it's not a huge deal if I upgrade, but I do hate the quirks of 8.1... And no.. I'm not going to go back to Win 7 (Not worth the $$ for it..)....

[Chris J Anderson]

My neighbour just upgraded his new (3 month old) top end gaming computer to Win 10 - and has spent all weekend trying to get it back to win 8.

I'll be waiting a year or so before upgrading...

[Keith Winter]

Interesting if windows 10 manages to be worse than windows 8 looks like I'm going to be stuck buying win 7 refurbs for another 3 years. I have one windows 8 pc, it never gets used, horrible operating system. Those looking to jump to win 10, keep in mind even if it is great it will take awhile for all the software vendors and laser vendors to fully update their software. Best give it a year as Chris said.

[Michael Hunter]

My main machine upgraded to 10 during Saturday night.
Had two minor problems -

It failed to pick up on my graphics card and loaded a generic driver which resulted in a low resolution fuzzy screen.
Fixed by downloading the proper Nvidia driver.

Network discovery and sharing was turned off by default (even though it appeared to be connected to my homegroup), which led to a few hours of head scratching when the other computers wouldn't talk to it.

Apart from those problems, everything is now running as it should.
I've not noticed any major differences to 8.1 (other than the start things) and so far am left wondering what all the fuss is about.

I did notice that there are lots of settings about location and adverts, so presumably we can expect M/S to make their money by bombarding us with adverts like the Android apps do.


BTW : I found W8 completely unworkable, but (once configured to my liking) W8.1 was absolutely fine and very stable. I'll be happy to upgrade my workshop computer from 7 to 10 when its turn comes.

[Bill George]

FYI there are legal ways to go to Windows 7, even official downloads. But they ask before the download for your Activation code, sticker code whatever. So if you have a Win 7 trashed computer or have the code available your good to go.

So for those who have gone to 10, is it true your paying rent by the year to use the new OS?

[Michael Hunter]

So for those who have gone to 10, is it true your paying rent by the year to use the new OS?

According to Microsoft, the upgrade is completely free - forever.

You still need to pay for W10 on a new machine (or a pre- W7 one), but that is supposed to be a 1-off payment too.

I'm sure that they are hoping to make money from adverts etc., but unless you download lots of apps from their store I don't think that will be an issue.

Beats me why anyone would want to go back to W7 - 8.1 was much more stable and it looks as though W10 will be good too.

[Ross Moshinsky]

Anyone with a Win8 machine and not enjoying the experience should download http://www.classicshell.net/. Makes Win8 almost operate the same way as Win7.

Also Win10 is getting pretty solid reviews. The reality is you're asking for trouble using a new OS the first few weeks after release. Wait a few months at minimum. It's free to download for the next year.

[Steve Morris]

get it once SP1 is released, it should be stable then

[Curt Harms]

get it once SP1 is released, it should be stable then

If Microsoft sticks to their word, there'll never be a SP1. Updates will be deployed as they're deemed ready and there'll be no update bundles like a service pack. I don't know how subject to change that is.

[Gary Hair]

I updated my home computer, it's just used for email and browsing the web so no great loss if things went haywire. So far, so good! Other than a new interface it works exactly as Win 7 did on this semi-old laptop. I'm not ready to update my office computers yet, will wait a few weeks just to be sure, then I'll update one at a time until I'm sure they are working.

[Bill George]

The folks over on the ThinkPad Lenovo forum are doing the upgrade to Win 10 even on the older machines like the T43. I tend to wait for the SP1 or 2 but very happy with 7 on my W500 and T520 Lenovo. I can not believe MS is going to let people skate for free. I am sure there will be mandatory pay for upgrades in the future. No big corporation is going to give a new OS away for free.

[Gary Hair]

I can not believe MS is going to let people skate for free. I am sure there will be mandatory pay for upgrades in the future. No big corporation is going to give a new OS away for free.

There is an angle for sure, but not sure exactly what it is. My guess, however, is that there will be an expanded or pro version, something bigger, better, faster, etc., that will cost something.

[Chris J Anderson]

Anyone with a Win8 machine and not enjoying the experience should download http://www.classicshell.net/. Makes Win8 almost operate the same way as Win7.

Also Win10 is getting pretty solid reviews. The reality is you're asking for trouble using a new OS the first few weeks after release. Wait a few months at minimum. It's free to download for the next year.

Agreed Ross,

however I'm using another program called 'Start Menu X' to create the normal start menu layout, works nice, especially for the 'control panel' and device manager etc.

[Curt Harms]

The folks over on the ThinkPad Lenovo forum are doing the upgrade to Win 10 even on the older machines like the T43. I tend to wait for the SP1 or 2 but very happy with 7 on my W500 and T520 Lenovo. I can not believe MS is going to let people skate for free. I am sure there will be mandatory pay for upgrades in the future. No big corporation is going to give a new OS away for free.

It's not free now as a fresh install nor as an upgrade from XP or Vista. Free is only for upgrades from Windows 7 and 8.x. One reason I've seen is that Microsoft doesn't want to support multiple Operating Systems simultaneously because it's expensive. Right now Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 8.1 update and Windows 10 are all supported. I suspect Microsoft would like to get that down to Windows 7, maybe Windows 8.1 update and Windows 10. If they could get enterprises to move to Windows 10 I wonder if they'd move the EOL for Win 7 forward from Jan. 2020.

[Bill George]

A lot of companies just made the switch from XP to Win 7 a few years ago. If all they are doing is Excel and Word you don't need a lot of computer. The CAD and graphics people will need the extra power.

We were on a networked system of course which made it nice for storage and online software. I could put my PowerPoint with lots of pictures and graphics on my network drive and access from any campus computer.

Where my wife works its a big deal. All the software they do is special to a certain market. She does tech support and the change to a new OS is a nightmare for some customers.

[Scott Shepherd]

A lot of companies just made the switch from XP to Win 7 a few years ago. If all they are doing is Excel and Word you don't need a lot of computer. The CAD and graphics people will need the extra power.



Plus there was a huge advantage when going from a 32 bit to a 64 bit OS. Now that everything is 64 bit, multi core processors, and tons of RAM, I'm not sure what the lure to switch is if we're already taking advantage of those things.

[Lee DeRaud]

If Microsoft sticks to their word, there'll never be a SP1. Updates will be deployed as they're deemed ready and there'll be no update bundles like a service pack. I don't know how subject to change that is.Probably true for people doing upgrade cycles, but I suspect there will be SPx configurations in the retail/new-install pipeline...they may call them "cumulative upgrades" instead of "service packs", but it's the same thing.

Otherwise installation will turn into a 30-minute install, 8-hour catch-up upgrade process that will cause screams from everyone involved.

[Bill George]

Thinking about Windows 10 upgrade? Sure you can Opt out but how many household and teen users would even see the option? Another online article in Newsweek and I will not post that link.

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/bitwise/2015/08/windows_10_privacy_problems_here_s_how_bad_they_ar e_and_how_to_plug_them.html

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

It's not free now as a fresh install ......................... Free is only for upgrades from Windows 7 and 8.x.

Not true, just not as simple as we'd like.
You can download a Windows 10 .iso and burn it to disk or USB flash drive.
First, you do have to upgrade your existing 7 or 8.1 machine. This registers your PC's hardware on Microsoft's servers. After that, you can wipe the hard drive and do a clean install. Windows 10 will check Microsoft's servers to confirm your PC is registered, and your good to go.

[John Noell]

I did notice that there are lots of settings about location and adverts, so presumably we can expect M/S to make their money by bombarding us with adverts like the Android apps do. It's a good idea to go to Privacy (Start->Settings>Privacy), then go down the list on the left and turn off things or you WILL be the recipient of "personalized" advertising with a LOT of personal data shared out to companies paying MS for your data.

FWIW - on my Win 10 box, upgraded from Win7, X4 and X6 don't work quite right. Missing menus, even copy-paste glitches.

[John Noell]

If Microsoft sticks to their word, there'll never be a SP1. Updates will be deployed as they're deemed ready and there'll be no update bundles like a service pack. I don't know how subject to change that is.

If you are a typical end user, you cannot turn off or avoid updates. They are now mandatory.

[John Noell]

It's not free now as a fresh install... Well, actually it is, sort of. Here is a link on what you have to do (http://www.howtogeek.com/224342/how-to-clean-install-windows-10/).
(Oops, I see Gerry beat me to this.)

[Rich Harman]

Regarding privacy issues;

https://i.imgur.com/iHge6RJ.jpg

Couldn't upload the full res version - it gets resized, so you'll need to click on the link to be able to read it.
318942

[Ron Gosnell]

Imagine that, a built in keylogger

[Kev Williams]

The most stable computer I have is an old 300mhz HP running win98se. I need it to run my 2 Casmate's and the Opensys engraving program for 1 machine. It's been connected to the internet for over 3 years now without even an antivirus program on it. It's a bit slow for Corel and Gravostyle to be sure, but that can be fixed by running 98 on a fast computer.

Bill mentioned above that some of us "...don't need a lot of computer". I'm one of them. I do graphics, run machines, do email, and surf a few forums like this. THAT'S IT. No facebook, no social media (aside from forums) whatsoever. I just need a computer that will actually open an import window box when I press the "import" button, NOW. My Win8.1 HP, which I'm using right now, is the absolute slowest computer I have running, yet it's the "most powerful". Yeah, right. My single Win7 loads programs at blazing speed, but won't RUN them any faster than my win8, and they're both slower than my XP's. My 98 and my 3 XP's, when I hit "import", the file folders open instantly. Win7 takes about 3 seconds, this win8 takes 8 seconds. EIGHT SECONDS!!!! WHY!!?? Takes THREE seconds just for the stupid circle thing to start spinning... ARRGHH!!!!

Most of my equipment requires XP or older to run them. My current win7 will run my older machines, but I had 2 win7 computers that wouldn't, no matter what I tried. Win8 is useless to me. And I'm afraid Win10 will be even less than useless.

BTW, I know all the warnings about the dangers of running XP on the internet. If and when I ever run into any of those dangers, I'll be sure to let everyone know! ;)

Have fun with W10. I'll just keep running XP till I can't work a keyboard no more... :)

[Bill George]

Dangers with XP on the Internet? There are lots of good anti-virus and anti-malware programs out that work just fine. I agree with Kev 100% I started out with a TRS-80 late 70's and later used MS-DOS for years. The only reason I replaced the XP shop computer is I needed internet and I had a Windows 7 machine that worked great using my existing wireless, and ran my machine using a USB to Parallel cable.

Don't need to be connected 24/7 to Facebook and the rest, or view every Flash ad or video on MSN.

[Curt Harms]

Not true, just not as simple as we'd like.
You can download a Windows 10 .iso and burn it to disk or USB flash drive.
First, you do have to upgrade your existing 7 or 8.1 machine. This registers your PC's hardware on Microsoft's servers. After that, you can wipe the hard drive and do a clean install. Windows 10 will check Microsoft's servers to confirm your PC is registered, and your good to go.

This works as long as the machine in question had Windows 7 or Windows 8 already installed and activated. This wouldn't work on a brand new machine without an O.S. installed or a machine running XP or Vista AFAIK. Gotta get out the credit card in those cases.

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

Right, it's only free as an upgrade to 7 or 8.1. But you can do a clean install after the upgrade.

[Bob Davis]

In regard to the OP, I've found a glitch that's a bit awkward.
The colour of the text in the Menu Bar File/Edit/View etc. headings is now the same or very close to the colour of the background. They only become legible when the cursor is directly over the item.
I haven't been able to find a fix for it yet, but it is the same on both of the PCs I've updated.

[Mike Troncalli]

Well, As all said and done Win10 is a loser in my book... I'm sure if my laser PC ever dies I will have to get a new one. But I will do my best to find a copy of 7 or heaven forbid 8.1.. I doubt that my laser manufacturer will ever design an interface for MAC, so until then..

[Bill George]

Just had a discussion over on the Machinist Home Workshop forum about Windows vs Linux. If MS keeps screwing things up, all most of us need is a Print Driver interface that works in Linux and frankly we won't give a darn what Microsoft does.