Windows 10 on an X301

[shawross]

My early thoughts after deciding to install Windows 10 on a spare hard drive


Windows 10 Issues on a Thinkpad X301

This is after a clean install and not quite 24 hours yet.

Lenovo stuff or issues

Preinstalled - Lenovo Power Manager Driver with battery threshold setting applied. Surprised me.

Installed by me ThinkVantage updates, Lenovo Battery Meter, Ultranav

The battery and power icon supplied by Lenovo are pathetic and embarrassing really.

Installed by me but removed because either ineffectual or done its job. Hotkeys, Lenovo Service Bridge, Quick Optimiser

In Ultranav if you turn off "Scrolling Tips" then you actually turn off scrolling.

Trackpoint scrolling doesn't always work in Metro scheme

I get OSD but it is very small and not like the old IBM/Lenovo OSD from Windows 7. It is not a game changer though and I can live with it. Function keys options don't seem to work but I don't use them normally anyway.

I have a Lenovo Power Management Driver installed and I have Battery Threshold charging working but I can't find anywhere to adjust or change those thresholds.

By the way

Installed ThrottleStop and Dual IDA working fine.

Using Free Avast and MalwareBytes

Using Google Chrome with Google Docs but I don't mind OneNote either.

I normally use Hotmail and skype

Microsoft issues
Previous Windows had some Games that were ok like Chess Titans , Mahjong , Spider Solitaire etc but they are gone or their replacements are woeful. Microsoft think I would rather buy something from the store. I don't think so. I would rather just go on Youtube to relax and give Google more advertising revenue.

Cortana is disabled but it still uses RAM . Why? Even though supposedly disabled through "Local Group Policy Editor"

Why didn't MS put Defragment hard drives , Disk Cleanup and such in a Control Panel Folder named Action Centre? It is all still there though and I'm just being picky.
Edited - Well Action Centre is still there and it is just the Notification Tab which doesn't appear to come up in Control Panel the same way as it does in Windows 7. Also in Windows 7 you had Open Disk Cleanup and Advanced Tools on the lefthand side.
As I have already said most things are still there but they are presented a bit differently to Windows 7 and because I have never used Windows 8 extensively I have just referenced to Windows 7. The reason for the changes IMO seems to be Windows 7 was more of a Desktop or Laptop OS while 10 and probably 8 are more geared to phones and tablets. This is not really what the masses want IMO but MS are sticking to their "Masterplan" despite bringing back the more usable start tab and feel.

Thoughts

Lenovo make Microsoft look good.

Microsoft make Google look good.

For what I use it for Windows 10 is quick enough and there is no noticeable lag. Everything seems to be there and the start tab on the task bar although different it is not too bad.
Left click and right click to access just about everything and search from a left click. Also I turned off the search internet function as I only want to search "This PC" through the task bar.
First thing to do after install which was the fastest OS install I have ever done is Customisation.
Click on Settings and work your way through everything especially Privacy settings. While doing this and then after I must admit the system seems very clean and performance so far with Windows 10 is like a quick Windows 7 system. I unpinned all those Metro App boxes and the desktop is clean and light.
Task Manager looks great and it's early days yet but I am not disappointed with the experience so far.

With my Windows 7 install I had free drive space of 33.4 Gig out of 59.5 Gig drive. Now at this stage with basically everything installed I have 46.1 Gig free out of 59.1 Gig File Explorer tells me.
Soon I will be back on the road again and I will be relying on simcards and WIFI hotspot. Before I go I will disable Windows Updates through Local Services and it will probably remain off for about 2 months. I will be packing the Windows 7 SSD in my luggage just in case though.

Windows 10 gets a pass mark at this stage . Not a distinction , just a pass but there is plenty of opportunity to improve their score.
I do have another SSD with Windows 7 installed and if required I do have 2 software licences to cover Windows 7 Pro and Windows 10. When I purchased my X301 they were going cheap so I bought 2 machines.

Yes Windows 10 has some issues and is not quite perfect. But because I have 2 Windows 7 Pro licences and 2 hard drives it seemed logical to grab a Windows 10 licence while it is still a free upgrade.

I am concerned with the Privacy issues and first thing I did is turn everything off and customise it to be light and fast. Nevertheless if you think that by doing this you have total privacy you would be mistaken I think. Also if you think you can stay on Windows 7 and nobody knows what you do and when and where you do it you might be mistaken also.
I am sure Google and Microsoft and goodness knows who else has a profile on me on some database.

Would I have upgraded if I only had 1 Windows 7 Pro licence? Definitely not and I will probably go back to Windows 7 until they sort out most of the bugs most of which I still haven't found probably. Occasionally I will bring out the Windows 10 SSD and apply updates and see where the OS is at.
Updating to Windows 10 is not for everyone and in the end it is a personal choice. MS will be putting all their resources into Windows 10 in the future so unless people go to Linux which I am not ready to yet Windows 10 will need to be considered.

Regardless the X301 has still got plenty of legs left yet.