Windows 10: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Windows 10 has now been in the marketplace for a few weeks and, like all major software upgrades, there are good  features, bad features and just plain ugly ones.

Solution providers have been preparing their customers for months and are on the front lines to make the transition go smoothly. Windows 10 is more than just a regular service path, as it offers many more features and innovative technologies that will create service opportunities for solution providers.

Some of these features include the Windows Hello feature with facial recognition; Microsoft Edge, allowing users to draw directly on pages and then share with others; and Cortana, a digital personal assistant that will learn the user’s preferences, offer suggestions, set reminders, play music and more.

But with all these added features come bugs, as well as compatibility and other issues. Bobby Kuzma, CISSP, a systems engineer at Core Security, offered up the good, the bad and the just plain ugly of Windows 10 from a solution provider’s perspective.

The Good:
Windows 10 has upgraded smoothly on the majority of systems that I’ve tested and seen, which is a first for a Microsoft OS product. I might have to revisit my stance on 'Never Upgrade, always install clean' for Microsoft OSes.

Microsoft’s push for continuous rollup updates means that end users in unmanaged environments are going to reliably get updates, reducing the threat surface for bad guys to run botnets over. Users rejoice, we have a start menu again.

The Bad:
Driver compatibility with certain applications and forced updates don’t mix well, especially with games and high-end 3D computer-aided design and drafting programs. Upgrades can take a while—90 or more minutes—and there’s no good way to predict how long it’ll take.

The Ugly:
Forced upgrades have been causing reboot loops for some systems. The new browser made be more secure than Internet Explorer, but it’s still got vulnerabilities.

So while Windows 10 certainly has many pros, solution providers will have to work through the cons with their customers—giving them to opportunity to do what they do best.

Knock 'em alive!