10 Things You’ll Hate in Windows 10

The free Windows 10 upgrade arrived on July 29th to positive reviews. Most reviewers lauded Microsoft's decision to mix old ideas with modern concepts for a better experience. For example, the Start Menu isn't new. Microsoft configured its Start Screen experience from Windows 8 into a Start Menu that's great for notebook, tablet and desktop users. Apps running in small windows that can be resized for multitasking definitely isn't new. Windows 10 introduces safe apps that users can download from its store and use the same way they have for years.

There's a lot to like about Windows 10. GottaBeMobile found Windows 10 to be a pretty decent operating system by and certainly better than what Microsoft delivered in Windows 8.1. Overall, users should love their new Windows 10 devices and the free Windows 10 upgrade.

Read: Windows 10 Review – A Love Affair

There are some features that do need some work though. Some of them are pretty obscure issues. You can live with them until Microsoft gets around to addressing them. A few of these even have fixes coming that we know about. Others are more complicated problems that'll take Microsoft and its partners sometime to address.

10 Things You'll Hate in Windows 10: Updates Happen Automatically

By far, one of the most controversial things to come out of Microsoft's decision to treat Windows as a service is automatic updates.

The basic idea is simple. Microsoft wants users to love Windows and their Windows 10 devices. The people who merely tolerate or outright hate Windows usually have complaints about security. By requiring updates, Microsoft is able to address security issues and keep every device current with little assistance from users themselves.

Most users aren't too thrilled with the idea of Microsoft mandating what upgrades they need to download. Some are even worried that an update Microsoft forces on users in the future could mess up their PC. That hasn't happened yet, but that's the worry.

Microsoft at least makes this easier on users by silently downloading updates in the background and installing them without requiring constant approval. If a restart needs to happen for an update to go through Windows 10 does the restart at 3 a.m. local time by default. Users can choose a specific time to perform reboots if they have a time that works better for them.

10 Things You'll Hate in Windows 10: OneDrive Syncing Stinks For Now Built in OneDrive support from Windows 8.1

Windows 8.1 did a lot of the groundwork for Microsoft's integrated services strategy. Microsoft wants Windows to act as a gateway to its services, software and hardware in the same way that Android is sometimes seen as a gateway to Google's services.

In Windows 8.1 OneDrive, Microsoft's cloud storage utility was robust. It was built-in and it supported background syncing effortlessly. What's more, users could host their OneDrive folder on external storage like SD cards and hard drive. Stuff that wasn't storeed locally was still visible thanks to little placeholder files.

OneDrive is still built-in for Windows 10. Unfortunately, everything great about it is gone. First, those place holder files that made it easy for you to see what was store on Microsoft's servers aren't there anymore. The touch-centric version of the OneDrive app is gone. You can't sync OneDrive folders to external media either, meaning it's practically useless for people with a limited amount of storage built into their device. Without a web browser, the only way to sell all of what's on your OneDrive is to locally sync all of it.

Microsoft has said it has plans to at least restore some of this functionality, but it's being quiet about the timetable.

10 Things You'll Hate in Windows 10: Skype Is a No Show Skype in Windows 8.1

There's really only one messaging and video chat service that can give Google Hangouts any competition and its Skype. No doubt, that's why Microsoft purchased it some time ago. Like OneDrive, Microsoft moved aggressively to integrate Skype in Windows 8.1.

Also like OneDrive, Skype is a borderline disaster in Windows 10. Microsoft has retired the dedicated Skype app that it built for the Windows Store. Instead it's encouraging users to download it's cumbersome, desktop program.

Microsoft has confirmed it has a Messages, Video and Phone app coming to address these issues for Windows 10 users. These apps could come sometime this fall.

10 Things You'll Hate in Windows 10: Only in Tablet Mode Does the Touch Keyboard Surface Automatically

Windows 10 has two modes. The standard one really doesn't have a name, but it's what users get when they have a mouse and keyboard connected. It has windowed apps for multitasking and shortcuts in the Taskbar.

There's also a Tablet Mode for users who only have touch. In Tablet Mode the Start Menu takes over the entire screen. Apps run in full screen too, though users can still snap them for multitasking purposes. Devices with the right driver upgrades from their manufacturer switch between each mode automatically. Microsoft did some good work here.

Unfortunately, the company missed the mark on one tiny thing. Outside of tablet mode, touching a text field anywhere doesn't automatically open the keyboard, even though Windows 10 did. Instead, users have to hit the keyboard button on the right of their Taskbar or switch back into Tablet Mode to have the keyboard surface on its own. This wasn't a problem in Windows 8.1.

10 Things You'll Hate in Windows 10: Music Is Still Missing Basic Functionality

Microsoft has a sorted past with music. Thwarted by iTunes and the iPod, Microsoft stripped out tons of features and renamed its music service Xbox Music in 2012. Now it's 2014 and Microsoft has Groove Music.

Groove Music is built into Windows 10 and so is support for its $9.99 subscription service. The app itself is decent enough, the company did add iTunes playlist importing. There are some huge deficiencies too. There's no metadata editing whatsoever, leaving you at the mercy of whatever bad organization the app automatically applies to your music library. Only the algorithm built into the Radio does any actual playlist creation. There's no support for automated playlists based on metadata. The service itself offers very little in the way of playlist creation too.

It plays music just fine, anything outside of that is another story.

10 Things You'll Hate in Windows 10: You Can't Act on Notifications in the Action Center

The Action Center exists to let users see every alert coming from their device in one place. At the bottom of the Action Center are toggles for settings that users can switch out. It's a huge step forward, one that Microsoft introduced in Windows Phone last year. Windows 8.1 forced users to rely on Live Tiles, which wasn't the best idea since notifications would completely disappear if you didn't catch it and didn't have the app pinned.

The problem with the Action Center is that it's not completely different. iOS and Android both have central places for notifications. Both allow you to reply to a message or otherwise act on a notification without having to dive into the app. For now, Windows 10 users are stuck deep diving into each notification.

Microsoft has plans to address this sometime soon too, if pictures of its unreleased Messages app are an accurate indication of the company's plans.

10 Things You'll Hate in Windows 10: Start Layouts Don't Sync Across Devices

Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 had effortless syncing. Change your background on one device and it changed on all your others. Install an app and that app was automatically added to your list of installable apps in other places. Even Live Tile layouts synced.

Microsoft has mostly canned this idea in Windows 10. Live Tiles are unique to every device now and there's no easily discoverable list of all the apps users could install from their Windows Store account. For a company pushing the idea that Windows is great for every kind of device, making life more difficult for users with device combinations seems odd.

10 Things You'll Hate in Windows 10: Windows Store Apps Need Updates

In Windows 10, Microsoft has made a sprawling sandbox for developers to create in. Windows Store apps can run side-by-side, update themselves automatically. Users can install a single Windows Store app across notebooks, desktops and tablets. All of this requires updates from developers and that's going to take time.

Microsoft only finalized its Windows 10 developer environment in the days leading up to Windows 10's launch. Right now, the Windows Store is almost exclusively stuffed with apps designed with old tools for Windows 8.1.

10 Things You'll Hate in Windows 10: Connect to Suggested Open WiFi Hotspots

Windows 10 does anything and everything in its power to save users data and connect them to the internet. One utility involved in this is a system for connecting to open WiFi hotspots whenever possible. This feature is turned on by default and it can be very frustrating.

Say you're in Starbucks thinking you're connected to their WiFi. Without asking, your PC could be connected unstable slow Wi-Fi from the salon next door instead. Microsoft buries the switch to turn this off deep within the Advanced Wi-Fi settings menu.

10 Things You'll Hate in Windows 10: White Titlebars

Finally, there's the design of Windows 10. For most, it's refreshing and modern. Others see it as a never-ending collection of apps with bright white titlebars that break up the flow of their apps.

Apps created specifically for Windows 10 can either fill in this white bar with content or colorize it. Today, most apps aren't updated to support Windows 10, meaning users are stuck with the white bars.

Microsoft plans to update Windows 10 at regular intervals to add new features and make tweaks to solve old problems. Here's to hoping the company delivers early and fixes some of these Windows 10 problems as soon as possible.

Source: 10 Things You'll Hate in Windows 10