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  • I've been a Windows user since Windows 98, and even though I work eight hours a day on a Mac, my favorite OS is still Windows.

  • It has the broadest app support.

  • It's the best option for gamers.

  • And if you wanna build your own computer, it's basically your only option. Sorry, Linux.

  • Windows 10 has improved a lot since its 2015 release.

  • And in January, it overtook Windows 7 as the most-used desktop operating system in the world.

  • But it isn't perfect, and Windows 10 still has a long way to go.

  • The most obvious issues in Windows 10 are with the design.

  • Windows 8 was a huge design change, but Microsoft went too far towards touch, which made traditional desktop work cumbersome.

  • With Windows 10, Microsoft combined the looks of Windows 7 and 8.

  • The Start menu and notifications got a refresher, we lost the Charms menu from Windows 8, and Windows apps stuck around.

  • But this combination of styles and functions caused a slew of design inconsistencies across the UI.

  • There's a big difference in appearance between modern Windows apps and classic Windows.

  • The new Windows Settings page may be the first thing you see if you want to adjust your display or sound settings.

  • But if you want to dig a little deeper, you're taken to a Control Panel window that has barely changed since the '90s.

  • And the older design language of Windows often looks better than the new UI.

  • With Windows 10, Microsoft is slowly replacing the Metro Design used in Windows 8 with what it calls Fluent Design.

  • But a lot of these apps just look like they couldn't decide between touch and mouse input.

  • These two designs are way too different to try to combine together.

  • There are huge gaps, and buttons often don't do what you expect them to do.

  • The design of Windows apps like Mail, Calendar, and Photos feels incomplete years after being released.

  • This problem also extends to context menus.

  • Windows can show you four different context menus.

  • These menus are often redundant, and it can be confusing to figure out where to find each setting.

  • Now, to be fair, these are all surface-level issues.

  • Besides a little confusion, the design inconsistencies do not prevent you from getting work done.

  • But because of these issues, Windows doesn't feel like a cohesive operating system.

  • Apple's OS X hasn't had a major redesign in almost two decades, but everything feels like one complete operating system.

  • Besides design, everyone's favorite gripe about Windows 10 is the updates.

  • Windows updates are notoriously aggressive.

  • They can even reboot a PC without the user ever acknowledging or accepting the update.

  • And unless you want to pay 100 bucks to upgrade to the Pro version, there is no easy way to turn off or avoid updates completely.

  • And, yes, updates are important for security and can often bring cool new features.

  • But in recent years, the quality control of Windows updates seems to be declining.

  • There were multiple reports of the October update deleting user files, and after being pulled, it's now several months late.

  • Windows 10 normally has big updates in October and April.

  • And with each update, Microsoft puts a lot of focus on new features, but it feels like Microsoft keeps moving in the wrong direction.

  • Cortana, Windows 10 S, and Edge all failed at their intended uses and are being re-imagined and remade.

  • They have also put a lot of focus on the Microsoft Store.

  • But most of the apps found there are just slimmed-down versions of programs you can already run on Windows.

  • In the three years I've been using Windows 10, I have never once needed to download an app from the Windows Store.

  • Another big concern people have with Windows 10 is privacy.

  • Since its release, Windows 10 has gotten a lot of criticism for aggressive data collection and telemetry.

  • Although Microsoft has become a lot more transparent over the last few years, there are still a lot of tracking settings turned on by default.

  • Even with all these issues, Windows 10 is still an amazing operating system.

  • Microsoft introduced great new features like improved app snapping, virtual desktops, and improved touch support.

  • And the company's plan for Windows 10 as a service where users receive free regular updates, like Mac OS, gives it the potential to be the best version of Windows yet.

  • But Microsoft needs to focus on fixing the features they currently have instead of adding dozens of new ones.

  • Oh, and hurry up with the October update so we can get a better screenshot tool.

I've been a Windows user since Windows 98, and even though I work eight hours a day on a Mac, my favorite OS is still Windows.

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