I helped a friend setting up a new laptop with windows 10.

We call it the update box.

So I have used xp,vista, 7, 8,8.1 and 10 quite a bit.

This is how I rate the browsers.

1 Opera 2 firefox 3 google chrome

Those are my top three but I have used others.

I hate this damn iPad. I posted a response and it screwed it up.

At first I was a fan of Firefox but when it started messing up I got rid of it. Installed Chrome and haven't looked back. I tried some others but there's too many bells and whistles attached. I don't need all that stuff. And that's my story.

A secret way Microsoft could avert their extinction ha ha.

What my friend wants on his new laptop with windows 10.

An icon on the system tray that tells him windows updates

are coming in and a % complete.

If you click on the icon a window opens with information,

number of terabytes before complete. In that window

a pause button so he can check email and load a web page

in an emergency.

An intelligent transfer service that throttles back on the

up dates when he checks email and loads web pages.

could not imagine not using all the software! never gets old for me changing the look of my desktop.

Think of it this way. You're watching Pirates of the Caribbean and on your screen is Ligtstar's Black Sails wb. Cool!

Found for my friend.

throttles and activity monitor

Path as follows

Latest Windows 10

update settings

advanced options

Delivery optimization

advanced options

download settings

He will try it if necessary.

Everything, and I mean everything, is an extinction level event... it's just waiting for a time and place to happen.

The only thing to live forever is time itself.

Ticking away, the moments that make up a dull day......

And if I Could Save Time in a Bottle....

Maybe I could become a Sweet Child in Time...

And fritter away the moments in a offhand way.....  

A few thoughts:

If you are 40 years or older you probably know what a Commodore 64 is if you were into tech/gaming as a child/adolescent. If you are 35 or younger maybe not. The Amiga was state of the art in 1987. The PC could not match it for many years in the consumer space.

Skinning tech (on all platforms) became more and more advanced and peaked between 2007-2010. After 2010 skinning tech has not seen new developments. Instead we have seen regressions. If skinners and users use the same tech for a decade it gets old. Skinners will be able to come up with new designs, but without tech development it will be like painters who only have access to a limited set of colors. I think skinning will be in a limbo state for the foreseeable future. It's not going to completely die, but without new skinning tech it will be a stagnant art form. The desktop itself is a metaphor that is also stagnant. Mobile is clearly the focus for big business. I'm not blaming anyone for this situation, only saying that the desktop and skinning are past their prime. Tech development is happening elsewhere.

Mainly use productivity tools nowadays. Start10, WindowFX, Bins, Rainmeter, Multiplicity and Stardocks newest strike Groupy. And CursorFX to get a nice Big cursor on UHD. Also a tool called "QuikClick" as a RightClick substitute.

Still use IconPackager because I can't stand that ugliness Microsoft did to the Win 10 icons. Back to  Pauls Apogee II,, because that one was the most complete set  ever.

Every computer I have has Winamp on it....good old 2.9x .... probably because it goes back to the dawn of [MS] skinning.....

...and I still have Litestep on a VM somewhere...

Jafo

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Every computer I have has Winamp on it....good old 2.9x .... probably because it goes back to the dawn of [MS] skinning.....

...and I still have Litestep on a VM somewhere...

Golden Oldies. 

Time to move forward.

Too many people cling to the past like some sort of comfort blanket, even after it has become threadbare. Memories are a part of life - but keep them a small part. Too many and they prevent you from creating new ones.

I'll never Stop, I LOVE skinning!! .... Just wish I had a little more time.   

Yeah, and having familiar things in one's life can help make it more tolerable when the memories being made aren't that great because modern times aren't necessarily the best.  The world in many ways is going to hell in a hand-basket, and it seems various people are intent on seeing it that way.

Right now I have my desktop decked out with a Steampunk theme, and that distraction helps me not notice [as much] the chaos and strife going on in the world around us.

Nothing but a general statement. If that fits you, good for you.

Myself I was married to a wonderful Lady for 44 years. She is and always will be a big part of my memory. Hasn't stopped me from making new ones but she will always be my best memory and a large part of my life.

Well I had to go back to see when you start this, Nov 25, so I guess you've got me beat.  Any time I've toyed with the idea of leaving WB off a machine I'm pretty sure I've crumbled in a week or less.

Oddly the thing that bugs me the most about the default Win10 is the window caption image.  It's just so ... whatever it is.

Will never ever run Windows without WB and Object Dock and Icon Packager. Oh Start 10 is essential as well. Right now I'm all Jaluran. 

Many of us are like this, we have wonderful memories that remain with us for life... especially when those memories involve and are all about our loved ones.  Okay, maybe memories of past skins and themes aren't as poignant, but for some they're more than memories On the PC they're a way of life

Fact is, Microsoft wouldn't recognise a great UI if it jumped up and bit them, much less be able to create one.  THE Windows GUI has been abominable since day one, and it's only the skinners and skinning apps that make Windows bearable to look at for those with more discerning tastes. 

Windows 7 was about the closest thing to a half decent UI MS ever came up with, but after a while it became old hat and skinning it was the only option.  That still is the case with Windows 10, but even moreso.  Skinning it is the only option... because the default UI and icons look like a one-eyed early-schooler designed them using blunt crayons.

If you replace Washington with SD this country would be the envy of the world. Everything would be skinned to perfection and the Master skinners would rule.   

Games went from 2D to 3D. The desktop is still 2D. Here's an example of a login screen that is 3D. 3D isn't really useful on the desktop but cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8nm4NpaVXE

We have even lost the pseudo-3D stuff and now everything is flat. That being said I actually think Windows 10 looks decent. MS has shaved windowborders so it looks cleaner than Windows 8.1.

Even the built-in Windows 10 startmenu is OK I think. What is missing from the standard Windows 10 UI are small tweaks. I would like background colour option for Modern apps. The Settings app is either white or black, both can be annoying to the eyes. Same goes for the all white Windows Explorer. I'm not really using Windows 7 anymore which means I lost the ability to use WB with start, taskbar, windowborder and Explorer textures on default MS theme. I used that for 7 years straight. I'm a little hesitant to real skins. I really appreciate the artistic talent and work that go into them, but compatibility can be an issue. I remember people complaining about Firefox. Firefox has no compatibility problems I thought, because the textures made me forget I was using the original MS theme.

I believe possibilities are endless, but after pseudo-3D (icons etc. which I liked), skeumorphic design (which I liked), things turned flat and we may have to wait for new tech and trends. I think real 3D is the future (like in games), but I have no idea if it makes sense on a desktop. I've been using Google Earth recently and it has a 3D view that is both cool and useful.

I spend most of my time in a browser anyway so if the future is going to be cool or not also depends on the kind of content that the web delivers. Latest version of Google Earth is a web-app for Google Chrome so pretty cool stuff can happen in a browser. Maybe 3D websites will be a new thing?