Windows 10 and Logos

So I was bored the other night. Too tired to do serious theology but not in the mood for summer TV. So I decided to upgrade my Windows 8.1 operating system to Windows 10.

I had this little icon Windows had installed offering a free upgrade, but it didn’t work. It was too soon in the opinion of the powers that be in Redmond.  But there’s a workaround. You go to Windows Media Center and click on the download button. That’s pretty much it.

Be sure you’ve backed up your important files recently. Then click the button — and you can keep on watching YouTube or reading my blog while it installs.

For someone upgrading from Windows 7, 8, or 8.1, it’s free and it doesn’t ask a bunch of questions. I wasn’t even asked for my 500,000-digit activation code. You need a 4GB thumbdrive if you want to be able to install Windows 10 on other computers without having to re-download.

So it took a couple of hours and didn’t take over the computer except for a couple of reboots. I could keep listening to iTunes while the install continued. I even responded to some comments on the blog.

It took its settings from the existing install, and so I didn’t have to give it my time zone or PIN or passwords. Very simple, easy, and glitch free (knock wood).

And much to my very pleasant surprise, Logos — a Bible study software program — runs much faster under Windows 10 than under Windows 8.1. I have no idea why, but Logos has always run very slowly on my computer — even when the computer was brand new. It just grabbed so much memory that the computer had to spend a while swapping out memory files (I think) even when it was already opened but minimized to the toolbar. Now, once it’s open, it can be accessed from the toolbar at the bottom of the screen instantly, whereas it used to take 30 seconds or more to load. This is true even if I’m running several other programs, including iTunes, which is a memory hog itself.

So I’m enjoying Logos much more and learning my way around the ropes of Windows 10  — more like Windows 7 than 8.1, which is a very good thing.

Every program that had been installed before the upgrade remained installed afterwards, and runs just fine — except Nortons. You’ll have to re-install Nortons and probably any other sophisticated anti-virus program.

Windows 10 defaulted, predictably, to the Edge web browser (replaces Internet Explorer) and Bing, but it was easy to switch back to Chrome and Google. And it was easy to turn off Windows Media Player and restore my defaults to iTunes (which did not have to be re-installed).

My print driver works just fine without an update. All my peripherals work the same as before.

This is what Windows should have been 20 years ago — free and freeing. It should make my life and work easier without having to fiddle with settings and to read help files.

And I’ve finally licked the slowness problem with Logos — dramatically helping my Bible study and writing.

PS — I have Logos installed on a USB 3-connected solid state hard drive, which makes it run much faster, too. Even better would be an SSD hard drive, but my computer won’t accept one. Logos only takes up about 55 GB, so buying a 100 GB external SSD harddrive is very affordable — if you have a fast port, such as USB 3. Don’t waste your money on a USB-2 external drive or port. You need a seriously fast input pathway for this to work.

PPS — theWord, Accordance, and BibleWorks run just fine under Windows 10 with no need to re-install either. I’ve yet to have any backwards compatibility issues, but I was already running Windows 8.1. I can’t address versions running on earlier systems.

I should add that Accordance installed an upgrade when I opened in Windows 10 for the first time, and the upgrade lost my display settings. Not sure whether that’s Accordance’s or Window 10’s fault, but it seems likely to be a problem with Accordance — but not a big one and still much, much better than having to re-install.