Windows 10 is hideously ugly, any tips on how to fix?

Finished upgrading about 30 minutes ago. The window border suck pretty badly imo and could definitely use some work, but i do like the taskbar tbh.

edit: i also am currently not a fan of some of the new sounds.

edit2: actually i think my sound card driver was messed up, because after some updates it seems they now sound relatively nice.

Give it a few weeks.

I've generally found that I intensely dislike a lot of UI changes when I first upgrade to a new OS, and then after a week or so I either get used to the changes, or realise that they are actually improvements on the previous design.

My eye's aren't gonna last a few weeks if I can't change a few things. Changing the scaling makes everything huge and blurry, where in Windows 7 I could change just the text size. I still haven't figured out how to turn off Windows Defender without modding the registry. I can't seem to uninstall one-note or xbox whatever. Also for the record I liked Windows 7 right 'out of the box'. This feels more like Windows 3.1 with a 'high contrast' theme enabled.

You can change the colour or set it automatic based on the background wallpaper colour, you can also enable or disable transparency.

You can change the colour or set it automatic based on the background wallpaper colour, you can also enable or disable transparency.

You can't change the color of individual items. Like I can't change the color of the text, or the title bar (there is a theme to do that but it has other issues) or change font size. I also have no idea how to uninstall Cortana...

I can't seem to uninstall one-note or xbox whatever.

I also have no idea how to uninstall Cortana...

Why are Windows users so obsessed with removing pieces of their operating system?

Cortana and XBox integration are signatures features of Windows 10. It's not clear to me why on Earth they would make those uninstallable.

You can change the colour or set it automatic based on the background wallpaper colour, you can also enable or disable transparency.

You can't change the color of individual items. Like I can't change the color of the text, or the title bar (there is a theme to do that but it has other issues) or change font size. I also have no idea how to uninstall Cortana...

You can turn-off Cortona and the Bing-web search, you will get the simple local search. You can remove any app you do not need from the front start menu/start screen. You will not speed up the OS by removing something like 100-200MB, but now you can lower the hibernation file (if you use it, for hibernation or fast boot) down to 40% of the main memory, you can also fix the paging file to gain more space (1536 MB should be enough, never had a game or an application requiring more space). Finally, remember to delete the old installation file if you upgraded your OS.

This is why I wait at least a year before getting new operating systems.

That and I need all of my operating systems to continue testing support for the software I create.

Only reason I will get Windows® 10 soon is so I can add Direct3D® 12 support to my engine, but I will get it on a laptop that mainly lives under my bed (I really do have monsters under my bed) until I need it for development, and then it will be used only for development.

L. Spiro

I can't seem to uninstall one-note or xbox whatever.

I also have no idea how to uninstall Cortana...

Why are Windows users so obsessed with removing pieces of their operating system?

Cortana and XBox integration are signatures features of Windows 10. It's not clear to me why on Earth they would make those uninstallable.

To be fair, the first hour or two of any *Ubuntu or Mint installation I do is removing all the crap built into the default distribution and adding in the stuff that I actually use that doesn't come on the live DVD.

Last I checked, it was my PC, and I should be able to have just the pieces I want running on it. This is the biggest problem with Android - any phone I can get from my carrier comes pre-loaded with all kinds of shoddy bloatware, and unlike a PC, I can't wipe it and install a clean version of the OS, with just the things that I need.

I will get it on a laptop that mainly lives under my bed (I really do have monsters under my bed)

What the heck did you put in your engine?

Early adoption of OS' has burned me nearly every time since windows 98's launch. I think I'm going to hold off this time until it takes shape/compatibility issues are fixed up.

...bloatware...

Cortana and XBox integration are OS features. It's pretty hard to cast that as 'bloatware'.

I don't try and uninstall Siri or AirPlay from my Mac (the two most equivalent features I can name).

I've registered, but haven't gotten my notification yet. Once I do, I'll probably wait another week or so.

I also have no idea how to uninstall Cortana...

I don't have Win10 installed, but have you tried the regular way of uninstalling Windows components?

In Win7 and Win8, you go to 'Control Panel -> Programs -> Programs and Features (i.e. "Add/Remove Programs")
On the left side, you see "Turn Windows features on or off"

You get a window like this:


(Note how I have Internet Explorer disabled/uninstalled)

Cortana is probably the same way. Cortana is either an "application" which you can uninstall like any other application, or it's a "Windows feature" which you can uninstall through the method I just showed, or, failing that, you can probably figure out which services you need to disable in the Service Manager (for example, I disabled Windows File Indexing (or w/e it was called) on Vista).

Sometimes the settings are hidden in other parts of Windows. In extreme cases, you have to muck with the registry.

Yes, technically this is just "disabling" it instead of "uninstalling" it, but it amounts to about the same. And since Win10 already takes less hard drive space than Win8 (in the order of gigabytes), you're still netting ahead even if you can't literally remove the hundred or so MB Cortana takes up.

Cortana and XBox integration are signatures features of Windows 10. It's not clear to me why on Earth they would make those uninstallable.

Because of EU antitrust fines and the USA antitrust lawsuit (both were primarily over bundling Internet Explorer with Windows, and completely missed the real antitrust issues Microsoft was actually doing), Microsoft tends to preemptively make things disable-able.

I don't have an XBone, so that's why I'd disable that (or just hide the icon/app). As per Cortana, I'd feel like a doofus sitting in the middle of the living room talking to my PC (I've tried it in the past, with Vista's voice-control features), so it'd depend on how useful the text-based functionality is. I don't exactly need a personal assistant, but if enough features are actually useful to my needs, I might use it.

To be fair, the first hour or two of any *Ubuntu or Mint installation I do is removing all the crap built into the default distribution and adding in the stuff that I actually use that doesn't come on the live DVD.

...Or you could install Debian instead :P

In any case, I don't have any particular love for Windows 7 anymore so looking forward to upgrade when nVidia releases Fermi D3D12 drivers.

Sorry Servant, nothing useful under 'Windows Features'.

I'm sorry Swift but I consider stuff like this 'bloatware' and remove it immediately upon installation; and I am certainly not alone in this regard. What annoys me is that now I cannot remove it even if I want to it seems. I'm not running this on a 'media PC' or a phone or a tablet. This is my desktop, its there to play games or get work done.

In the end all Cortana seems to do is just forward anything you ask to Bing anyways... So I really don't see the point.

Run services.msc and look for Windows Defender. You can at least prevent it from running. If that no longer exists in Windows 10, I am not sure. Going to give 10 a whirl.

I grew used to using the Metro interface so it's odd not to have it when I click the windows icon now. The menu is too cluttered and I auto hid my taskbar so I don't have to view it.

Some time ago, I also read it shares peoples wifi passwords automatically with all of peoples social network aquaintances and thought, no, that can not be true.

Now I saw: https://edri.org/microsofts-new-small-print-how-your-personal-data-abused/

No wonder people want to disable things like Cortana.

Shares it IF you enable it and allow it to do so - you have control.

And please, 'abuses data'... I dare say the people cheering this on are using Chrome, or Gmail or another of the Google services which scrape your data and use it to track, sell and advertise to you.

Click-bait headlines are frankly bullshit and anyone with any senses wouldn't bother with them, but the MS bashing continues despite them being the least worrying of the large players out there today when it comes to 'your' data...

Just upgraded from Windows 7 to 10... and this thing is ugly. Does anyone know where to find a Windows 7 like theme?

Sorry, I just fell off my chair laughing. That proves that people will just take anything if it's free. Heck, why would someone want to trade Windows 7 for Windows 10?

Cortana and XBox integration are signatures features of Windows 10. It's not clear to me why on Earth they would make those uninstallable.

Well, because they are shit. Cortana in particular. It's something nobody really needs (though admittedly voice recognition is kind of cool, but then again it doesn't work for where it would really be useful) but it has huge privacy/security concerns. They are indeed bloatware that not only needlessly burn disk space (this is becoming significant again with SSDs) but also system resources such as RAM and CPU. Similar to the builtin spyware that drives the login screen. It just isn't possible that this thingie tells you to try this and that feature which you haven't used yet unless it is being tracked every time you use a feature (or worse, every time you use any kind of program?). Ignoring privacy, that's code that runs repeatedly all the time and consumes resources but does nothing useful at all (on the contrary).

Yes, Google and Facebook and the like have their privacy/security concerns as well. But you opt in using these, and it's your own fault if you do.

XBox integration as optional install is nice if you own an XBox. But making that a part of the operating system for everybody is just... shit.