The upgrade to Windows 10 notification had been bothering my laptop and workstation for a while so I decide to do some research to determine if it was in my interests to upgrade my OS at this point in time. The general consensus appeared to be that Windows 10 was a vast improvement upon Windows 8. I was never that bothered by the Win8 OS. Yes, the Metro screen was an annoyance, and yes, Win7 was better, but I just got on with using the system.

I mainly use Autodesk software for my research work; CAD Map 3D, CAD Civil, Infraworks, but I also use the ArcGIS suite, so I thought it prudent to check if there were any immediate issues with upgrading and running those programs. I trawled through a number of forums and the outlook appeared positive, there were some issues but nothing detrimental. So I upgraded.

The upgrade was totally smooth and without issue and Windows 10 certainly appears to be a superior product compared to Win8. It looks nicer and feels more robust. There were a few settings that needed dealing with after upgrading, mainly to do with WiFi sharing and networks, but a search through tech websites soon sorted that out. Most importantly my Autodesk software all appeared to work as it should.

The main complaint that I had from the outset with the new OS was the lack of choice the end user has when it comes to system updates (unless you are running the pro version of Windows 10), you can only chose when to schedule them. The first OS update I received caused my NVIDIA graphics drivers to fail, but that was easily resolved with a new driver download and installation. The next OS update, which arrived a few days later, caused my Autodesk software to misbehave. When using the 3D orbit function to move the model within the viewport everything would judder up and down uncontrollably, which rendered it unusable. I posted a query to some CAD forums and the response was clear – rollback to Win8.1.

At this time Autodesk products are not officially supported on the new OS. The 2016 versions of their software will have full compatibility support for Windows 10 in upcoming service packs, however no date is given on when that will occur. I decided that I could not afford the software downtime for every new update that was issued (and the updates were occurring frequently) and so I rolled back to my previous OS on my workstation. My Autodesk software now works as it should, and at least I still have the new OS on my laptop, for now…