Windows 10, the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system, was released yesterday. I’ve already installed it on my laptop, and although I haven’t had time to dig through every nook and cranny yet, here are my initial impressions of Microsoft’s latest and greatest.

WINDOWS 10 IS FREE FOR ONE YEAR

If you have Windows 7 or newer, upgrading to Windows 10 is free for one year. That will give you enough time for all the tech nerds to download it, install it, beta test it for Microsoft, and work out all the kinks before you upgrade. By offering it for free, Microsoft seems to both be apologizing for Windows 8 and suggesting that we’re all going to be running Windows 10 sooner or later, so you might as well get on board.

OBTAINING WINDOWS 10 IS SIMPLE

If you have Windows 7 or newer you may have seen a Windows icon pop up in your task bar. If you didn’t opt in there, you can simply download Windows 10 from Microsoft. If you use this link, you’re going to have to answer a few questions. The first is, what version of Windows 10 do you want: Home, or Professional? If you’re going the free upgrade you’ll want to pick the same edition you already have. Next you’ll have the option of selecting 32 bit, 64 bit, or both. Finally, the installer will ask if you will be installing from USB or want the DVD ISO. Note that if you combine the 32/64 bit versions, your download will be 6 gig (too large for a single-layer DVD). Also if you select the USB option you’ll need to provide the USB stick at that time.

INSTALLING WINDOWS 10 IS FAST AND SIMPLE

Over the past 20 years I can’t think of a Windows operating system that installed more quickly or painlessly. Pick your default language, the destination drive, put in a serial number and watch it go. Halfway through you’ll be prompted for a wireless connection, but that’s about it.

While the upgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 10 failed on my ASUS laptop, a fresh install went smoothly and quickly. Apparently, gone are the days of hunting down drivers from a manufacturer. Windows 10 just figured it out. Hopefully upgrades on my other machines go just as smoothly.

WINDOWS 10’S DEFAULT SECURITY SETTINGS ARE EGREGIOUSLY INVASIVE!

Toward the end of the installation process you’ll be asked if you want to accept the security defaults as suggested by Microsoft or choose your own answers in advanced mode. (Pro-tip: nerds always choose advance mode.) Here are the default settings for Windows 10:

01. Personalize your speech, typing, and inking input by sending contacts and calendar details, along with other associated input data to Microsoft: ON
02. Send typing and inking data to Microsoft to improve the recognition and suggestion platform: ON
03. Let apps use your advertising ID for experiences across apps: ON
04. Let Windows and apps request your location, including location history, and send Microsoft and trusted partners some location data to improve location services: ON
05: Use SmartScreen online services to help protect against malicious content and downloads in sites loaded by Windows browsers and Store apps: ON
06. Use page prediction to improve reading, speed up browsing, and make your overall experience better in Windows browsers. Your browsing data will be sent to Microsoft: ON
07. Automatically connect to suggested open hotspots. Not all networks are secure: ON
08. Automatically connect to networks shared by your contacts: ON
09 Send error and diagnostic information to Microsoft: ON

Wow. Wow wow wow.

Combined, this says “send everything you type, read, or do to Microsoft.” No thanks. I know we are headed to cloudville but … not today. And to be honest, normally I would select YES on sending error reports to Microsoft and the SmartScreen thing doesn’t sound like a bad idea but based on the invasive nature of all the others, I changed every one of them to NO. I’ll revisit this.

EVERY PROGRAM I HAVE WORKS

Again, I haven’t had days to go through everything, but so far every program I previously had still works.

WINDOWS 10 IS SMART AND FAST

First of all, it’s fast. Really fast. I haven’t turned on many of the bells and whistles yet, but right now, it’s fast. Everything feels streamlined.

The start menu is back. Clicking on it reminds me of the Windows 7 start menu with Windows 8 metro icons. I can live with that. Next to the start button is the search text box. Right from the desktop you can type “control panel” or “join a domain” or “uninstall something” and it comes up. Quickly. Nothing about Windows 8 made sense to me. Everything about Windows 10 so far makes sense. My initial impression is that I am really going to like it.

They also changed the icons on the taskbar. Now if you have an app open, it’s underlined. So smart. I love it.

SAY HELLO TO EDGE

Internet Explorer has been replaced by Internet Edge. Literally the first thing I did once I reached a desktop was install Google Chrome so I can’t tell you much about Edge yet, except it seems pretty fast and thin and was able to quickly download Google Chrome. ;) I’m sure I’ll mess around with Edge over the next few weeks just to make sure my websites render properly with it.

SHOULD I UPGRADE TODAY?

Probably not. There will be hurdles coming, I’m sure. Things will get tweaked and patched over the next few months. You have plenty of time to wait to upgrade. That being said, I’m upgrading every one of my Windows 8 machines today, and will probably do my Windows 7 desktop soon.