Is Windows 10 to blame for every issue on OEM systems?

During the research for their annual Tech Support Showdown, the folks over at Laptop Magazine learned that many support reps for various OEMs are addressing a wide variety of system issues by telling users to uninstall Windows 10.

Windows has long taken the brunt of blame when it comes to system issues – even when a computer's problem doesn't rest with the operating system. Think about it - most everyday users of a Windows based system that crashes due to bad drivers or software say that Windows crashed. A large number of users will not necessarily understand that those crashes were caused by third party hardware or software. So the "Windows crashed" message builds the perception that Windows itself is prone to crashes.

Is Windows 10 perfect?

Of course not. Any software program with that much code is going to have some flaws. But is the operating system causing 100% of the issues being seen on OEM hardware? That answer is also a hearty of course not.

Here is the reality when it comes to tech support: It is all about how long it takes to resolve the immediate issue and send the customer away satisfied. The quicker a tech is able to resolve the issue which the customer brought to the support call, the better that tech's individual metrics look. That trickles up to the whole department.

Making a customer happy does not necessarily mean that the problem which prompted the call is resolved.  If a support technician is able to convince the user that a recent Windows 10 upgrade is causing the issue, then that tech support call will be over very quickly. The customers will then supposedly be quite pleased with the quick resolution and provide that feedback immediately in the post-support survey.

As a former support technician, whenever we tried to identify what might have caused an issue, we always focused on recent changes to the system.  Installing new drivers or software top that list and it is a solid suggestion to recommend backing down those changes to resolve the issue at hand.

With Windows 10 recently hitting the market and being offered as a free upgrade to Windows 7 and 8.1 users, it is an easy target for these support workers who need a quick fix to help resolve an issue.

As I said earlier, Windows 10 Is not responsible for 100% of the issues users are facing that then result in a call to tech support. However, I imagine reverting back to the users previous operating system is resolving the issue a large portion of the time -- but not because of Windows 10. It's because we need new drivers or software from the manufacturer to help resolve these issues in the long run.

Asking a user to remove Windows 10 to resolve an issue in these circumstances is like replacing your car’s engine when all it needs is a new battery.

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