For me 10 feels more buggy because of many small details that create an always-shifting, async-updating, never-where-I-put-it experience. Compared to that, even crashes in XP felt more... robust? Some examples:
When copying files, copy progress dialog is sometimes opened hidden behind all other windows
The ui formerly known as start menu populates search results incrementally, so Win+program name+enter can open different thing based on timing
Randomly self-reboots at night, breaking long uploads or batches.
Force-installs drivers (NVIDIA, synaptics, ...) that crash on current setup or lose features. Even during the work.
These complaints are somewhat valid and also not exclusively Windows things. I've experienced similar issues on every other major platform.
> When copying files, copy progress dialog is sometimes opened hidden behind all other windows
I've not personally experienced this. If you initiate a Copy and then change focus, the dialog will not steal focus. Perhaps that's what you're experiencing? I despise when apps steal focus (i.e. Outlook 2015/Skype 2015 splash screens) and so I appreciate this aspect of it.
> The ui formerly known as start menu populates search results incrementally, so Win+program name+enter can open different thing based on timing
That happens to me constantly on Windows 7, this isn't something new. As of right now, if I type "windows update" in the Win7 Start Menu and hit enter it launches "Lenovo Update" on my laptop. If I wait then I get an Apps list of Lenovo Update, Java Update, Intel Update; then gradually documents, downloads, One Drive searches, and then at the last moment "Windows Update" appends itself to the bottom of the Apps list.
> Randomly self-reboots at night, breaking long uploads or batches.
There's nothing random about this. When an update is installed that requires a reboot then Windows notifies you that it scheduled a reboot outside of the Active Hours you defined. That notification sits in the tray until you manually dismiss it. You have the option to click on it and open the "Restart Options" menu which allows you to put off the reboot for up to 7 days.
If the update is installed while you're not present and you never return before the reboot is scheduled to occur then I'm going to assume it reboots. I would like to say that it holds off the reboot for up to 7 days for you to return to the PC but I don't believe that to be true.
> Force-installs drivers (NVIDIA, synaptics, ...) that crash on current setup or lose features. Even during the work.
Windows will install baseline drivers for hardware that doesn't have a proper driver installed. These drivers do not necessarily have the full functionality of drivers you download directly from the vendor, however they are provided by the vendor. If you've installed a driver directly from the Vendor, Windows will not supersede that install with the Windows Update Version but will instead list the version in Windows Update as available to install.
> Randomly resets file associations.
Windows Media Player on Windows 7 is the only time that I have experienced this issue. I don't use any of Microsoft's preferred Apps (e.g. Edge, Mail, Groove, etc), I have different defaults associated, and I have never had this happen. I have had an issue where x86 and x64 versions of Firefox were both installed and, when I uninstalled the x86 version, Windows notified me that it changed associations back to Edge since the x86 install was set as the default browser. The notification was not temporary, it sat in the notification tray until I manually dismissed it. That behavior is perfectly reasonable to me.
> Resets some settings to default on upgrade.
This is true of lots of software, I've had it happen with Chrome, Firefox, and iTunes with in the last 6 months. It doesn't always happen with Windows and it doesn't always happen in other software, but it happens. I cannot recall this happening to me in Windows 10 other than during a major update to a product. Specifically when they made significant improvements to Cortona and wanted you to give it another look, in that case it reset to the setting from disabled to "setup and configuration" mode but it didn't enable Cortona.
It's really funny, I like windows 10 a lot, for me it's the best Linux distribution, but there are a few of these little things...
To reply to some of your points to clean up possible misunderstandings:
> If you initiate a Copy and then change focus, the dialog will not steal focus. Perhaps that's what you're experiencing?
No, I drag or Ctrl-C/V file between two explorer windows and a new window icon appears on a taskbar with progress indication (by a backgound color fill), but the progress window is not visible until I click on that icon or Alt-tab to it. There are some complains and workarounds about this on the web.
> That notification sits in the tray until you manually dismiss it.
That is the cause of the problem for me. The notice is mostly invisible (no dialogs), until 7 days later "You have 15 minutes to pack up your things"...
> If you've installed a driver directly from the Vendor, Windows will not supersede that install with the Windows Update Version
It absolutely does. I manually install 341.81, everything works. Then, some weeks later bam, black screen, driver crashed. And a notification that driver was updated. Same way touchpad driver keeps updating after I manually reinstall it.
> > Randomly resets file associations.
See search results for "An App Default was Reset"
Since the amount of side-effects from the combinations of installed 3rd party software (antiviruses, ugh) is so huge, I'm constantly amazed they keep everything working and backwards compatible as much as they do. But some of this new stuff, eh.
> I drag or Ctrl-C/V file between two explorer windows and a new window icon appears on a taskbar with progress indication
That's unusual. I just tried copying large swaths of files with varying combinations of Explorer snapped, unsnapped, overlapping, not overlapping, etc. In ever case the Copy window appears h/v Centered over the origin Explorer window.
Do you have anything that has custom Shell integration installed that might be causing some weird interaction? I tried this on a pretty bog standard install. I'll try to reproduce it later on a more customized system.
> The notice is mostly invisible (no dialogs)
Yeah, that seems like an area of user experience they could improve. Do you lock your PC? All my PCs require password unlock and when I unlock them notifications like "Updates were installed that require reboot" or "Windows Defender finished scanning your PC" always pop out from the Action Center briefly. That's been my que* to go inspect it.
> I manually install 341.81... some weeks later... a notification that driver was updated.
I'm curious what could be causing that. I have some old Logitech Webcam drivers installed because they removed some features in the Windows Update version of the Driver and it's never updated.
> See search results for "An App Default was Reset"
This seems to be a result of 3rd party applications changing file associations using mechanisms outside of the Windows Guidelines. This is a big problem for Microsoft with regards to the Start Menu Icons, Uninstall Utilities, Control Panel Programs, and apparently file associations. They have recommended specific ways of interacting with the OS since XP that have been routinely ignored. Now in Windows 10 they're making changes that break these unsupported mechanisms and are catching flak for it.
When copying files, copy progress dialog is sometimes opened hidden behind all other windows
The ui formerly known as start menu populates search results incrementally, so Win+program name+enter can open different thing based on timing
Randomly self-reboots at night, breaking long uploads or batches.
Force-installs drivers (NVIDIA, synaptics, ...) that crash on current setup or lose features. Even during the work.
Randomly resets file associations.
Resets some settings to default on upgrade.