A reader has a suggestion for a photo editing program for Windows 10.
“If you also have Windows Photo Gallery, any photo that is in Pictures Library is parallel in Photo Gallery. All you have to do is be in Photo Gallery and many more edits are available. A great straightening to rival Photoshop & noise reduction. Photo Gallery is another free Windows edit program. It can still be downloaded from Internet Archives.”
While I agree that Photo Gallery was a fine program with some great editing options, I cannot recommend downloading it because it is no longer supported by Microsoft.
The Windows Essentials download, which included Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Live Mail, Windows Live Family Safety, and Windows Live Writer, featured some wonderful programs. However, Microsoft hasn’t supported these programs for over two years. They aren’t available to download from official Microsoft sites, though some of them are still available from Internet archives as you suggested.
The lack of support means that hackers could attempt to exploit flaws in these programs to deliver malicious payloads to your computer. Microsoft is not actively working to patch any problems with this software. That means that third-party security companies won’t be receiving the information necessary to protect you.
If this program was installed on a PC that you didn’t use online, I’d be okay with that. But otherwise, I’d suggest being very cautious. While you may be able to install Photo Gallery and other Essentials programs on your Windows 10 PC, there’s no guarantee that you can use them safely.
I do think Microsoft could do itself a big favor by looking at the interface and options for these Essentials programs when creating apps for Windows 10.