Do I want a free upgrade from Win7 to Win10?

Woke up to a notice on this desktop that I'm eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 10 in about a week. ...do I want it?

I know nothing about it, mostly concerned about compatibility with my Canon 4x6 printer and stuff like Photoshop CS2 and Corel Video Studio Pro X5. I don't think there's much else I need to be concerned with for compatibility. Not a gamer, mostly Photoshop and Video besides the internet junkie.

I feel like I've barely gotten used to Windows 7 from XP (I waited a very long time and only then because I bought a new Dell for video editing)

I did the same jump as you did Jerry.. from XP Pro to 7 Pro. It was a well worthwhile jump.. but I am going to wait on 10, even if I have to buy it later.

One thing that does give me pause, I have heard that you will have -no- choice on updates if you get the standard version of 10. When MS puts them out, it automatically updates whether you wanted it to or not

I decided that I don't want it. At least until windows 7 is no longer supported or there is some siftware I meed that only works on windows 10.

If it were me, I would be reluctant. I am not very satisfied with Windows 8.1 on my wife's laptop.

I'm part of the early adopters. I've always been ahead of the curve. Maybe it was because I was an MS beta tester for awhile. I'll take it as soon as I can get it.

I enjoy 10 a great deal. Much nicer than the 8/8.1 family.

I'm making the jump on two computers in the house. one from 7 and the other from 8.1. People with the beta have been doing some tests and it sounds like most things will work just fine. I'm not worried, but am excited about xbox interactvitiy.

Keep in mind that a portion of the things they did in 10 are to appease those who were upset with the loss off the "classic" windows styling in 8. The regular ole desktop with a start menu is back.

I'm only doing it if Microsoft can guarantee that all my computer games will still work on it.

I think I'm going to pass. I can't think I'll be "missing" anything sticking with 7 for awhile, meaning quite a few years.

You don't have to decide now, you've a year to decide it you want to do it for free. After that, you'll have to pay.

Nothing wrong with standing on the sidelines and watching to see how it plays out and make a decision later.

Another thing to keep in mind on holding out is one reason for the free upgrade, IIRC, MS is looking to drop support anything older.

I'll be switching. I have no issues with 8.1, I actually like it. Hopefully I will like 10 as well.

neon4891 wrote: Another thing to keep in mind on holding out is one reason for the free upgrade, IIRC, MS is looking to drop support anything older.

This.

The fact that you can still buy (aka the Navy iirc) support for XP is something I don't think Microsoft wants to repeat.

See, I'll be going to 10 because it follows the standard Microsoft OS pattern. 98 was good. ME was bad. XP was good. Vista bad. 7 good. 8 bad. So 10 should be good.

From what I understand, users who get the free upgrade, if they want to reinstall later, will first have to reinstall their original OS and then get the free upgrade again. This is too much of a PITA for me.

If I can use my Win7 license directly with a Win10 install disc/drive I'll do it.

Well, I'm going to try it in a VM before upgrading.

If it ain't broke don't fix it. Windows 8.1 is not broke, its just stupid cause it anticipated a shift to touchscreens that never happened; kinda like that guy who shows up to a costume party where nobody shows up in costume.

I have learned how to do what I need a computer to do with 8.1 so why would I want 10?

That would be my suggestion also. Unless it offers something you really need, why bother?

Certainly wait and see what sort of mayhem the switch over causes for the early victims (uhm, I mean adopters ). They can test it as much as they want, but there are always things they can't consider.

NOHOME wrote: If it ain't broke don't fix it. Windows 8.1 is not broke, its just stupid cause it anticipated a shift to touchscreens that never happened; kinda like that guy who shows up to a costume party where nobody shows up in costume. I have learned how to do what I need a computer to do with 8.1 so why would I want 10?

It takes about 10 seconds to install a shell that converts windows 8/8.1 to a full on old style desktop. Works awesome :)

Grtechguy wrote: I enjoy 10 a great deal. Much nicer than the 8/8.1 family.

But the comparison in the original post is to 7, not 8/8.1

Instead of more Windows, I'd look at trying Linux (Ubuntu) via DVD/USB Stick and get away from much of the vulnerabilities and do as I say nonsense that continues to infect Windows.

http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop

I make my living from supporting Windows in an Enterprise environment and I've ditched Windows at home where possible. Microsoft and Adobe continue to be clueless about security on the internet and just apply bandaid after bandaid along with half-completed new features.

Apple is another option and the hardware is expensive but works well with some running OSX and its related versions on Non-Apple hardware (Hackintosh) to provide a less expensive alternative.

The Apple hardware is expensive, but it's also higher-end than most of the PC hardware. That's one reason I made the switch.

Is 10 more efficient than 7 and 8? That would draw me to the change, although I just know that all the drivers for legacy peripherals like printers would probably go away. I lost my 12x12 Wacom tablet when I went to Win7 from XP.

Nick_Comstock wrote: I'll be switching. I have no issues with 8.1, I actually like it. Hopefully I will like 10 as well.

To each his own. I hate 8/8.1. To me it is nothing but 7 with a mediocre interface that is marginally better for some things and notably worse for many others.

HiTempguy wrote:

NOHOME wrote: If it ain't broke don't fix it. Windows 8.1 is not broke, its just stupid cause it anticipated a shift to touchscreens that never happened; kinda like that guy who shows up to a costume party where nobody shows up in costume. I have learned how to do what I need a computer to do with 8.1 so why would I want 10?

It takes about 10 seconds to install a shell that converts windows 8/8.1 to a full on old style desktop. Works awesome :)

Please do share.

Duke wrote:

HiTempguy wrote:

NOHOME wrote: If it ain't broke don't fix it. Windows 8.1 is not broke, its just stupid cause it anticipated a shift to touchscreens that never happened; kinda like that guy who shows up to a costume party where nobody shows up in costume. I have learned how to do what I need a computer to do with 8.1 so why would I want 10?

It takes about 10 seconds to install a shell that converts windows 8/8.1 to a full on old style desktop. Works awesome :)

Please do share.

http://www.classicshell.net/

Shared

Also, Windows 8 starts up in about 25 seconds on a regular 5400rpm laptop harddrive. That is seriously impressive. Windoze 7 with an ssd takes about 15 on my desktop.

Windows 10 is supposed to be designed for use across a wide-range of devices, so its resource requirements are supposed to have been lowered significantly, which is impressive considering how much less resource intensive win 8/8.1 was over 7. This makes me happy, as its incredible the amount of bloat software developers have gotten away with over the past 5+ years with the creation of cheap 16-32gbs of ram.