Windows 10 upgrade offer ends End of July - Have you,will you take it?

[Spider-Dan]

In my humble opinion, Win10 is a solution looking for a problem.  I don't want touchscreen-style controls on my mouse-and-keyboard desktop PC.

I don't know how Win10 is supposed to improve on the shortcomings of Win7; it seems to me that it's change for the sake of change.  If I'm lucky, I'll be able to skip Win10 (and Win11) entirely, and I won't be forced to upgrade until Win12.

[pondwater]

After a Win10 upgrade, you have 30 days to revert back to Win7.

In a traditional upgrade/downgrade process you are correct. However, if you upgrade to 10 and back up everything you want to save. Then reformat/reinstall with 7. After that you then have the option to go back to 10 whenever you want to since a snapshot of your system is registered on MS servers. I've done it on a couple machines for friends. On one of them I actually didn't even have a legit 7 key. Just activated a 64bit windows 7 iso using DAZ loader, upgraded to 10, reformated back to 7, then reinstalled 10 and it activated automatically. As far as I know the machine is still running fine.

I read that you could also clone a cheap SSD with your current system and set off to the side. Then upgrade to 10 on the current drive and set to the side and put the windows 7 SSD back in. You then have a drive with 7 and a drive with 10. I haven't tried this, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Or as I said before, just set up a dual boot 7/10 system.

In my humble opinion, Win10 is a solution looking for a problem.  I don't want touchscreen-style controls on my mouse-and-keyboard desktop PC.

I don't know how Win10 is supposed to improve on the shortcomings of Win7; it seems to me that it's change for the sake of change.  If I'm lucky, I'll be able to skip Win10 (and Win11) entirely, and I won't be forced to upgrade until Win12.

I thought that I read somewhere that MS said that 10 would be the final version of windows and that they would just keep updating going forward.

[Spider-Dan]

Even if MS did make that statement, I wouldn't believe them until at least 10 years had passed since Win10's release.

[Dave Gray]

In my humble opinion, Win10 is a solution looking for a problem.  I don't want touchscreen-style controls on my mouse-and-keyboard desktop PC.

I don't know how Win10 is supposed to improve on the shortcomings of Win7; it seems to me that it's change for the sake of change.  If I'm lucky, I'll be able to skip Win10 (and Win11) entirely, and I won't be forced to upgrade until Win12.

You will likely notice no change.

Win10 allows ease for developers to create apps that run on your desktop.  If you don't work like this and don't want to use them, don't...no difference for you.

But for example, we run a Netflix app on wife's PC at home.  It's a touchscreen environment build for touch.  It works the same on the iPad, phones, etc.  My 4 year old daughter can use it without assistance. 

So, it allows Netflix to basically create one instance of their software that will work across all these platforms. 

But if you don't want to use Netflix like that, you can just go to the website.

Windows 8 was a jarring change, because it defaulted you into the app environment and took away the comfort tools that people used by default, like the start menu.  Windows 10 is essentially the same as Windows 7 but it integrates apps into the start menu.

[Thundergod]

I, like Spider, am going to wait until I'm forced to upgrade. I installed Windows 10 on my wife's, and my father's computer. And there are definitely some bugs that need to be ironed out seeing that I had no problems before the upgrade. My wife's computer freezes from time to time while watching streams online, then, after about 3-5 minutes it reboots telling me that 10 ran into some problems and it needed to be rebooted.

My father's computer (even after all the fixes I've found online through Microsoft), from time to time his start button and task-bar are disabled. I have managed to fix his issue each time it comes up, but the bug is getting rather annoying.

I did try upgrading my system three times (Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit) but for some reason there was something blocking the installation and it kept reverting back. I guess it's a good thing it did after the annoying bugs that I've encountered. Whatever, I'm all good with 7.

[Pappy13]

I had heard that Microsoft was backing off on the idea that they would discontinue the ability to upgrade to Windows 10 for free after 1 year. I think they expected that would ensure that most people would upgrade within a year, but that's been far from the case. Microsoft DOES NOT WANT to support any version other than Windows 10. That doesn't mean they won't, it's just that they would prefer to have only 1 version to support, but it's not going to happen. That's pretty evident now. Making you pay to upgrade to Windows 10 is NOT going to help with that, it's pretty much going to ensure that no one who hasn't already upgraded will.

So I wouldn't worry too much about the 1 year anniversary coming. There's going to be a way to upgrade to Windows 10 after that date and most likely it will still be free.

Having said that, it's silly not to upgrade. It really is. Windows 10 is the best Windows yet. Most people that upgraded are very happy they did. I've upgraded 2 desktops and a laptop and have had no major issues with any of them. Now there are those people that had problems with Windows 10 and went back to Windows 7 after upgrading but only because they had issues. My son upgraded to Windows, had some issues with his video card and reverted back to Windows 7, but after getting a new video card he went back to Windows 10 and has stayed there since. Most likely you will not have issues and will be very happy. If you're not you can go back to Windows 7.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/what-happens-free-windows-10-upgrades-after-july-29-2016/

[Pappy13]

In my humble opinion, Win10 is a solution looking for a problem.  I don't want touchscreen-style controls on my mouse-and-keyboard desktop PC.

I don't know how Win10 is supposed to improve on the shortcomings of Win7; it seems to me that it's change for the sake of change.  If I'm lucky, I'll be able to skip Win10 (and Win11) entirely, and I won't be forced to upgrade until Win12.

There will be no Windows 11 or Windows 12. Windows 10 is the last version of windows that Microsoft will ever make at least If you believe what they have said anyway. From now on all upgrades will just be to a better version of Windows 10. Microsoft is calling it "Windows as a service". I expect at some point they will drop the version number and just call it Windows.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/7/8568473/windows-10-last-version-of-windows

[Spider-Dan]

Having said that, it's silly not to upgrade. It really is. Windows 10 is the best Windows yet. Most people that upgraded are very happy they did. I've upgraded 2 desktops and a laptop and have had no major issues with any of them. Now there are those people that had problems with Windows 10 and went back to Windows 7 after upgrading but only because they had issues.

But why would anyone who isn't having issues with Win7 now want to roll the dice?  In exchange for the risk of having issues that require you to spend even more time reverting back to Win7, what is the reward?

There will be no Windows 11 or Windows 12. Windows 10 is the last version of windows that Microsoft will ever make at least If you believe what they have said anyway.

Either MS is lying, or they are implicitly acknowledging that they will be moving Windows to a subscription plan like they did with Office 365.

I say this with complete conviction: I will uninstall every Microsoft OS and switch fully to Linux on every PC I own before I pay a recurring fee for a Windows subscription.  (And I do see where this boat is headed with the SecureBoot feature creep between Win8 and Win10: use SecureBoot to permanently lock other OSes out at the hardware level, then switch Windows to a subscription fee and collect coins.)

A monthly/yearly OS subscription fee is exactly the kind of doomsday scenario that motivated me to learn Linux in the first place.

[pondwater]

But why would anyone who isn't having issues with Win7 now want to roll the dice?  In exchange for the risk of having issues that require you to spend even more time reverting back to Win7, what is the reward?
Either MS is lying, or they are implicitly acknowledging that they will be moving Windows to a subscription plan like they did with Office 365.

I say this with complete conviction: I will uninstall every Microsoft OS and switch fully to Linux on every PC I own before I pay a recurring fee for a Windows subscription.  (And I do see where this boat is headed with the SecureBoot feature creep between Win8 and Win10: use SecureBoot to permanently lock other OSes out at the hardware level, then switch Windows to a subscription fee and collect coins.)

A monthly/yearly OS subscription fee is exactly the kind of doomsday scenario that motivated me to learn Linux in the first place.

Another option is Chrome OS. It currently is an online only OS, which obviously limits its usefullness for some users. However, I've read somewhere lately that they are going to merge Chrome OS and the Android play store which will open up a lot of apps. Chrome OS isn't a resource hog like Windows. A Chromebox desktop with a Celeron and 2 gigs of ram is pretty snappy for general use. I would drop in another 2 gig stick though. It supports dual monitors and you can pick it up for $125 lately. Not to mention it 5 inches x 5 inches. You're definitly not going to game on it. But for what most people do with a PC these days, it would work for 75% of the population.

I've been wanting to do a new skylake build, but if they actually do merge the play store into Chrome OS I'll probably just buy a couple Chromeboxes and be done with windows because I don't run any programs like I used to and there is pretty much an android app for everything I need these days. And starting with Android N, it will be the the first version of the Android that asks developers to deal with having their apps resized for different screen sizes. So that will help with the desktop experience.

EDIT-

Actually just read an article and they said that play store integration will be around September. Also, I found the following quote interesting.
 

IDC recently found that in Q1 2016, Chromebook shipments overtook Macs in the U.S. The firm didn’t release this report publicly, but after Google told us we confirmed with IDC that Chrome OS was the second most popular computer operating system (after Windows) in the U.S. last quarter.

The way MS is handling all this windows 10 stuff may actually be hurting them in the long run.

[Spider-Dan]

Sure, Chrome OS might be one way to migrate to Linux.

I currently maintain a modified version of Ubuntu, so I'd likely just switch to that.

[pondwater]

Sure, Chrome OS might be one way to migrate to Linux.

I currently maintain a modified version of Ubuntu, so I'd likely just switch to that.

I tried a couple versions of Linux a few years ago when I had to reformat. I'm sure it's not too complicated, but I didn't really feel like learning (too lazy) all the in and outs of it and just reinstalled Win7. I also tried Joli OS. It was interesting, but they discontinued it a few years ago. Zorin OS was pretty cool also. I think they both were based on Linux too.

[Pappy13]

But why would anyone who isn't having issues with Win7 now want to roll the dice?  In exchange for the risk of having issues that require you to spend even more time reverting back to Win7, what is the reward?

You mean OTHER than the fact it's a better OS? Just because someone is happy with Windows 7 doesn't mean they won't like Windows 10 even better. I do. Most gamers do. A lot of people that have tried it do. There are advantages that Windows 10 brings over Windows 7. There were some bumps along the way which are to be expected anytime you enhance software, but they have been smoothed out and now it's just a smooth transition. I haven't seen any reputable sources calling for people to avoid Windows 10 lately. It's no longer a question of should you, it's now a question of why shouldn't you?

http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/windows-10-vs-windows-7

http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/why-the-hell-wouldnt-you-upgrade-to-windows-10/

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/feature/windows/should-i-upgrade-windows-10-advice-win7-win8-chrome-3618139/

[Spider-Dan]

From your first link:

"We touched earlier on how gaming performance hasn’t changed much on Windows 10, but it’s worth elaborating.

In fact, there's a slight drop in performance on average, with Windows 10 tending to be about 0.5% slower than Windows 7, particularly with older games – Crysis 3, for instance – although there are some instances where the roles are reversed. Of course 0.5% is a ridiculously small amount either way, so much so that it’s not worth worrying about."

"There's only a very small drop in gaming performance" is not a compelling reason to upgrade to Win10 from Win7.

I read your other links and they seem to written primarily from the perspective of people who were unfortunate enough to be running Win8.  Upgrading from Win8 to Win10 is certainly understandable.  Upgrading from Win7 to Win10 is, as I said, a solution in search of a problem.

Now, if you're the kind of person who wants to search for a file on your computer and have Windows also provide a list of related websites in the results, then sure, I guess the changes might be welcome.  And if you're the kind of person who likes to have an active microphone all the time and have your computer start doing things when it hears what it thinks is a command, then I suppose that Win10 would be good for you, too.

Most of the new "features" that Win10 offers (like putting your computer into Hibernate mode when you tell it to Shut Down, to present the illusion of "faster booting") are of no interest to me, and I would end up spending a not-insignificant amount of time learning how to turn them off, and then turning them off.

[pondwater]

I haven't done much research on it but the biggest thing for me are the privacy issues. No one knows what they are doing in the background. I know that you can do a custom install and turn much of the data mining off. However, already one update to the OS reset privacy options to their defaults, even if you had turned them off initially.

[Pappy13]

"We touched earlier on how gaming performance hasn’t changed much on Windows 10, but it’s worth elaborating.

You missed how Windows 10 provides exclusive access to DirectX 12 and honestly most gamers aren't too worried about performance "particularly with older games". They're more worried about taking advantage of the latest technology with new games and Windows 10 does that.

Now, if you're the kind of person who wants to search for a file on your computer and have Windows also provide a list of related websites in the results, then sure, I guess the changes might be welcome.  And if you're the kind of person who likes to have an active microphone all the time and have your computer start doing things when it hears what it thinks is a command, then I suppose that Win10 would be good for you, too.

Most of the new "features" that Win10 offers (like putting your computer into Hibernate mode when you tell it to Shut Down, to present the illusion of "faster booting") are of no interest to me, and I would end up spending a not-insignificant amount of time learning how to turn them off, and then turning them off.

Yeah I understand some people would rather NOT have options than have them and have to figure out how to use them, but for those people actually willing to learn new things it's not such a horrible thing to have options.

I'm not trying to convince you Spider, you've made up your mind and I respect your decision, but I want to give the others reading this thread a chance to make up their own minds and I think I've done that.