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mikeeb
join:2015-01-27
England

mikeeb

Member

Windows 10 free upgrade

Is it worth upgrading to it whilst it is free?
They will start charging for it next year (price unknown)
I use win7 which I still love
On the other hand I don't want to miss the boat if win10 turns out to be great

»www.cnet.com/news/micros ··· pgrades/

JohnInSJ
Premium Member
join:2003-09-22
Aptos, CA

1 recommendation

JohnInSJ

Premium Member

If you expect to get a new computer down the road, that will come with Win10. If you're one of those folks that upgrades their desktop pc or hangs onto a laptop for many years... and you like windows 7... and you'll get a new PC/laptop in 5 years or so... don't upgrade. You will get a new pc with win10 before win7 goes out of support.

If you're going to hang onto that thing for longer than the lifespan of windows7, then upgrade the OS

Windows 8.1 wasn't that hard to use like it was win7, windows 10 should be even easier to pretend it's win7. There's not much downside to it.

Boricua
Premium Member
join:2002-01-26
Sacramuerto

1 recommendation

Boricua

Premium Member

said by JohnInSJ:

Windows 8.1 wasn't that hard to use like it was win7, windows 10 should be even easier to pretend it's win7.

I beg to differ. I went from W2k to XP to 7 (skipped Vista) and found it all seemless. The one thing I didn't like about Win7 is they changed some menus around. Win 8 is pure crap. Who uses tile on a desktop?!?! Win10 combined 7 and 8 when I install the preview.

Octavean
MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY

1 recommendation

Octavean to mikeeb

MVM

to mikeeb
So your question is "should you upgrade" or is it worth it given that it is free?

Its hard to say since Windows 10 hasn't had its feature set solidified yet. However, once Windows 10 does go gold and goes on sale a real dollar value will have to be assigned to it. Obviously not everyone will be upgrading from an eligible version of Windows so real sales will likely occur.

Will Microsoft allow upgrades from other versions of Windows like Vista for a price?

How does Microsoft intend to allow the upgrade process to work? For example When Windows 8 was released those with the Pro version could have a free key to install Windows Media Center. However, the key supposedly needed to be used by a specific date or it was rendered invalid. If free Windows 10 keys are issued in a similar way where they must be actually "used" or become invalid within the free 1yr period that sets some very real limitations.

Most people will probably be fine with such limitations but it might cause some issues for me. I have something on the order of eight or more Windows 7 upgrade licenses. Probably more like ten or twelve if I include a couple of laptops and x86 tablets. I also have about six to eight Windows 8 / 8.1 licenses. If I have to install all those Windows 7, 8 (then possibly have to upgrade to 8.1) and 8 OSes then activate to claim all the eligible free keys,...... then have to install Windows 10 and activate them in order to have those keys not expire,.....

We're talking about some work,......

Personally I would prefer for Microsoft to just let you log in to an account, enter your Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 key and then issue a new Windows 10 key that never expires. Then I'd be on my timetable not theirs.

Also, for what its worth, I have two dedicated Media Center systems running Widows 7 that have some hardware and software that may not play nice with Windows 10 Media Center (assuming they even release a version for Windows 10). I think there was some compatibility issues with Windows 8 / 8.1 so those two systems will likely have to remain Windows 7 systems.

PeeWee
Premium Member
join:2001-10-21
Madera, CA

PeeWee to JohnInSJ

Premium Member

to JohnInSJ
I wonder if this can be instaalled as dual boot? keeping win7 fust in case.

bewhole
I Am Here
Premium Member
join:2000-08-08
Alfred, ME

bewhole

Premium Member

said by PeeWee:

I wonder if this can be instaalled as dual boot? keeping win7 fust in case.

Yes it will if you have the space on the Hd. Right now I have windows 7 8.1 and 10 on the same hd. They are all running great.(Keeping them all updated is a pain tho)

jadinolf
I love you Fred
Premium Member
join:2005-07-09
Ojai, CA

jadinolf to PeeWee

Premium Member

to PeeWee
That's what I intend to do- on one computer only. The others- I will stay with 7.

rfhar
The World Sport, Played In Every Country
Premium Member
join:2001-03-26
Buicktown,Mi

rfhar to PeeWee

Premium Member

to PeeWee
I have win10 dual bot on a HD within a 100 GB partition. And I am pleased with what it is.

mikeeb
join:2015-01-27
England

mikeeb to Octavean

Member

to Octavean
said by Octavean:

So your question is "should you upgrade" or is it worth it given that it is free?

That's it
As long as everyone is happy with the new version then upgrading whilst it is free may be the way to go
Still unsure though

Octavean
MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY

Octavean

MVM

said by mikeeb:

said by Octavean:

So your question is "should you upgrade" or is it worth it given that it is free?

That's it
As long as everyone is happy with the new version then upgrading whilst it is free may be the way to go
Still unsure though

My point of view is fairly simple. If its free why not take advantage of the offer. Doing so doesn't necessarily mean that you have to give up using Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 depending on your given situation.

For example, I have an Asus Eee EP121 tablet x86 PC based on a Core i5 processor. It originally shipped with Windows 7 and I eventually upgraded it to Windows 8.1 Update 1. The original COA / key code sticker for Windows 7 Pro is still on it. I can always revert back to the Windows 7 Pro OEM install via recovery methods and (in theory) claim a key on that Windows 7 Pro install. Then restore to the Windows 8.1 Update 1 install and claim a key on that install. Then I could do a custom install of Windows 7 Pro using the key on the sticker (recall that OEM keys from OEM installs are typically different from the key on the sticker) and claim a third key. All for one system depending on how Microsoft chooses to distribute the free Windows 10 licenses / keys.

When all is said and done coming out of it still using Windows 7 Pro may be possible. I don't think i would want to go through that kind of trouble but it might be possible for those willing to rollup their sleeves.
DarkSithPro (banned)
join:2005-02-12
Tempe, AZ

DarkSithPro (banned) to mikeeb

Member

to mikeeb
I would think the deciding factor would be driver support and compatibility. Especially with laptops, AIO's and printers. If Windows 10 isn't compatible with Windows 8.1 and 7 drivers then it will be an upgrade nightmare for pretty much everyone and a complete disaster launch on an Epic scale. However if pretty much all 7 and 8.1 drivers work on Windows 10 then everything will be an easy transition.

maartena
Elmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA

maartena

Premium Member

said by DarkSithPro:

I would think the deciding factor would be driver support and compatibility. Especially with laptops, AIO's and printers. If Windows 10 isn't compatible with Windows 8.1 and 7 drivers then it will be an upgrade nightmare for pretty much everyone and a complete disaster launch on an Epic scale. However if pretty much all 7 and 8.1 drivers work on Windows 10 then everything will be an easy transition.

Things have gotten a lot better on the driver platform since Windows 7 with better implementations of the Windows Driver Framework. It's very likely that Windows 10 will work fine with a majority of Windows 8/8.1 drivers, and the big manufacturers will have drivers for Windows 10 pretty quickly.
DarkSithPro (banned)
join:2005-02-12
Tempe, AZ

DarkSithPro (banned)

Member

said by maartena:

said by DarkSithPro:

I would think the deciding factor would be driver support and compatibility. Especially with laptops, AIO's and printers. If Windows 10 isn't compatible with Windows 8.1 and 7 drivers then it will be an upgrade nightmare for pretty much everyone and a complete disaster launch on an Epic scale. However if pretty much all 7 and 8.1 drivers work on Windows 10 then everything will be an easy transition.

Things have gotten a lot better on the driver platform since Windows 7 with better implementations of the Windows Driver Framework. It's very likely that Windows 10 will work fine with a majority of Windows 8/8.1 drivers, and the big manufacturers will have drivers for Windows 10 pretty quickly.

If not the launch would be a complete failure 100% guaranteed.
HappyFrappy
join:2000-10-04
North

HappyFrappy to mikeeb

Member

to mikeeb
I expect something like Windows 8 upgrade program, Microsoft would want to allow customers to know if their PC/software is compatibile vs installing & not warning of possible issues. Windows 8 "promo" price allowed doing a dual-boot, the tricky step was you had to download the installer then when launching the installer/upgrader you had to select "Clean Install" to burn an ISO DVD/create a bootable USB stick(or wait for a disc set). When installing you just created another partition with an updated "boot menu". My spare Thinkpad T61 dual-boots XP & 8, it'll be interesting how much snappier Windows 10 will be on a lowly Core 2 Duo at 2.2Ghz

Wouldn't worry much for business class notebooks as companies will support them similar to their workstation counterparts. Considering Lenovo(Thinkpad T/W/X series), Dell Latitude/Precision and HP(ProBook/EliteBook) models which originally shipped with Vista(w/XPPro downgrade rights) managed to get 7 & 8-8.1 drivers I don't *really* see much risk for Windows 10 "free upgrade".
Consumer notebooks/desktops could have a bumpy path to Win10 if the OEMs would rather push "new PCs" and make it a disaster for Microsoft in the short-term. Vista flopped as OEMs peddled WinXP-underpowered PCs then offered upgrade discs for older models, bad experiences helped the media create a circus of a friend of a friend says Vista sucks, etc. (I still have a Vista workstation, oddly never had problems or performance issues... Vista SP2 vs Windows 7 SP1 actually benchmark alike on the same hardware, Win7 can be ~5% faster(w/ADF HDD) since it has native Advanced Format Support vs Vista needing WD Align if you only have Vista SP1 or earlier install media)

PeeWee
Premium Member
join:2001-10-21
Madera, CA

PeeWee to mikeeb

Premium Member

to mikeeb
I already have two partitions on this drive. So for dual boot would I just install from dvd and point it to the second partition?

maartena
Elmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA

maartena to mikeeb

Premium Member

to mikeeb
Does anyone know how this free upgrade would work? I currently have 6 Windows 7 Ultimate full retail licenses, 4 of which are unopened in a black/grey box, that i got for free from consultants in the past. I have full keys, DVD's the whole thing. They do have "not for resale" printed on them because they were promotional giveaways, but the 2 I used on home machines made clear they were, from a technical point of view, absolutely identical to the retail versions sold in stores.

Used them for years until I upgraded both to Windows 8.1 using Upgrade licenses. So technically speaking I have 4 Windows 7 Ultimate retail licenses unused, and 2 Windows 7 Ultimate licenses that have been upgraded to 8.1 using an Upgrade license bought online, and that worked just fine on those "not for resale" retail licenses.

I could install the Windows 7 licenses into a VM no problem, one by one, just takes some time is all. Do I need an installed Windows 7 however to receive the upgrade, or can I just "convert" the keys and download a Windows 10 ISO for fresh install?

Or is this info simply not known yet?

Octavean
MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY

Octavean

MVM

said by maartena:

Or is this info simply not known yet?

As far as I know that is the case. Its an unknown at this time and I am in the same boat as you. I was thinking about the VM angle as well.

maartena
Elmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA

maartena to Boricua

Premium Member

to Boricua
said by Boricua:

said by JohnInSJ:

Windows 8.1 wasn't that hard to use like it was win7, windows 10 should be even easier to pretend it's win7.

I beg to differ. I went from W2k to XP to 7 (skipped Vista) and found it all seemless. The one thing I didn't like about Win7 is they changed some menus around. Win 8 is pure crap. Who uses tile on a desktop?!?! Win10 combined 7 and 8 when I install the preview.

Windows 8 and 8.1 are really good "under the hood". Boots faster then Windows 7. Responds faster then Windows 7. Requires less RAM to run then Windows 7, and thus leaves more for apps. Basically, it is better on pretty much ALL points...... except one.

THAT DREADFUL METRO INTERFACE IS HORRIBLY BAD!!

However, that can be fixed with a plethora of start menu replacements out there paid and free. And I am finding that Windows 8.1 + Start Menu replacement software = MUCH better then Windows 7.

Now as for Windows 10, I have only used it in a VM, and only for short times. I am not installing it on my main machine until it RTM's, or maybe a good RC near the end of beta testing. (But I will probably wait till RTM).
maartena

maartena to Octavean

Premium Member

to Octavean
said by Octavean:

said by maartena:

Or is this info simply not known yet?

As far as I know that is the case. Its an unknown at this time and I am in the same boat as you. I was thinking about the VM angle as well.

Yeah.... Ideally, I will just put in my retail keys somewhere, Microsoft verifies it, marks that one as "done", and gives you a link to a Windows 10 ISO.

But if I have to, it isn't a real big deal to make a few VM's. As long as in the end I can install a fresh copy of Windows 10 without needing the upgrade path.

Anonymous_
Anonymous
Premium Member
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1

Anonymous_ to maartena

Premium Member

to maartena
said by maartena:

said by Boricua:

said by JohnInSJ:

Windows 8.1 wasn't that hard to use like it was win7, windows 10 should be even easier to pretend it's win7.

I beg to differ. I went from W2k to XP to 7 (skipped Vista) and found it all seemless. The one thing I didn't like about Win7 is they changed some menus around. Win 8 is pure crap. Who uses tile on a desktop?!?! Win10 combined 7 and 8 when I install the preview.

Windows 8 and 8.1 are really good "under the hood". Boots faster then Windows 7. Responds faster then Windows 7. Requires less RAM to run then Windows 7, and thus leaves more for apps. Basically, it is better on pretty much ALL points...... except one.
.

Ram is not a issue considering Most newer motherboard can support 16gb to 32GB now days.

intel could have allowed 64gb or 128GB or 256GB if they wanted to (it's not a limitation of the CPU)

it's a limitation that intel has imposed. they did this is to force you to buy server setup

64GB ,max has been allowed since Core2
pentium 4 xeon was limited to 32gb

pentium 3 xeon supported 16gb ram(server slot 2 setup 1998 era)
DSA
join:2013-04-27
Brantford, ON

DSA to mikeeb

Member

to mikeeb
For those of you using 10 and ie 11, how do you stop the technical preview page from opening up? I have set just one home page but both of them open.

jap
Premium Member
join:2003-08-10
038xx

jap to mikeeb

Premium Member

to mikeeb
Posted by ArsTechnica 80mins ago. Includes details newly disclosed by Microsoft.

What Windows as a Service and a “free upgrade” mean at home and at work

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

Davesnothere

Premium Member

 
Interesting !

BTW, folks, the ARST article is a commentary on this MS blog entry :

»blogs.windows.com/busine ··· to-date/

DSA1
@start.ca

DSA1 to DSA

Anon

to DSA
1.Run GPEDIT.MSC from the Start button search bar by clicking Start and then typing gpedit.msc in the search bar
2.In the left window pane of gpedit, expand USER CONFIGURATION > ADMINISTRATIVE TEMPLATES > WINDOWS COMPONENTS > INTERNET EXPLORER
3.In the right window pane, Double click “PREVENT PERFORMANCE OF FIRST RUN CUSTOMIZATION SETTINGS(Prevent running first run wizard)” (You may have to scroll down to find the setting)
4.Set it to ENABLED and from the drop down set GO DIRECTLY TO HOME PAGE.
5.That's it for Group Policy Settings, close Group Policy Editor

Tator
@charter.com

Tator to jap

Anon

to jap
Does this mean the monthly subscription possibility discussed at »[WIN10] Windows 10 maybe a monthly subscription? has been abandoned by Microsoft? Also the link provided by jap seems to conclude license is for life of the hardware. Does this mean a new license will be required in the event a hard drive fails 18 months after purchase for example? What if one simply wishes to upgrade hardware? Will a new license be required for any hardware upgrade?

Wily_One
Premium Member
join:2002-11-24
San Jose, CA

Wily_One

Premium Member

said by Tator :

Does this mean the monthly subscription possibility discussed at »[WIN10] Windows 10 maybe a monthly subscription? has been abandoned by Microsoft?

That never came out of Microsoft. That came from some random blogger who posted about the possibility based on his interpretations of a comment an MS exec made.

In other words, it was horseshit from the beginning but the blogosphere ran with it. This is 21st century journalism, man!

AnonDude
@charter.com

AnonDude to Tator

Anon

to Tator
said by Tator :

Does this mean the monthly subscription possibility discussed at »[WIN10] Windows 10 maybe a monthly subscription? has been abandoned by Microsoft? Also the link provided by jap seems to conclude license is for life of the hardware. Does this mean a new license will be required in the event a hard drive fails 18 months after purchase for example? What if one simply wishes to upgrade hardware? Will a new license be required for any hardware upgrade?

Geez Louise this has been debunked already. Free for the first year means you have one year to get the upgrade for free. If you decide to wait then you'll have to pay for the upgrade. It's not free use for one year then pay. Windows 10 probably won't be released before Oct so you'll have to Oct 2016 to decide if a free upgrade is worth it or not. In my book that's plenty of time to figure that out.

jap
Premium Member
join:2003-08-10
038xx

1 edit

jap to Tator

Premium Member

to Tator
said by Tator :

Does this mean the monthly subscription possibility [...] has been abandoned by Microsoft?

I think Wily-One answered correctly.
said by Tator :

Also the link provided by jap seems to conclude license is for life of the hardware. Does this mean a new license will be required in the event a hard drive fails [...] ?

No. Hardware generally means the motherboard but MS (and others) catalog mobo, processor chips onboard and some undisclosed list of other hardware. In the past if everything not soldered to the board changed they may or may not consider that a "new" machine but if you called and explained what you did and why then the license was invariably re-activated. So far I've seen no reason to think this practice will change.

Until now there has been two licensing options for home/SOHO purchasers: license-tied-to-hardware (AKA OEM) or license-tied-to-human (AKA retail). For the "free" upgrade to win10 their language I've seen so far does seem to suggest that all upgraded licenses will be tied-to-hardware regardless of whether the originating license was retail or OEM. We're in wait&see mode for clarification.

Because we do have an entire year within which to make the switch to win10 there's really no reason to get stressed about this detail. In my case I have one activated win7HP-retail, one activated winVistaHP, one convertible non-profit (not eligible for "free" win10 conversion), and one unopened win8.1 upgrade which will inherit the license type of whatever it upgrades.

If MS indeed does stick to the apparent force-everything-to-OEM plan plus I want to adopt w10 across all my windows systems then I'll build or buy a new machine containing a motherboard with longterm service capabilities & apply the win7-retail to that hardware prior to converting to win10 OEM.

But I may well wish to keep a win7 or win8 machine or two on hand. Or I may get off ass and move more irreversibly to linux and/or androidPC. It's too soon to know.

DarkLogix
Texan and Proud
Premium Member
join:2008-10-23
Baytown, TX

DarkLogix to JohnInSJ

Premium Member

to JohnInSJ
said by JohnInSJ:

before win7 goes out of support.

win7 is out of mainline support now.
MS is now only providing windows updates for 7 but the free call in support is ended.