Do I Upgrade?

Discussion in 'PC Help Desk' started by BobF, Jun 5, 2015.

  1. BobF

    BobF Well-Known Member

    I recently noticed a new icon in the system tray of my PC (I'm currently running Win7 Pro). For reasons unknown, Microsoft has apparently decided to offer me a free upgrade to Win10, full version, no strings attached, to be made available on July 29th. I'm not so sure what their angle is, but a free upgrade sure sounds tempting.

    Since there are a lot of people posting here with a lot more PC/IT/Web savvy than myself, I'd like to hear their opinions regarding the wisdom of this upgrade. I'm pretty content with Win7, but if I can get something newer for free from the normally-rapacious Microsoft, it sounds like a good deal.

    It also sounds a bit like one of those "too good to be true" offers.

    Informed opinions/insights welcome.
     
  2. BuzzMyMonkey

    BuzzMyMonkey Well-Known Member

    Just Do it,,,
     
  3. Hught

    Hught Well-Known Member

    My wife is an IT Director and she told me to go for it on my Surface Pro. Same deal on my tray, of course it came with Windows 8 which is why they are doing this.
     
    Sherry A. likes this.
  4. Wayne Stollings

    Wayne Stollings Well-Known Member

    I was warned about upgrading from 7 to 8 as there were supposedly problems they still needed to solve with 8. It was referenced in relation to the Star Trek movies .... every other one works. That may be why they went from 8 to 10 to throw us off as to which ones were probably the buggy ones. As Hugh said the issues with 8 might be the reason for the free upgrade and those who stuck with 7 might just need an incentive to try any new version in the beginning.
     
  5. bosoxfan

    bosoxfan Well-Known Member

    I think Windows 10 is going to be free for the first year if you have 7 or 8. No way I'd be first on the bandwagon to upgrade to 10. Let others have problems with it first, and then Microsoft can fix those bugs.
     
  6. BobF

    BobF Well-Known Member

    I found a pretty good articles here. describing what will change with the upgrade:

    http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2015/06/s...ows-10/#_ga=1.218313497.1497959360.1433763518

    and...

    http://gizmodo.com/here-are-the-features-microsoft-is-cutting-from-windows-1709512284

    I don't see any 'deal killers' in the upgrade, and any features removed from Win7 can be replaced with free second-party apps which look more robust than the Windows legacy stuff.

    I'll probably make the leap once the install date arrives.
     
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  7. Hught

    Hught Well-Known Member

    Other than having to update the USB drivers at the manufacturer websites, I will be pretty happy with these changes.

    Thanks
    Hugh
     
    Sherry A. likes this.
  8. Stinger_6

    Stinger_6 Well-Known Member

    I would wait a while if I were you. The first generation of software (especially from MS) always has bugs that need to be work out. Unfortunately, they use you and I as their test subjects. There were so many "upgraded" versions of Windows 95 that it got to be a running joke. Kinda like the "new and improved" laundry soap that the same company puts out every year.

    If you go ahead with Win 10, let us know what you think...
     
  9. BobF

    BobF Well-Known Member

    Well, the "launch" day has come and gone, but it appears that MS is releasing the update in 'waves', with the beta testers getting the first wave. So here I sit, waiting to get the Green Light...

    ...and it looks like it will be worth the wait.

    http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2488631,00.asp
     
  10. Hught

    Hught Well-Known Member

    Been using 10 for a couple of days now and it is so much better than 8.
     
  11. Wayne Stollings

    Wayne Stollings Well-Known Member

    The VP of Technology sent an email to employees in all divisions to not install Windows 10 until after IT had sufficient time to test it, which they estimate to take no longer than 6 months from their installation. When I asked him about it the concern was how such upgrades tended to cause issues with interaction with older programs. His example was how people often have to reset to an old point after a security update, but with a new operating system it can increase that issue by several factors. They want to know if you will have to re-install a large portion of your software before allowing any company computers to be upgraded.
     
  12. Hught

    Hught Well-Known Member

  13. BobF

    BobF Well-Known Member

    Hugh, thanks for passing that along. This is exactly the kind of information I was hoping to get when I created this thread. Since I don't have a Facebook account (or ANY Social Media account, for that matter), I'm not too concerned about my 'friends' lurking on my network, but even so, I'm going to heed the suggestion of the Author, and disable this option completely.
     
  14. space_cowboy

    space_cowboy Well-Known Member

    I got the upgrade on day 1... a little different from 8 but not much. It's a nice improvement so far.
     
  15. Wayne Stollings

    Wayne Stollings Well-Known Member

    Part of the agreement to use Windows 10:

    We will access, disclose and preserve personal data, including your content (such as the content of your emails, other private communications or files in private folders), when we have a good faith belief that doing so is necessary to protect our customers or enforce the terms governing the use of the services.


    A "good faith belief" by whom?
     
  16. Hught

    Hught Well-Known Member

    Bill!

    With the work I do I am pretty sure the government is checking me out anyways.
     
  17. Wayne Stollings

    Wayne Stollings Well-Known Member

    Yes, but they are supposed to have probable cause and a court order instead of just a "good faith corporate belief".
     
  18. Stinger_6

    Stinger_6 Well-Known Member

    So what's the deal, Bobhopper? Did you upgrade or not? My lapper went tango uniform a month ago and I went with Ubuntu. A couple of small bugs but overall I'm diggin' it.
     
  19. BobF

    BobF Well-Known Member

    Yes, I finally upgraded, but I can't say I'm all that impressed. The main "brag features" of Win 10 are the Cortana Personal Assistant and the Edge Browser. Since I don't use a microphone on my PC, Cortana is pretty useless to me, and the thought of 'her' listening to everything said within earshot of the mic creeps me out anyway. Additionally, I found that I simply detested the Edge browser and went back to IE 11 as soon as I could. It's clear that Microsoft offered this upgrade for free for the same reason almost everyone else offers applications for free...they want to track you and try to seek out more efficient ways to sell you crap you don't need.

    So I feel like I've pretty much got the Windows 7 capabilities in a fancier new shell. There are a few visual tweaks that are a bit nicer, but had I stayed with Win7 I don't think I would have been missing all that much.

    On a scale of 1 to 10, where Windows 7 was a "5", I rate Windows 10 a "6". A tiny bit better, but I certainly would have felt cheated if I plunked down real money for the upgrade.
     
    Stinger_6 and Hught like this.
  20. jesse82nc

    jesse82nc Well-Known Member

    I haven't used IE in like 5+ years, I can't imagine why I would use Edge.
     
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