How did you get rid of Bing, Diana?(said Bob Hope to Dorothy Lamour!) I'm having trouble doing so.
I agree with easiest upgrade since DOS. Despite it being long it did not get stuck and come up with feeble excuses and blame either, which 8.1 upgrades often did. As for comparing it with 7, yes but with refinements I like such as being able to get up my local weather forecasts permanently instead of searching (I have several meteo stations up though, since they are never consistent!) for the windows version. Since the initial upgrade, I have two upgrades that I have been aware of, perhaps more but tend not to pay much attention unless they stop me working.
I'm a techie so of course I wanted to try it out as soon as Win 10 went live. I had not been beta-testing it - I leave the hard work to others now. I usually wait for the first round of updates before jumping in (I learned that lesson when beta-testing Vista, when Vista was released before our test results had been received). For once MS are recognising that they may have compatibility issues with some less common hardware and in part this is why Win 10 is free for the first year. (If it is a disaster it is relatively easy to return to the old version).
I was very cautious - as a retired Helpdesk Manager I should be. I reserved Win 10 upgrades for 5 laptops, 4 of which are 8.1 running Classic Shell to look like the Win 7 one. I backed up my machines, audited all software, got rid of everything I didn't want, cleaned up the disk and defragged. I have NEVER installed a new operating system without formatting the hard drive, this goes against everything I believe in, but I was prepared to give it a go on my newest but least used mini Asus laptop to explore the worst case scenario. Fortunately this was the first machine to receive the Upgrade.
The install went more smoothly than any previous Microsoft product. Most of the Win 8.1 nonsense was gone and the rest was easy to remove (like the tile panel which pops up when you hit Start). Edge is just a new browser, once personalised by removing Bing and all the permissions for Microsoft to track and observe, it was worth trying out. Cortana can remain inactive: if I ever need to converse with my computer my life will effectively be over, but that's probably just me. ALL existing programs work as normal without needing reinstallation (many are updating themselves quietly with Win 10 tweaks), ALL peripherals work fine (again new drivers are being downloaded in the background) and there is no noticeable reduction in performance. This is the big surprise, and a very welcome one as it has been the easiest upgrade since my first DOS build.
Following the install, customisations and checks I uninstalled Classic Shell and couldn't spot the difference.
Basically, Win 8 was an error of judgment - I know many people love it but few businesses adopted it. Win 10 is virtually Win 7 updated slightly with enough bits of Win 8 remaining to save MS's face and avoid the need to admit that Win 10 is really Win 7. Confidence will, I believe, be restored among business users and Win 7 installations may be able to cope with new machines running Win 10 alongside colleagues with Win 7 - Win 7 and Win 8 drivers will work in most cases.
Win 8 users who hate Win 8 should take advantage of the upgrade after backing up, auditing and cleaning up the disk. Win 7 users may not feel it is worthwhile but as little hassle is involved I would suggest that it is worth upgrading while the upgrade is free to personal users, as support for Win 7 will end in due course and cause the same worries as did cessation of XP support. If you haven't received the upgrade yet, you can jump straight in and download it for free, but I'm waiting for it to arrive on its own. If you adore the touch-screen elements of 8.1, and are used to it, then stick with 8.1. as Win 10 may look like a step backwards.
If you have XP, on an older machine, you are not eligible for the free upgrade, so you will need to weigh up the compatibility of your hardware and driver availability against the £100 price tag. If you buy a £300 laptop from eBuyer today it will run Win 10 for years and perform better than the old XP one. You could run the old one into the ground and postpone any costs, as ever "if it ain't broke don't fix it" applies. There is no pressure, you're in charge.
If you are very cautious then install your upgrade in a few months' time, and only when you have received plenty of feedback here! So far I can only confirm that 1 Asus and 1 HP have upgraded without problems, the second Asus will be upgraded next week (between visitors) the second HP is waiting for the download in the UK and the Win 7 Acer has heard nothing at all.
I hope this helps.
Having read "most" of the article, I don't think I will bother. I don't see enough benefits to make the switch worthwhile after considering the potential pitfalls.
Perhaps in a couple of years when I'm thinking of changing my PC things may well have changed?? "Touch wood" at present windows 7 is doing a good job.....had I already got "8" I would probably be thinking differently....
I downloaded it a couple of days ago for free...bit boring and so far, can't see much advantages for having it over 8.1? Certainly wouldn't buy it.
The article hits the nail on the head fair and square. Windows 10 is good though. I took the plunge and pre-booked upgrading, therefore had it on day one of the 'new age' by letting it do its hours of whatever whilst I had breakfast, walked dogs, had a shower and who knows what else. My daughter's laptop is older than my system, so took even longer on her pre-booking. The other young woman with a new (last Christmas) laptop is looking at how it shapes out before she goes for it and my better half reckons she simply does not have time spare for a long upgrade, but then she does not always accept any of them and may well be asking for snail's pace plus when she inevitably follows.
It is good overall. Attractive enough, but the MS have always glammed up to cover over their wrinkles, quick and clean as an OS and turning down the umpteen 'offers' that will cost good money is actually easy. It is as yet to see what follows and which disadvantages from not buying some of them bring, but then MS did that with 7 and 8.1 respectively to an extent. I never bought any of those upgrades or add ons and never found any real disadvantages, this naturally remains to be see. There are glitches, effects on other software that need to be accepted or overcome. In my case, the software for my sounds, at least the speakers, died on me. So I simply went out looking for something compatible to both and now have it all back.
Of course, I have an open mind and when issues arise am prepared. However, over the decades since hooked up to a 'mainbrain' that filled my office at the time with boxes of punch cards and reams of concertinaed paper everywhere, so-called glitches have been legion. The day somebody comes up with a 'perfect' software competition, alternatives and great big chunks of progress will be over. I somehow prefer the glitches that just about keep the human quality of imperfection as an integral part of a package. So for me, thus far, Windows 10 is OK.
I have finally managed to install it on a spare PC but haven't had much chance to play with it. I couldn't use the automatic upgrade from W8.1 as it didn't like my Nvidia video card but I did find an iso file that did install. Just about to load Office on it so I can do some work