# Windows 10 Free Upgrade for Windows 7 and up



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

For Windows 7 it sounds like the free upgrade will only be available for the first year of release, after that there will be a charge.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/01/windows-10-free-for-all-windows-8-1-and-windows-7-users-for-first-year/


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

After the mess that was Windows 8, this is sounding like a big carrot. This is also a big inducement for the companies to upgrade quickly.

Oh wait, who am I kidding? Companies are slower to upgrade than consumers.


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## KyL416 (Nov 11, 2005)

It depends what their definition of "upgrade" is, if it's like the "custom" upgrade they had for XP to 7 or 7 to 8.1 where you have to reinstall everything after upgrading, many companies (and users) will probably wait.

Adoption will probably be faster if they provide a true upgrade path where everything is retained and there isn't any major changes breaking compatibility with some essential programs. (i.e. software used to operate machinery in factories)


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

I haven't done an upgrade of 7 to 10 on the Technical Preview, but it's an in place upgrade. I would say I'll do that next week, with the consumer preview, but not sure my wife will let me upgrade her PC.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Excellent.


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

dpeters11 said:


> I haven't done an upgrade of 7 to 10 on the Technical Preview, but it's an in place upgrade. I would say I'll do that next week, with the consumer preview, but not sure my wife will let me upgrade her PC.


She will probably wait and let you test it out for a few weeks / months first before she changes.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Mark Holtz said:


> Oh wait, who am I kidding? Companies are slower to upgrade than consumers.


Companies don't like throwing caution to the wind ... if something works, it works. XP kept going because the next thing did NOT work well for business. Windows 7 finally became a stable OS for business and now Microsoft is pushing people to the next thing?

It is hard to trust Microsoft and go to their next operating system when they keep changing what the next operating system is. Throw caution to the wind and upgrade to 7, no 8, no 8.1, no 9, no 10. How long until 11?

And then get all the vendor software to work in the newer OS releases.

I do not blame businesses one bit for staying with stable OS releases. Not one bit at all.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

James Long said:


> Companies don't like throwing caution to the wind ... if something works, it works. XP kept going because the next thing did NOT work well for business. Windows 7 finally became a stable OS for business and now Microsoft is pushing people to the next thing?
> 
> It is hard to trust Microsoft and go to their next operating system when they keep changing what the next operating system is. Throw caution to the wind and upgrade to 7, no 8, no 8.1, no 9, no 10. How long until 11?
> 
> ...


You are quite correct. It's really a matter of survival for businesses. They can't shut down operations while the folks in marketing and accounting take a couple of months to figure things out or to buy 171 new computers with adequate RAM. With that said....

Businesses that are Windows-based software oriented, and that means most businesses, are going to have to upgrade to 10 or a later version within two years. The fact is, I'm sitting here using a Surface Pro 2 with 8.1. Like it or not the "touch screen slate form factor"computer device will replace the desktop for most workers outside of IT departments. It permits mobile functionality in ways not seen prior to 2013, mobile functionality that is the new way of working for the generations that are replacing the baby boomers. It's that simple.

And all the grumbling notwithstanding, it's no biggie to make 8.1 function like you want it to, close to what you are used to. In fact I was able to make some software originally designed for Windows 3.1 that was barely upgraded for XP run in 8.1 when it wouldn't run in 7 except using an XP emulation mode.

The advantage to having used 8.1 on a "touch screen slate form factor"computer for over a year is that I've gotten familiar with using a power computer within a business environment as a desktop replacement and a tablet and a laptop. I don't like how the world wastes time in meetings, but hey at that conference table I have power-computing access to everything I would use in my office and that is the way it is going to be.

I realize that I started with an IBM 360 mainframe in 1970 and have had to develop patience along with perseverance to withstand the frustrations of 45 years of computer changes. This is just one more. I admit I'm uncomfortable with "THE CLOUD" but I have learned that Microsoft for business and Amazon for leisure do "THE CLOUD" well as an integrated element.

It's just that any sixth grader with decent hacking skills could.... Oh quit being an old fart, phrelin. :sure:


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

jimmie57 said:


> She will probably wait and let you test it out for a few weeks / months first before she changes.


Yeah, she may want to play with it on one of mine first.


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## Drucifer (Feb 12, 2009)

I'm going to jump on this deal. As anything design for a smart home in the foreseeable future will probably be associated this version of Windows.


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

I work with multiple corporate customers, so I'm familiar with the issue that they are facing. I can understand the caution they exercise, including the fact that they like to wait until the first service pack before even considering upgrading. Some companies held back on upgrading from XP to Windows 7 until late last year.... after the XP EOL and the sticker shock for extended support.

I can understand the hesitation. There was an old adage that you never upgrade until the first service pack is released. Because Vista was so different from XP in the underlying structure that new drivers were needed, and that broke a lot of things. Windows 7 fixed the problems of Windows Vista, and is a good OS. Then, what happens? Windows 8 came along and decided that the future was tablets and the TETRIS interface. Windows 10 appears to fix the UI issues of Windows 8.

And then, there is the adage of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". When you change the user interface, you have to train the workers for the new interface, and there is always going to be resistance. Salespeople are going to complain that if they are in training, they aren't in sales making money. Unlike those of us who use the computer on a daily basis and essentially make our living from computers, there are folks who do not appreciate change. (Sigh)


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

And just to remind everyone, Windows 7 support ends January 2020 

And typically the more versions you skip, the more difficult it is unless you just get a new PC (though with drivers, you may need to do that anyway...)


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

I will switch to it, probably, as soon as I can see a few reviews of it. Right now I have one PC on XP that is very old, 2 running Win 7 and my new phone is on 8.1. It would be nice for them all to operate the same.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Following WIN10 on multiple device forums....it is being very thoroughly tested. It's clear MS has a lot at stake on this version, and the release (including the strategy of free upgrades) is designed to grow the allegiance, as well as bolster sales of complimentary products such as MS Office and cloud services.

I have 5 different devices, mostly WIN8.1 (which works very well here) and 1 with WIN7 - all will get WIN10 when released.


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## boukengreen (Sep 22, 2009)

if its not out when i get my new laptop i upgrade as soon as it does come out and from all the previews this looks like a decent os


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

I expect to upgrade my Win 7 laptop to Win 10 when it's officially released and if it's free. I don't have that many programs on the laptop; if some of them fail to work in Win 10 it's not a problem.

I'm happily using Windows 8.1 on my desktop. That should be good for many more years.


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

I'm curious to know how many folks here are participating in the Windows 10 insider program and how the OS is installed. Does it require all your programs to be reinstalled, as in prior upgrades, or is the installation seamless? How is the security? Do you experience crashes? I don't want to jump in blindly.


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## WestDC (Feb 9, 2008)

"Please Wait" LOL!


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Cholly said:


> I'm curious to know how many folks here are participating in the Windows 10 insider program and how the OS is installed. Does it require all your programs to be reinstalled, as in prior upgrades, or is the installation seamless? How is the security? Do you experience crashes? I don't want to jump in blindly.


I'm in the insider program, updated from 8.1, nothing needed reinstalled. It has crashed a few times, but probably less than 5, and I installed it when it first became available in October. I have used it as my primary PC.

I haven't tried to hack into it, it does get Windows updates.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

One of Paul Thurrott's sources has said that it could go live as soon as today.

Oh and it should go without saying, but the upgrade from Windows 7 will only work from SP1, not 7 RTM. I believe the same is true for 8, 8.0 will need to go to 8.1 first.


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## John Strk (Oct 16, 2009)

I watched most of the Windows 10 event live stream. Very excited about Windows 10. Glad they made it a free upgrade too. Can't wait to try out the new universal apps, Cortana on the desktop, and new action center settings/notifications. Looks awesome! And HoloLens looks very impressive.

I'm still running 8.1 at home and have not tried the technical preview yet but I'll probably wait until the full customer preview is released. But the Windows 10 Insider preview for phones should be released sometime in February. Looking forward to that.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

It's out, though not being called a Consumer Preview, and not the same as they demoed.

http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/01/23/january-build-now-available-to-the-windows-insider-program/


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

I was concerned about the technical preview when I found out they can and probably do capture every key stroke that you make.

I wonder if the consumer one will be the same.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

It does collect more information than normal, including some typed text to improve things like autocomplete, but I think they keylogger aspect has been blown out of proportion. And it collects the amount of data it does for specific reasons, since it's a test version and they are doing it to get feedback from the system and user to know what to change or improve.


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## Drucifer (Feb 12, 2009)

I'm going to wait until the end of the '15 MLB season before upgrading.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

dpeters11 said:


> It does collect more information than normal, including some typed text to improve things like autocomplete, but I think they keylogger aspect has been blown out of proportion. And it collects the amount of data it does for specific reasons, since it's a test version and they are doing it to get feedback from the system and user to know what to change or improve.


Oh I know and have no issue with the idea but then again I don't want them logging the key strokes of my passwords.


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

I just finished installing Windows 10 Preview. It's a lengthy process, but they do let you know just what's going on. One thing missing is support for Windows Media Center, which really doesn't bother me at this point in time.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> Oh I know and have no issue with the idea but then again I don't want them logging the key strokes of my passwords.


I don't think they actually do that, but then I don't enter anything other than my Lastpass master password, and they wouldn't be able to get in with just that either.


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## kc1ih (May 22, 2004)

There could also be a BIOS update needed. Hell, when I put Win7 Service Pack 1 on my HP laptop (from Win7) it never ran properly until I did a BIOS update. I've never had a problem like that on my Mac, I'm running 10.10 just fine on a Mac Mini that originally came with 10.5 (except that I had to increase the memory).


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

I think apple does firmware updates through the normal software update function. My surface gets them through Windows Update.


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## bobnielsen (Jun 29, 2006)

Apple sends updates via the App Store. They are pushed, but you can opt out.

I bought a refurbished Macbook which came with 10.6 and I was able to upgrade to 10.9 without any intermediate steps.


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