Sunday, June 21, 2015

To upgrade or not?

Having said yes to Microsoft's offer of a free for life upgrade to Windows 10, will I actually install the upgrade when it arrives?

If I was running Windows 8 or even 8.1 the answer would be definitely yes. Those two versions of the operating system were downright unpopular especially with those like me who have a desktop computer with a mouse and keyboard. It was designed for use with tablet computers or touch screens and is shows.

If I was running XP or Vista I would look at the ways I could upgrade to either version 7 or even 8.1 with the promise of a free upgrade to 10.

Once support for XP ran out it became open season for the hackers to find ways to explore its vulnerabilities. Without the regular security patches from Microsoft, XP is a problem waiting to happen for those who connect to the internet. Vista is still being supported by Microsoft and is a lot better now than it was to start with but I would still want to be rid of it.

The case for upgrading from version 7 though is less compelling. My last computer (a Dell running Windows 7) was mostly reliable and very rarely crashed to the "blue screen of death". When it did, it was the result of a rogue program rather than Windows itself. My current one is only a year old so it is early days yet - it too is running Windows 7.

Having trolled the internet for advice about whether to go ahead and upgrade from 7 to 10, the best answers seem to suggest, yes download it but then wait. The possibility of a program or two not working properly or worse still a device driver that is not supported is real.

Even though Microsoft have been testing Windows 10 for some time and have many users out there trialling it, there are bound to be some issues for the early takers. You have one year in which to install the system before the offer expires so waiting is not a real problem. 

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