Should I Stay or Should I Go… To Windows 10?

There’s only a small amount of time left for Windows 10 to be a free upgrade from Windows 7/8.* The burning question in many people’s minds is whether they should stick with their current operating system or move on to the newest from Microsoft. Unfortunately, the answer is usually not an easy one for us to tell you. You’ll have to do a little bit of soul searching yourself. And yes, this is a long post but it may be beneficial in the long run to read it in it’s entirety.

Windows 10 started out as a beta-like piece of a software with bugs, holes, and straight-up broken aspects. Early adopters who installed it on their computers (which didn’t fit the perfect mold) may have found themselves hitting a brick wall with Windows 10, with their only recourse backing out to their previous operating system. Times have changed and today, with all of it’s critical updates, Windows 10 is a lot more solid and frankly a pleasure to use.

Windows 10 is quicker than 7 or 8 with just about everything – turning on, off, and opening Windows are what you’ll probably notice the most. It’s design is up to the user if they like it but it’s basically a mixture of Windows 7 and 8. The combination seems to bring out the best of both.

Windows 10 will of course be supported by Microsoft and software companies for longer than the older operating systems. This would be a way to future-proof software purchased which may not still support Windows 7.

Now Windows 10 isn’t the gleaming diamond that Microsoft wants you to think it is. It has it’s share of issues and consequences when updating. The great thing is Microsoft allows us to revert back to the previous operating system within 30 days of the upgrade. The bad thing is we don’t know exactly what will happen after July 29* with this. The safe guess is you won’t be able to get Windows 10 for free again.

The other issues aren’t unique with Windows 10 but should still be stated that older software and hardware may not be compatible with Windows 10. We’d recommend researching to see if your older piece of software will work with it or finding compatible drivers for hardware.** Here’s a hint to Quickbooks users: Quickbooks 2015 is the earliest year you can use with Windows 10.

There will probably be a day or two of getting used to the new operating system based on your level of using a computer. Everything is mostly in the same spot but may have a slightly different look. Overall, if you are used to using Windows 7 or 8, Windows 10 shouldn’t be too different and very usable.

So of course we finish off by asking if Windows 10 is right for you? Give us a call and we can discuss your options. If you decide to stick with your current operating system, we can even remote into your computer and turn off those annoying Windows 10 upgrade pops. If you decide to upgrade to Windows 10, just know that you can always revert back to your previous operating system 30 days from the upgrade date. And if you’re wondering, we’ve updated all of our computers to Windows 10 in the shop because we do believe that it has become a good solid operating system.

*The deadline for Windows 10 free upgrade is July 29, 2016.

**Or have us upgrade your computer to Windows 10 – call us at 503-263-2222 for more information.