Windows 10

[mad_jock]

BBC News - Windows 10 to get 'holographic' headset and Cortana (http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30924022)

I still think they would be better having a XP front end option.

Oh and the OS they need to give free upgrades from is XP never mind 7 and 8.

Its still hanging in there with 18% usage above win8/8.1 at 13%

[Booglebox]

Is the W10 front end so different from XP?
Colour it blue, enable taskbar labels, and remove all "tiles" from the start menu and I think it's pretty similar...

[dazdaz1]

I'm running W7 Was considering buying a new lappy with W8 might hang on now and take the free W10 That is, pending reviews of W10

[mad_jock]

It needs to be so similar its exactly the same. In fact put a box on the first log in do you want this to look and and act like win xp.

[ExXB]

What happened to Windows 4, 5, 6 and 9? (Rhetorical question)

Thank goodness they are giving it away free for a year, but does that mean that its 'free for a year' and you'll have to pay next year, (Like Office 365) or that it's free this year, but if you want it next year it could cost you?

Wonder if it also means that they will be providing it free, for a year, to OEMs. Somehow that doesn't seem very likely.

[Bushfiva]

You have one year to upgrade from eligible systems.

[dazdaz1]

Would I have to save my all photos/videos/saved word documents before updating to W10 ? Would W7 be permanently deleted/overwritten?

It might be prudent to update, my reason of thinking, how long for, will W7 be supported with updates?

[le Pingouin]

Win7 has just entered the extended support phase (security updates only) and support ceases January 2020:

Microsoft Product Lifecycle Search (http://support2.microsoft.com/lifecycle/search/default.aspx?alpha=windows+7).


Back-ups are always prudent, particularly when upgrading an OS. You never know when you'll select the wrong option and wipe your drive or trip over the power cord half way through.

It would be best to consider Win7 gone if you do an upgrade. Assuming you have your Win7 installation disc and key you'd be able to reinstall - recovering a previously installed version of Windows may be possible but don't rely on it.

I guess in part it depends on whether you think the system in question will still be in use in 5 years time. Then again if it's free and you can cope with reinstalling Win7 if necessary and MS does a reasonable job this time around then why not?

[dazdaz1]

Thank you le Pingouin for that info.

[Rwy in Sight]

Bushfiva,

Once you upgrade would you still need to pay or all updates are received free of charge?

[KBPsen]

This is more than a one-time upgrade: once a Windows device is upgraded to Windows 10, we will continue to keep it current for the supported lifetime of the device – at no additional charge.The next generation of Windows: Windows 10 (http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/01/21/the-next-generation-of-windows-windows-10/)

[ExXB]

Well Bravo to Microsoft! Even though they weren't the first to adopt this policy it's very good to see that they have done so.

[FullOppositeRudder]

From the announcement in the link above:

We also believe that interacting with technology should be as natural as interacting with people – using voice, pen, gestures and even gaze for the right interaction, in the right way, at the right time. That should be interesting.... :8

[Guest 112233]

(...) we will continue to keep it current for the supported lifetime of the device(...)

That depends on the Device.

An install DVD/CD is yours

A downloaded .iso file is yours: OK its possibly out of sequence and needs support updates. You can still install it (keys permitting) as above. Updates you may pay for its your choice and an action of your volition.

A token card posted to you and a necessary concomitant act of installation, dependent; on an existing internet connection, is a conditional offer of service obtained under a potential constraint, you can potentially claim back your costs if the internet fails during the install. Note the additional insurance on some sites.

The offer of a product, although without an initial charge, within its potential offer, does not contain, protection (without prejudice), that forthcoming potentially essential upgrades, of the installed product, denoted by established trade marks, dependent though they may be on the installation of the initial product, any guarantee, that succeeding enhancements will also be offered without charge. Has anyone seen the terms and conditions associated with the sales of Windows 10 ?

[ExXB]

With another OS, you can burn a copy of the instillation file to a USB chip. I regularly do this with every major update.

This also means one download, if you have more than one machine.

I would imagine the same would be possible with Windows, with or without MS's support.

[MidlandDeltic]

Looks to me like a strategy to avoid another end of XP support disaster by forcing updates whether users want them or not - which will doubtless include silly interface ideas each time. If it is free (including updates) how are they going to make money? My guess is through targeted advertising direct to the desktop, using data gathered by this "Cortona" "assistant" rubbish. I hope you will be able to turn such rubbish off (along with one drive, etc, etc)

MD (Grumpy Old Man!)

[Rwy in Sight]

I put this thread up again to ask if any PPRuNer updated from Win 8 to 10 taking up the offer?

Rwy in Sight

[mixture]

I put this thread up again to ask if any PPRuNer updated from Win 8 to 10 taking up the offer?

As far as I know, Windows 10 has not yet even gone Gold Master, so its far from being released.

Only idiots install beta software on their production computers, and only morons install beta operating systems on their production computers !

Not intended to insult or offend anybody (and, for the avoidance of doubt those words were NOT targeted at Rwy in Sight specifically !) , just spelling out the harsh reality of IT, especially Microsoft software !

Rule number 2 (rule number one is BACKUP !!!!) of IT is that you don't install beta/preview software on a machine you use for real work !

If you've got a dummy box or virtual machine you want to play with Windows 10 on then fine... go to the MS website and grab it ... but if you're remotely contemplating installing a preview operating system on your primary computer .... don't .... just don't ....

[henry_crun]

What on earth are they talking about, Mabel? Are they still using hard drives and pre-android software? Why, for Heaven's sake?

[Booglebox]

Looks to me like a strategy to avoid another end of XP support disaster by forcing updates whether users want them or not - which will doubtless include silly interface ideas each time. If it is free (including updates) how are they going to make money? My guess is through targeted advertising direct to the desktop, using data gathered by this "Cortona" "assistant" rubbish. I hope you will be able to turn such rubbish off (along with one drive, etc, etc)

Partly true, but you can switch from the consumer-default rapid release branch to a longer-term-supported branch, with intervals of about 2 years. You can skip one of those releases and still be supported (I think the LTS releases will be supported for 5 years).
As for advertising and Cortana... let's hope that common sense prevails.

[seacue]

from BoogleboxI think the LTS releases will be supported for 5 yearsSounds like Ubuntu / Linux Mint.

[Booglebox]

Yep, it's the same idea. Here (http://blogs.windows.com/business/2015/01/30/windows-10-for-enterprise-more-secure-and-up-to-date/)is some more info. I was wrong earlier; you get security updates (extended support) for 10 years for each LTS release, like a normal MS OS release.
Here's the relevant paragraph:

However, we understand that businesses require more control in how updates are delivered, and at what pace. For example, systems powering hospital emergency rooms, air traffic control towers, financial trading systems, factory floors, just to name a few, may need very strict change management policies, for prolonged periods of time. To support Windows 10 devices in these mission critical customer environments we will provide Long Term Servicing branches at the appropriate time intervals. On these branches, customer devices will receive the level of enterprise support expected for the mission critical systems, keeping systems more secure with the latest security and critical updates, while minimizing change by not delivering new features for the duration of mainstream (five years) and extended support (http://support2.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;%5bln%5d;lifecycle) (five years). On Long Term Servicing branches, customers will have the flexibility to deliver security updates and fixes via Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) which allows full control over the internal distribution of updates using existing management solutions such as System Center Configuration Manager (http://blogs.technet.com/b/configmgrteam/archive/2014/09/30/windows-10-enterprise-management-with-sc-configmgr-and-intune.aspx) or to receive these updates automatically via Windows Update.