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Free upgrades to windows 10 for users of 8.1 and W7

Jan 21, 2015 4:48AM PST

Discussion is locked

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I don't see how to get the upgrade
Jan 21, 2015 4:54AM PST

Is it downloadable or for purchase from Microsoft website or ordered/purchased by disc like it was for W95/98/XP as a separate boxed purchase from a retailer?

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Re: upgrade
Jan 21, 2015 5:02AM PST

I'm afraid you'll have wait half a year or so for your free upgrade (from Windows 7 or Cool to Windows 10. When it becomes available, they'll surely tell you how to get it.

Kees

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Sounds too good to be true
Jan 21, 2015 5:45AM PST

From what I read, however, folks with older Windows 7 machines might not want to go through the trouble...especially if they have a retail version of Windows. It appears that your free upgrade dies with your device so you can't move it. So be it, and not the worst that can happen. I imagine this offer is being made for good reasons...one of them being a sort of damage control. MS, like any giant, attracts a lot of negative press. The king of the hill is probably the one who gets the least sleep.

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So What
Jan 21, 2015 7:23AM PST

The folks with OEM Windows 7 can create an image disk and upgrade to whatever they want , if they don't don't like the 8.1 or 10 than we can just go back to our Win 7 image disc and reload what they're comfy with.

I think they should go through the trouble as you put it and roll the dice.

I've been having fun with Win 10 and for now I consider Win 10 to be open source and everyting just works.
I can't say that for Linux.

Digger

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A disk image is exactly what I'd do prior to
Jan 21, 2015 8:43AM PST

such and upgrade. There's always a chance things won't work to one's satisfaction so an escape route should be planned for. My home built rig with Win 7 is 5+ years old. I bought an upgrade version of Win 7 at a pre-release discounted price. The upgrade was from XP Pro and Win 7 permitted me to just attach the hard drive to the new rig to qualify. I then had to retire the XP machine. If I ever wanted to do a clean re-installation, I'd need that same disk or a clone of it to use with my upgrade package. At this point, I can't see trying to upgrade this old machine to Win 10. When it dies, it dies. I'll probably just buy a new copy when the time comes. If my rig was younger with more life expectancy, I might consider the free upgrade as long as I could bail out if need be.

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Uh uh
Jan 21, 2015 8:53AM PST

if you have Win 7 installed, you can create an image disc and create exactly what you're using now ,
any time you choose, you can restore the computer to that time no matter how many different os's you try,
I can make mine Vista as I have the original media I created and I can make mine Win 7 as I did the upgrade and made restore media for that also.

Digger

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I make complete images weekly
Jan 21, 2015 5:31PM PST

as part of my backup scheme. At any one time I can go back about 6 weeks if I choose as I periodically remove the old images to conserve space. I use two extra hard drives in the scheme. Any time I make a change such as to install some newly purchased software, I do that after the weekly image. I have had to revert back to an old image now and then but not often. It's still worth it when it happens. I can be back up and running in 20 minutes. I dread changing an OS and will usually build a new PC in advance of retiring an old one. I install the OS and software very slowly creating images along the way and labeling them for where I was. I'll move to that PC but keep the old one for a time. The transition takes a couple of months or more. I don't know if my upgrade copy of Windows 7 would transfer well to new hardware, however, so I can't see upgrading to Windows 10 that way. There's nothing like fresh start to make a PC perky again. This old rig has never had Win7 reinstalled since day one. It still runs almost flawlessly. I've had a few incidents where the PC would become unresponsive and I'd need to do a hard reset but I've yet to see a blue screen in over 5 years. I can't complain. Windows 7 has been a good horse.

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I just back up my home folder in linux
Jan 21, 2015 8:15PM PST

Even if my system crashed and burned, I can boot the LIVE DVD and use it's fully operational operating system until I can correct or reinstall. The worst that's happened to me however in Linux is losing the boot and having to reinstall it, sort of like running FIXBOOT and FIXMBR in Windows XP.

Right now I'm running over 100 days since my computer has even rebooted once, and no crash,
and that's with upgrades installed during that time which don't require reboots in Linux. The only time I must reboot for an update is if I wanted to update the kernel in the system, which is unnecessary if all the devices are working properly.

Since my internet computer is lightweight AMD Sempron that is 45W at it's peak and idles around 20W if not less, the CPU only contributes less than a kilowatt per day, maybe another for the rest of the computer (motherboard, RAM, drives which power down when idle), so about 25-50 cents of power a day to use "always on" and always ready. Wake from sleep takes about 10-15 seconds to do the next day.

I've been running windows 10 evaluation copy inside Virtual Box program. Wife has W7 and daughter using XP, so looking more toward the W10 upgrade for them.

I had my daughter, youngest now 15, try out some Linux versions, Ubuntu Studio, Linux Mint, Linux Cinnamon, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, to see if she'd be interested in one of them to replace XP. I thought she'd prefer Ubuntu Studio (Linux version of Media Center) with all it's sound and video programs, but no, like a teenager, she went for something unexpected to me. She wants Lubuntu first and Linux MATE as a backup system. My only problem is she needs iTunes and I don't think that runs in Linux, so may have to drop a lean copy of XP into a virtual box for that program to be available to her. I'm going to burn a Zorin DVD since it uses similar iconography to Lubuntu, but has more programs that install with it, see if she'd prefer that instead.

My wife won't go to W10 from W7 unless her workplace does, and since she now works for the state govt, that could be awhile, unless the state gets the same free upgrade offered.

As for me, I can't think of anything I need windows for that I can't do same or similar from Linux. My main objection to it, other than cost of a full new version, is I feel more secure in Linux, and from what I've seen in W10, unless you are sure to turn off a lot it installs with, even more data is collected about you and your computer use than ever before. Big Brother, or maybe Little Brother doing it for Big Brother.

One thing Windows needs to do to become more attractive is to have LIVE DVD's like Linux does, so in a pinch you can boot to a fully functional, even if limited, operating system that can be used till repair of the installed system can be done later when one has more time to deal with it.

Upgrading from W8.1 to W10 is definitely a good idea for those wanting Windows, not so sure for those using W7, but for now the upgrade offer will only be for a year from release, so something for W7 users to strongly consider.

I think this approach is a good move on Microsoft's part, they do need to mend some fences with those who were disappointed, even angry, with the interface and other changes of windows 8, and the irritants in Vista.

W8 made Vista look like a better choice. I remember picking up Basic Vista copies for around $25 and Home Premium about $35-40 when everyone was dumping them on EBay and going back to XP. The Vista prices jumped back up when XP was nearing end and W8 was released and people had a chance to see it, LOL. I tried Vista for a few months, but uninstalled it and ran fixboot and fixmbr to get my XP back running again (Vista had taken over the boot process).

About a year before XP was due to end updates I ran about 10 Linux varieties in VPC2007 and then in Virtual Box when some failed to run in the Microsoft virtual system. I installed Kubuntu, went through about 2 month learning curve, but a few months later after finding Mint MATE, I switched over to it. I've been using Linux full time since April 2013, a full year before XP support expired. It might not be for everyone, but has all I need in it, especially my favorite browser Firefox, and favorite email program, Thunderbird.

There are some who must stay with windows, those who run certain action games, tax preparation softwares, favorite programs unable to run in Linux, MS Office (Libre Office is available in Linux), etc.

Retirees are the perfect niche for installing a good desktop version of Linux. It's free. Most are only interested in browser and email functions, and it fulfills that quite adequately. If something goes wrong, they can run the full DVD system till someone can fix it for them, or they fix it if able. More secure, less virus and trojans to worry about. Mom never used a computer, didn't want to, but if Dad was still alive, I'd have no reservations about moving him over to Linux for personal use after he retired from his business.

Between Windows and Linux it's now less a matter of difficulty versus cost considerations, and more a matter of choice, although for some, the cost of windows would now tip it in favor of Linux.

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I'm willing to be that if the majority of home users
Jan 22, 2015 1:18AM PST

ran Linux instead of Windows, you'd see more folks out there searching for and exploiting whatever vulnerabilities exist. What fisherman vacations in a state with the fewest lakes and streams? As for retirees, I'd agree that for simple Internet and email, Linux would be fine. But, if they've grown accustomed to Windows, anything that changes what they've already learned tends to be unwelcome. Older folks can become stubborn about moving away from the familiar. I speak from experience. Happy

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The thing is, more Linux users than we ever expected.
Jan 22, 2015 1:23AM PST

Android is Linux with a great skin. At times I call it the new Windows.
Bob

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Well, Linux parts, FreeBSD, etc.
Jan 22, 2015 1:30AM PST

have been embedded in quite a number of diagnostic utilities as well. No one can see the man behind the curtain.

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Sadly our NSA is often the man behind the curtain.
Jan 22, 2015 1:33AM PST

Sorry off topic but Linux is there on so many things.

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Linux gives you the curtain
Jan 22, 2015 3:52AM PST

you can examine each thread. Microsoft has NEVER given source code to windows for you to examine.

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Lot of good info in the MS Windows 10 forum.
Jan 21, 2015 9:21AM PST
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he kept saying
Jan 21, 2015 11:02AM PST

"devices with windows 8.1" and for windows 7, and I wasn't sure if he meant anyone with those systems, or OEM buyers only. The question is why the change in approach by Microsoft, they've never done this before. I believe the clue is the continual mention of getting everyone in the windows world onto the same platform, and I expect that's because Microsoft is morphing into an Apple type company, deriving profite from the combination of device and operating system. I wouldn't be surprised if eventually the only way to get an windows operating system will be the same way you get an Apple operating system, you must buy the device with it already on it. It's the model that Google's been following with the Chromebooks too, which kicked MSFT's butt this past couple years.

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I believe by "devices" they're including phones & tablets
Jan 21, 2015 12:09PM PST

I agree they still want a common platform for app development, just like the original intent was with Windows 8. That's pointed out in another thread in that forum. They also say it includes OEMs and retailers alike. They're getting away from the "big release" every few years they've had in the past and plan to send out new developments to everyone on Windows 10 whenever they become available. One other reason I've read is that Apple is already doing something similar. This technology business is sure a fast changing one! It's a lot of fun, and it's great to see what anybody can do nowadays with a few hundred buck investment, but it sure a challenge to keep up with sometimes. One kicker is that this free upgrade is only going to be available for the first year after Windows 10 is released to manufacturers. Raises the question of what would folks have to do after that year goes by. Sill from my perspective it seems mostly good news - time will tell.

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what would stop people from
Jan 21, 2015 1:05PM PST

downloading the ISO and using it after the year was up for the upgrade. If it's based on date, one can set a computer date in BIOS previous to the cutoff date before installing the update, or burning it to disc.

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I've tried the BIOS date change with some software
Jan 21, 2015 5:36PM PST

and gotten burned when it calls home. The Win 10 upgrade requires an internet connection so it will be easy to figure out that something is amiss.