Is there any hope for me to move on to Windows 10?

I have a desktop I built in 2011, running the Intel 1155 "Sandy Bridge" system, with an i5-2500K processor. Last August, I upgraded after Microsoft said "Compatible." *

I started having problems with the unit freezing on the spinning wheel after the November auto upgrade, and it was not until FEBRUARY that Microsoft realized that Intel chose not to upgrade the drivers to allow 1155 motherboards to run Win 10. DUH! I spent countless hours on the phone with MS Tech Support before someone finally told the phone reps the real scoop. They now say units before 2013 are too old.

I had to revert back to my Windows 7 Professional, which works fine. It was not as painful as I expected because most everything was saved into a "Windows-old" folder on the hard drive. ( I did back up beforehand to an external drive just in case.)

I now have a Win 10 laptop and a Win 7 desktop, and frankly there are not any major items to recommend one over the other. Stay with Win 7 and be happy.

* In hindsight, I should have called the motherboard manufacturer and asked them, but NO, I trusted Microsoft.

To expand on my reply above, the only reason to prefer Win 10 over Win 7 is the ability to use a touchscreen; and that is only a minor benefit, IMO.

The reason I am running Win 10 on my laptop is exactly for that reason, otherwise I would have gone back to Win 7 (the laptop came with Win so both computers would be on the same operating system.

I'm on an 1155 motherboard when I went to upgrade it wouldn't work. Eventually I got it to work by doing a clean install. Make a complete system backup. Download the windows 10 media creation tool. Even though you want 10 on this machine chose to create media for a different pc. Boot off the newly created usb or dvd. delete all partitions on the os hdd. install windows 10. if drivers for 10 are unavailable try windows 8 drivers they may just work. restore personal files from the backup.

that had the mistake in it.
Cheers,
-Lee

I had the same problems with my Sony Vaio laptop. The Upgrade Adviser said that my laptop would accept the upgrade, but I ran into countless problems, including the loss of bluetooth function and my web cam. When I finally went to the Sony website, they indicated that the Vaio Laptop would NOT upgrade with full function. The moral of the story obviously is NOT to trust the Upgrade Adviser and go straight to the manufacturer for the definitive answer.

I and a lot of my colleagues used and were very happy with Windows Me, like 98-SE2 with XP's easy configuration enhancements. True it needed 48 MB RAM rather than 32 MB (yes, folks, those are "M"s) but was very stable. How can this be? It was the UK edition, my US colleagues were tearing their hair out!

I agree with you about Win 8 though, possibly the worst thing Microsoft ever did and 8.0 isn't supported any longer, while 7 is. If the OP can't get to 10, then likely 8.1 wouldn't work either, that's when SSE2, NS and NX became mandatory.

I had Windows Me and I made it work well. However, Windows Me is commonly supposed to be the worst Windows version ever. Windows 8.x is just as bad or worse. I did not insult anyone.

she is very kind to you windows 10is total ****

Can't remember where I read it but WIN-7 support is going to end late in 2017. ??? Can anyone confirm?

You were informed improperly. Windows 7 support is good for several more years.

Although the "Mainstream Support" has ended, "Extended Support" still continues till January 2020. That means it will still get Windows Updates, etc. Of course, based on Microsoft's past extensions, it's possible it could be extended longer. See the link below for dates and answers to your questions about "Mainstream" vs "Extended"..

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13853/windows-lifecycle-fact-sheet

Hope this helps.

Grif

But I still argue that Microsoft's privacy policy is not that much different than that of Google. They ALL spy on you and privacy is a dead issue regardless of what you do. The only way to have your privacy these days is to cut all of the wires going to your computer. Starting with the power cord. True, as many point out, few are FORCED to use Google while Microsoft is the OS.

Microsoft has always been into pushing the latest hardware. They DO have a stake in it! The stake is they are going to be adding so much stuff to Windows, you are going to need newer and more powerful hardware to make Windows run fast enough. This had been going on since the first releases of Windows. Remember the "netbook revolution"? It was when people were more interested in lighter and smaller portable computing rather than power. We had the part where the manufacturers were creating laptops that would almost send you to the hospital if you tried to keep those "on your lap" Microsoft lashed out at everyone! They said that people should NOT ever buy these things but to wait for the new slim "ultrabooks" that Intel was going to come out with. The Netbooks required a small OS such as XP and many could not do Win 7. I still have an Aspire One running XP and can't find any new drivers for it. In order to add new features/technology (unless they hire really sharp assembler programmers), hardware has to advance and they have a stake in forcing people to buy new hardware. Plus, with every NEW OS, the suppliers of devices are required to make new drivers so both hardware and software go hand in hand.

I agree with the rest. Too bad Apple hardware seems so expensive and you're not allowed to open the case without invalidating your warranty. Not that you can go out and buy a lot of your off-the-shelf components at the store.

Linux is not ready, and I suspect will never be ready, for prime time.

It's just some people aren't ready for it. It actually is the backbone OS of the internet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Operating_systems_used_on_top_500_supercomputers.svg

Of course many may end up using a spinoff of Linux, since it's already larger in use than Windows, and that'sAndroid.

"Linux kernel

Android's kernel is based on one of the Linux kernel's long-term support (LTS) branches. Since April 2014, Android devices mainly use versions 3.4, 3.10 or 3.18 of the Linux kernel.[143][144] The specific kernel version depends on the actual Android device and its hardware platform;[145][146][147] Android has used various kernel versions since the version 2.6.25 that was used in Android 1.0"

Android has the largest installed base of any mobile operating system and, since 2013, the highest-selling operating system overall[288][291][301][302][303] with sales in 2012, 2013 and 2014[304] close to the installed base of all PCs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems
"Different categories of computers use a wide variety of operating systems (OS). Windows gained majority usage share in the 1990s, on desktops (the computer platform then taking over), eventually described as "dominant" (and still has a majority as a "desktop OS") but is not dominant across all platforms (while latest version runs on all platforms). On smartphones, Android is dominant by any metric; its installed base is 1.8 billion,[6] which tops Windows on PCs. No operating system has a clear majority across all platforms or all regions; as judged by web use – a proxy for all use – Android has almost caught up with Windows, when counted across all platforms and regions. Android is the highest ranked OS in most countries of the world......Since 2013, devices running Android have been selling more than Windows, iOS and macOS devices combined."

Yes, windows 10 has revealed it's time to begin writing the epitath of windows.

People just don't want to learn a new OS. The fault is not with Linux. It really is superior to Windows, but it does take a few weeks to figure out how it works so that you can get it to do what you do on Windows. You had to learn Windows exactly the same way.

The main problem is that the programs we have spent a lot of money on often do not run on Linux because the demand to make a Linux version has not been there. This can often (but not always) be overcome, but once again it is up to the user to find out how, just as it is up to the user to find out how to make Windows do what you want it to.

First I'm not bashing Linux. What i am saying though is that it's not ready for everyone. What with all the typing, sudo commands etc. reminds me alot of windows 3.1. I've used the live cd, created a dual boot of linux and windows, tried several versions of linux and came to the conclusion that I was spending way to much time on the computer. What made me go back to windows and forget linux was when I couldn't find a driver for my sound card. Only one speaker out of 3 worked. Trivial yes, but very frustrating. Also I think that you'd have to have a photographic memory or a book with a list of all the commands or spend hours on the internet trying to find answers to your questions. If you like all that then go for it. However the average user won't go to all the trouble. It's not ready for prime time IMHO.

or Konsole as called in KDE. Most time it's totally unnecessary. It finds it's use mostly when having a problem, consulting a linux forum, and rather than someone telling you all the GUI steps to find the info they need to help you, they use the shortcut of Terminal commands instead. For instance, I can get most info I want by having someone running a simple Terminal command like

inxi -v7

To tell them how to find all that info by GUI would be a pain, sort of like telling windows users how to find all the info needed, which is why some programs like Belarc and Speccy were created for windows users.

I've been running Linux Mint 18.1 on one of my computers and the only outside software I purchased is called Crossover and it is made by Codeweavers. It runs WINE2.0 and you install any Windows program you want through the interface and it runs great within Linux. In my case I have some weather station software I like and want to run but it was never written in Linux. I just got the latest version of Crossover and it works fine. They have a list of Windows based software on their web site that has been fully tested and integrated. By the way I'm using sata drives in this computer and it was a miserable disaster when I tried upgrading the Win 7 drive to Win 10 so I rolled it back and have tested Linux Mint since then.

I have an ACER R3610 that with some effort converted from Windows 7 to the build of Windows 10 current up to the time the free upgrade ended. It would not upgrade to build 1067, just kept trying to download the 3Gb installation endlessly.
My fix was to clear all files and sub-directories in C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download and finally the update installed. Much frustration and swearing went on during the process to find the solution that worked for me.

Linux has indeed come along way since its beginnings. Like you, I'm quite familiar with Linux too as I've used at least six distros on and off since 2009 on old second-hand computers purchased off a well-known website from time to time. All the distros performed satisfactorily and adequately and are speedier than Windows, to my mind.

On the whole, however, I find Microsoft Windows operating systems to be a tad more versatile and multi-faceted so far as general operation is concerned, but unlike the Linux distros, they are prone to the occasional freeze-up and crash (black screen) often necessitating a reboot which I've experienced with pretty well every Microsoft Windows edition up to now including Windows 10.

I refused to upgrade my laptop to Win10 and soldered on. It is 9 years old and battery will no longer hold charge. Started a job that required in home presentation and I knew mine was too old and bulky so bought a used small notebook from a reliable source with Win10 on it. He even warned my I might not like it and he was right. It failed on first attempt since it was constantly updating itself and I could not get anything done. Took it back and bought same model with Win7 and no problems since!