Windows 10 Free Upgrade Ends July 29; What Should You Do? Our Shortlist of Pros and Cons

With the clock running out on Microsoft's "free upgrade" offer July 29th, we compiled a shortlist of pros and cons to help clients or friends still on the Windows 10 fence decide what to do.  Here goes...

WINDOWS 10 PROS

• Improved security features and automatic "patching" going forward to keep the OS more secure; (this is perhaps the most important advantage to Windows 10 in our view)
• More efficient, faster; (it uses fewer system resources than Windows 8.1)
• IMHO it's more user friendly (i.e. it looks/works like Windows 7 rather than 8.1)
• The early "bugs" (which 10 certainly had) have been worked through with interim updates including a big one last November 12, and several more since then
• Microsoft Edge browser: (you shouldn't be using Internet Explorer at this point; it has big security problems, doesn't render many websites properly and is slow!)
• Cortana provides search and voice controls for many functions
• Task View lets you "simulate" having two monitors on one screen  
• Anniversary Update is coming August 2 for Windows 10 with a slug of improvements to the Start screen, Taskbar, Action Center, and new features for Cortana, Edge and more
• Your upgrade from Windows 7 or 8.1 is free until July 29; after that you'll have to buy it; (free is a very good price)
• If you don't like it, you can roll back to your current OS within 31 days 

WINDOWS 10 CONS

• If you're using proprietary (or very old) software it may not be compatible with Windows 10 
• Some people have "lost" (or had difficulty finding) certain files after they upgrade 
• If you're still using Windows XP or Vista, not only will you have to pay for Windows 10, but you have to do a fresh install; (it's not just a simple upgrade from XP or Vista) 

BOTTOM LINE

For most of our clients, we're recommending they take advantage of Microsoft's largess and get the Windows 10 upgrade before the July 29 deadline, but with the caveat that they back up any important files first, just in case. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions; glad to help.