Windows 10 - free upgrade to those with PC using Windows 7 or 8

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

There were other operating systems available for Intel based platforms. They didn't take off (obviously) and Windows did. You cannot blame MS for making an OS that developers wanted to develop for.

The only reason Microsoft became the monopolist they are today, is because they rode on IBM's coat tails in the early days of PCs (when they were synonymous with IBM). It had nothing to do with merit, it had everything to do with IBM's choice of MS-DOS instead of Digital Research.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Jack Torrance

Then I guess we should hold MS to be accountable and backwards compatible for how long?

Uh, no. I think they should be held accountable for Windows 7 until 2020, which was the issued terms of support when they sold it. Contracts should work both ways and both parties should be held accountable.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Newer hardware is not guaranteed to run Windows 8 or 7. That's all.

No, you're missing the point. Windows 7 and 8.1 won't be supported on the newer CPUs. It's not an ambiguous proposition -- it means exactly what they say it means (as quoted in earlier posts). These two versions of Windows were supposed to be supported until 2020 and and 2023 -- there was no mention of "not on newer CPUs" until now. Microsoft has never done anything like this before.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by rcentros

No, you're missing the point. Windows 7 and 8.1 won't be supported on the newer CPUs. It's not an ambiguous proposition -- it means exactly what they say it means (as quoted in earlier posts). These two versions of Windows were supposed to be supported until 2020 and and 2023 -- there was no mention of "not on newer CPUs" until now. Microsoft has never done anything like this before.

Won't be supported doesn't mean won't run. It might still work, but if you run into problems (somethings most likely won't work), don't go back to MS and demand that they fix it.
We bought a new mediacenter PC in 2012 (or 2013, when did Windows 8.1 come out?). We had an official MediaCenter edition of Windows XP (that machine was ancient!). We couldn't install it on that new PC (not that we wanted it, we got a new PC and we wanted a new OS to go with it). We simply could not install it, even if we wanted to (the upgrade process was a bit of a pain because of that as we wanted to make use of the cheap upgrade your XP or Windows 7 to Windows 8 option).

Oh, you do know that you can quote multiple posts in one post? No need to make new posts for each quote...

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Won't be supported doesn't mean won't run. It might still work, but if you run into problems (somethings most likely won't work), don't go back to MS and demand that they fix it.
We bought a new mediacenter PC in 2012 (or 2013, when did Windows 8.1 come out?). We had an official MediaCenter edition of Windows XP (that machine was ancient!). We couldn't install it on that new PC (not that we wanted it, we got a new PC and we wanted a new OS to go with it). We simply could not install it, even if we wanted to (the upgrade process was a bit of a pain because of that as we wanted to make use of the cheap upgrade your XP or Windows 7 to Windows 8 option).

Oh, you do know that you can quote multiple posts in one post? No need to make new posts for each quote...

Okay, I'm not going to make a career out of this thread, but I don't think you fully understand what I'm saying. Let me try one more time.

Currently computers with Intel Skylake CPUs are being sold and people have installed Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 on them. They work fine. They're currently fully supported and -- if they are specific computer models -- will continue to be completely supported until July, 2017. At that point -- even though these computers will run Windows 7 or 8.1 fine, Microsoft will no longer update Windows 7 or 8.1 on these specific computers (although they will still be updating older CPUs until 2020 and 2023). This is an arbitrary, and unnecessary, decision. It has nothing to do with how well Windows 7 is running on the Skylake CPUs in July, 2017 -- it has everything to do with forcing their customers to move to Windows 10.

[eschwartz]

A lot of people seem to be magically understanding "Microsoft will not support it" as referring to their call-in tech support hotlines.

While that might be true, I get the impression from Microsoft's statements that the "will not support" refers to the availability of security updates through Windows Update.

The former is perfectly fine, and meaningless enough that it should never have made the news.
The latter is absolutely unacceptable.



I fail to see how anyone here could possibly justify disagreeing with either of those analyses and I suspect the real argument here is "which one does Microsoft mean".

So... your votes, peoples?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

16 bit software stopped running "out of the box" with Windows 7 64 bit.

Those very few people who have a need to run 16-bit software can still run 32-bit versions of Windows 7 or 8, or can run a 32-bit VM under 64-bit Windows. There comes a point at which it's impractical to continue supporting a feature which only a tiny number of people use. It's 20 years since the first 32-bit version of Windows (Windows 95) appeared; you can't go on supporting ancient software forever.

Word 97 runs absolutely fine under 64-bit Windows 10. Word 6, released in 1993, was the first 32-bit version of Word.

[Dopedangel]

Originally Posted by rcentros

By "support" Microsoft means "security updates" and various upgrades. You'll be almost in the same boat as those who continue to use XP -- the difference being that Windows 7 is supposed to be supported until 2020 and Windows 8.1 is supposed to be supported until 2023.


http://arstechnica.com/information-t...to-windows-10/

Microsoft is no longer selling win 7 so how are you going to buy it for your new PC in the first place. Using your old licence on a new PC is not allowed. And Oems will stop selling from Oct,16 if I recall correctly.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Dopedangel

Microsoft is no longer selling win 7 so how are you going to buy it for your new PC in the first place. Using your old licence on a new PC is not allowed.

If you've bought a retail copy of Windows 7, I'm pretty sure it's perfectly OK to transfer the licence from your old PC to the new. What you can't of course do is use a single licence to run Windows on both computers simultaneously.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by Dopedangel

Microsoft is no longer selling win 7 so how are you going to buy it for your new PC in the first place. Using your old licence on a new PC is not allowed. And Oems will stop selling from Oct,16 if I recall correctly.

Except Windows 10 Pro includes downgrade rights to 8 & 7.
https://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/lic...id=eA-xTmDSUxi

So you can buy a new Windows 10 machine and legally run Windows 7 on it.

[jj2me]

Originally Posted by Dopedangel

Using your old licence on a new PC is not allowed.

This statement, as written, is incorrect. Retail versions of Microsoft OSes can be moved/migrated--see my post on the previous page, which lays out why Microsoft's new policy devalues retail versions.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Those very few people who have a need to run 16-bit software can still run 32-bit versions of Windows 7 or 8, or can run a 32-bit VM under 64-bit Windows. There comes a point at which it's impractical to continue supporting a feature which only a tiny number of people use. It's 20 years since the first 32-bit version of Windows (Windows 95) appeared; you can't go on supporting ancient software forever.

Word 97 runs absolutely fine under 64-bit Windows 10. Word 6, released in 1993, was the first 32-bit version of Word.

Which led me to the following choice. If I had to run a 3rd party VM to run old software, instead of having one embedded by Microsoft, (which had been provided by Microsoft, invisibly, since Win 95), why should I keep upgrading with Microsoft? A VM is the same under any operating system. Why should I have to keep paying to upgrade (this decision was before Win 10), and trying to work around the latest "feature cuts" (because they weren't worth supporting), "phone home" (required Authorization) OSes, and no guarantee that any software I bought for the Microsoft OS would still be able to run with the next gen of OS? I got fed up and cut the Gordian Knot. . .and went to Linux as my main OS.

Drawbacks? Sure. But as I have pointed out, there were drawbacks with staying. I run XP under VirtualBox, and Win 7 as well (separate virtual machines). The only software that didn't work under the VMs were SIGIL 1.9, and a Hex Editor (I don't expect a Hex Editor to run under a VM, anyways).

I run Windows software that dates back to Win 3.0, an Atari 800 emulator that lets me run software from the early '80s and DOSBOX, which lets me run games from before Windows. (I could run an old Apple II or Mac 68000 emulator, but I never dipped into the Apple world).

And I can run my current version of Linux forever (or at least as long as I can get an x86 instruction set chip), or upgrade if I choose to.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Which led me to the following choice

It is indeed nice to have choices. Some folks (presumably with more money than me) choose to use all Mac, too.

Nonetheless, if people who choose, or by circumstance are required, to use Windows, are unhappy with MS's tactics and newly stated support policy, I hope they are telling MS. They have been known to backpedal.

ApK

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Which led me to the following choice. If I had to run a 3rd party VM to run old software, instead of having one embedded by Microsoft, (which had been provided by Microsoft, invisibly, since Win 95), why should I keep upgrading with Microsoft? A VM is the same under any operating system. Why should I have to keep paying to upgrade (this decision was before Win 10), and trying to work around the latest "feature cuts" (because they weren't worth supporting), "phone home" (required Authorization) OSes, and no guarantee that any software I bought for the Microsoft OS would still be able to run with the next gen of OS? I got fed up and cut the Gordian Knot. . .and went to Linux as my main OS.

We each make the choice that's right for us; there's no single solution that's right for everyone. If Linux is what works for you, that's great.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by Dopedangel

Microsoft is no longer selling win 7 so how are you going to buy it for your new PC in the first place. Using your old licence on a new PC is not allowed. And Oems will stop selling from Oct,16 if I recall correctly.

You can still buy new PCs with Windows 7. http://www.microcenter.com/search/se...&myStore=false