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

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by dkperez

1. Is it FER REAL, ABSOLUTELY FREE - NOW AND FOREVER?

Yes.

2. WILL IT BE FASTER? NOT faster texting or time wasting, but ON THE SAME BOX WITH THE SAME HARDWARE, will Windows 10 run Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, or other actual productivity TOOLS measurably FASTER?

It'll boot faster. It won't magically make your programs run faster.

4. Will it be MORE productive? Not "productive" for my 12-year-old grandson who wants to tweet and facebook and use the crap in 8.1, but productive for someone who actually has WORK to do and needs their tools to be accessible, functional, and fast. For example, it took WAY too long to get rid of as much of the 8.1 drivel as possible so it was useful, and WAY too many 3rd party tools to replace the built-in interface. Am I going to have spend ANOTHER week to make 10 useful?

Depends how you define "productive". It looks very like Windows 7. If you find that to be a productive environment, you should find Windows 10 to be equally so.

I have no problem going from 7 or 8.1 to 10, but I DO NOT want to spend hours a day for the next month chasing problems on my wife's laptop so she can skype with her sisters...

You're very unlikely to have any problems upgrading a Windows 8 machine, but a Windows 7 one is going to need new drivers, so it may be as well to check if the drivers you depend on are available for Windows 10. Eg, I use a Dell Multifunction device which does not have Windows 8 drivers available for it (Windows 10 uses the same drivers as Windows 8), so it would stop working if I were to upgrade to Windows 10.

Hope that's of some help to you.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by jswinden

No clue what ISO even is. I got Win 10 to download the update files, but I keep getting error code 80240020 when it tries to install. All the so called remedies I've seen including the BS one I listed earlier don't do a GD thing to help. Many others are having this issue and the remedies are not helping them either. Just more effing MS crap! You would think that 30+ years since Gates ripped off the idea of Windows from the Mac OS they would finally get it right, but no.... Eff it, I'm just going to leave it 8.1 since I rarely use WinCrap anyway.

It's probably better that way...you know you would hate it, anyway!

Shari

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by dkperez

1. Is it FER REAL, ABSOLUTELY FREE - NOW AND FOREVER?

2. WILL IT BE FASTER?

3. Can someone provide a succinct summary of the pitfalls of going to 10?

4. Will it be MORE productive?I have no problem going from 7 or 8.1 to 10, but I DO NOT want to spend hours a day for the next month chasing problems on my wife's laptop so she can skype with her sisters...

1- It is really and truly free. Go get the ISO for all the relevant versions, burn the DVDs, and go wait. If your win7 systems are stable and productive there is no rush.

2- Some parts *are* faster across the board (most notably the GUI) but we're talking incrementals. You're not going to see large double digit boosts.

4- If you are on win8, the answer is an unqualified yes just on the basis of getting rid of the dichotomy between Modern apps only running full-screen and desktop apps running normally. Now all apps run the proper way. If you ever dreamed of turning the win8 systems back to win7, win10 is the answer.

For all systems, a lot of the productivity boost will depend on your workflow: do you normally run a lot of apps and leave them running? Do you run out of screen real estate and are constantly resizing, minimizing, etc? The virtual desktops feature where you can alt-tab to any app on multiple virtual desktops will be valuable.

Win10 did a lot of housecleaning to the codebase so it is in general leaner and snappier but there are limits to how much better better can be just on OS improvements.

If you're productive, cover yourself and get the relevant Iso file and wait for the need to manifest itself.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

What did you get to download?

Try the media app I linked to above.
I used it to download three ISO images and upgrade the computer I was running it on.
This is coming via Edge.
(pretty snappy. Even NBCNews runs fast.)

Lots of exploring to do.

Do you use photoshop? Is it working? The gizmodo guy said he was having trouble getting it to work. I don't want to install 10 on my desktop til I know there is no issue with photoshop.

I will install it on my backup laptop to try things out before upgrading my main (desktop) system.

P.S. my downloads are in progress but have 'stalled' since yesterday...I presume that is normal given the massive rollout, so can't install yet....

[danwdoo]

Originally Posted by dkperez

4. Will it be MORE productive? Not "productive" for my 12-year-old grandson who wants to tweet and facebook and use the crap in 8.1, but productive for someone who actually has WORK to do and needs their tools to be accessible, functional, and fast. For example, it took WAY too long to get rid of as much of the 8.1 drivel as possible so it was useful, and WAY too many 3rd party tools to replace the built-in interface. Am I going to have spend ANOTHER week to make 10 useful?

I have no problem going from 7 or 8.1 to 10, but I DO NOT want to spend hours a day for the next month chasing problems on my wife's laptop so she can skype with her sisters...

#4. Snap assist is a feature that some have found very helpful in managing Windows in 10. There are also virtual desktop features that can be very useful as well. Only your workflow can determine if these will be of any benefit to you.

Any time you upgrade an OS one can never guarantee there won't be problems that can take a significant amount of time to resolve. If this is something you absolutely do not want to mess with, then don't upgrade and wait to run 10 whenever you get a new machine.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by dkperez

I've been watching this for a while, reading in here and other places, trying to decide if this "free" upgrade is worthwhile or not. Have a desktop running 8.1, desktop running 7 and 2 laptops running 7. They work. As an old fart, I view computers as tools. In my world, XP was by far the most productive workspace I've used. SO, can someone clarify once and for all a few things:

1. Is it FER REAL, ABSOLUTELY FREE - NOW AND FOREVER? Or will there suddenly be some *&^%$# subscription model like Adobe has gone to? Or some OTHER hidden method for the scumbags to start extracting cash in a day/week/month/year?

2. WILL IT BE FASTER? NOT faster texting or time wasting, but ON THE SAME BOX WITH THE SAME HARDWARE, will Windows 10 run Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, or other actual productivity TOOLS measurably FASTER?

3. Can someone provide a succinct summary of the pitfalls of going to 10? How much background information will be disseminated? How much information of ANY kind will be siphoned from the computer to Microsoft or anyone else by Windows 10?

4. Will it be MORE productive? Not "productive" for my 12-year-old grandson who wants to tweet and facebook and use the crap in 8.1, but productive for someone who actually has WORK to do and needs their tools to be accessible, functional, and fast. For example, it took WAY too long to get rid of as much of the 8.1 drivel as possible so it was useful, and WAY too many 3rd party tools to replace the built-in interface. Am I going to have spend ANOTHER week to make 10 useful?

I have no problem going from 7 or 8.1 to 10, but I DO NOT want to spend hours a day for the next month chasing problems on my wife's laptop so she can skype with her sisters...

1. No. Nothing is free forever. But you'll get support for about 10 years (if I remember correctly).

2. No, but it won't be slower either

3. That all depends on the things you turn on (or turn off)

4. That is personal, I don't know what problems you had with Windows 8.1 or what problems you might have with Windows 10.


What you'll certainly get with Windows 10 is an OS that will be supported after Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 have gone the way of XP: supportless by Microsoft (which will happen in about 3 to 4 years or so).

Originally Posted by fjtorres

On the older Windows side?
You uninstall the update that enables it, number 3035583.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3035583

No, the notifcation icon in Windows 10. It's next to my clock. When you click it, you get that stupid replacement for the Charms bar. I find it handy on my phone, but silly on a PC.

[Turtle91]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Do you use photoshop? Is it working?

Yes, Photoshop CS6 64bit seems to be working fine... at least all the functions I understand use it for...

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Annoyances:
The same with that search button next to the start menu button.

Right-click on the search box, select "Search", pick your display preference from "Hidden/Icon/Box"


Cheers,

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Turtle91

...
Right-click on the search box, select "Search", pick your display preference from "Hidden/Icon/Box"


Cheers,

yeah I did that initially and it put (itself) back on the taskbar.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Turtle91

Yes, Photoshop CS6 64bit seems to be working fine... at least all the functions I understand use it for...

....

Cheers,

Good to hear....I'm a rev behind CS5 so hopefully that works as well.

[Gotadimple]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

80240020?
Oh, that is a common one.
It is often associated with iTunes.
(Google it.)
(Edit: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/w...1-7ed60c4797b8)

All it means is the updater can't connect to the servers because something is usurping the authentication. It usually goes away eventually.

This error also occurs when your download is ready and the Windows notification is booting. I have the automatic download on my PC, clicking on the Windows Notification icon shows me it is downloaded and ready for install. Checking Windows Update History, I see a download fail at about the same time the Notification icon booted with this same error code message.

Will it install cleanly? Might know someday when I get roundtuit. Til then, it's a mystery in progress.

- Rita

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by dkperez

1. Is it FER REAL, ABSOLUTELY FREE - NOW AND FOREVER? Or will there suddenly be some *&^%$# subscription model like Adobe has gone to? Or some OTHER hidden method for the scumbags to start extracting cash in a day/week/month/year?

Windows 10 is purchase-once-use-forever just like any other version of Windows, and receives the standard 10 years of support. The only difference when it comes to Windows 10 is that Microsoft is giving complimentary copies of Win10 out to anyone currently running Win7/8 who asks in the first year.

2. WILL IT BE FASTER? NOT faster texting or time wasting, but ON THE SAME BOX WITH THE SAME HARDWARE, will Windows 10 run Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, or other actual productivity TOOLS measurably FASTER?

Microsoft slimmed down the OS a lot from Windows 7 --> Windows 8, and continued with incremental improvements in Windows 10.
Slow programs aren't magically going to get faster -- but the OS should not get in the way as much. You should notice that more when going from Windows 7.

3. Can someone provide a succinct summary of the pitfalls of going to 10? How much background information will be disseminated? How much information of ANY kind will be siphoned from the computer to Microsoft or anyone else by Windows 10?

Going from Windows 8 there are no pitfalls I know of. There may be, going from Windows 7, depending on what you consider important.
Updated drivers may not be available for all products.

There were rumors of keylogging in Windows 10. That was a result of a total misunderstanding of what "preview build with logging and error reporting" means.
Windows 10 will NOT steal your information. Although you may need to confirm some things are turned off (WiFi Sense?) -- they should default to asking first -- and you may not want to use a Microsoft Account for login.

4. Will it be MORE productive? Not "productive" for my 12-year-old grandson who wants to tweet and facebook and use the crap in 8.1, but productive for someone who actually has WORK to do and needs their tools to be accessible, functional, and fast. For example, it took WAY too long to get rid of as much of the 8.1 drivel as possible so it was useful, and WAY too many 3rd party tools to replace the built-in interface. Am I going to have spend ANOTHER week to make 10 useful?

Again, going from Windows 8 to Windows 10 can only improve things.

I'm afraid you'll have to take responsibility for your own productivity now.

[kennyc]

Interesting, I have the errors for the last two days on my desktop and for the last three days on my laptop....hmmm.....

[kennyc]

and I just did a google and found this:

http://winsupersite.com/windows-10/h...allation-error

[wodin]

Will I tried the REDDIT force last night (several times) on my Surface Pro 3 and got a half a dozen fails, error codes 80240020 and C1900208. The first time it downloaded nearly 6 GB then failed, the second download came to a bit less than 3 GB. WTF?

It wouldn't hurt me much to do a clean install as I only have a few apps installed besides the Office suite. I think I'll just wait for MS to push the update and if (when) that fails go for the Media Creation Tool and a clean install.

[wodin]

I ran across this about error 80240020.

I did everything that it said in the article and still got the error.