On July 29th, Microsoft will release their next version of Windows, Windows 10. Leading up to this release there have been many preview releases distributed to curious PC users, and Microsoft has been pushing hard to win back their customers who may have fled to Apple products. They've also been working hard to raise awareness of this new release, with the most visible move being the icon seen by all Windows 7 and 8 users in their system tray:
Clicking on this icon will start the reservation process for Windows 10. Completing this process doesn't do anything now, but sometime after the new OS (Operating System) is released on July 29th, you'll receive a notice that your upgrade is ready, and you'll have the option of upgrading.
So that leaves us with the question: should I update? The short answer is no, but the long one is yes.
Lets start with that short no. I would recommend waiting to upgrade to Windows 10. It's always tricky to move to a new OS, and it's possible there may be some bugs to work out, particularly as variations in computer hardware are encountered when Windows 10 is released to everyone. Even if 10 is rock solid, there's other things to look out for. Some applications may not work properly anymore, particularly if you're upgrading from Windows 7. You also might lose support for some of your hardware devices, at least until new drivers are written for Windows 10.
Theoretically, there shouldn't be much harm in upgrading. It's entirely possible that most or all upgrades will go off without a hitch. However, considering there isn't a tremendously compelling reason to upgrade right away, it's probably wise to take a wait and see approach.
As far as anyone can tell, there's no problem with reserving your upgrade. The only question that seems unanswered is how much the system will nudge you to upgrade once it's available. As long as it doesn't bother you all the time, reserving won't hurt anything. It will be possible reserve or to download reserved copies of Windows 10 for free for one year. After that point, you'll need to pay full price. I will be sending out another newsletter in the future, long after any bugs have been worked out, to let you know my thoughts about upgrading and whether it's ready.
You shouldn't upgrade (yet) if...
- you're happy with your operating system
- you worry about bugs
- you worry about breaking support for legacy software/hardware
You should upgrade if...
- you just can't stand Windows 8 (I understand, and 10 will be much better)
- you're running Windows XP, in which case you should upgrade to anything else
If you decide to upgrade and are nervous about the process, I'd like to help. I will come to you and back up all your data and run the upgrade. This way you won't lose anything if the upgrade goes wrong. Call me with any questions.
Lastly, lets address that long-term "yes" to the question of "should I upgrade?" Eventually, I absolutely recommend upgrading to Windows 10. All reports indicate that it's a really solid operating system that fixes most or all of the problems that users had with Windows 8/8.1. But for the moment, I'm recommending to wait until the coast is clear.
* This will also technically be the "last" version of Windows. It's rumored that Microsoft will simply continue to upgrade Windows 10 for the foreseeable future. In the end, this doesn't mean a whole lot for consumers, it's just kind of interesting.
** There are only theories as to why there was no Windows 9. Some say there's code in some software that breaks if the version starts with a 9 (to avoid installing new software on Windows 95 and 98). Others say the concern is that the number 9 is an unlucky number in Japan. In the end, it's merely marketing anyway. The actual in-house version number for every Windows since Vista has started with a 6, as did early copies of Windows 10. But just to confuse things even more, Windows 10 is now also version 10 and... now my head hurts...
All I know is that I like Windows 7, and that it's the real reason there's no Windows 9, because 7 8 9.