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[Grief.exe]

No because thr op is asking if he should uprgrade when windows 10 is released in ~50 days and grief comes in and says don't upgrade right now.

Then people point out the Op isn't asking about his pre release version of windows 10

So that precludes general advice? Whether they fix all of these issues by release or not is up for debate, but I was just giving a snapshot based on my experiences.

I'm not sure whether this argument is even relevant. Considering the majority of replies lambasting me, very few were pointing out the OP's intentions. I likely would have gotten the same treatment posting in a general Win 10 thread.

Like I said, this thread is strangely brutal.

 

[dLMN8R]

I'm not saying that they aren't capable of doing it. Really, the release on July 29th may be the most polished OS ever released. I was digging Windows 10 while I was using it. But nVidia hadn't released a driver for my video card, so I rolled back. I still have Windows 10 reserved on all three of my computers barring some disaster.

All I'm saying -- and I can't fathom why this is radical or controversial -- is that people having issues with current pre-release versions are not being unfair in voicing their issues with the product. If everything is fixed between now and release, then great. But for people that might be thinking that this new OS is going to be the greatest thing since sliced bread based on positive testimonials, the negatives ones are worth acknowledging too.

That's not being unfair. Nobody is saying that MS are a bunch of shitty hacks who can't code an OS. But it's silly to say you can't comment on stability in pre-release software because it's a given that every issue will automatically be fixed by release.

This is completely reasonable and something that even I would (unofficially) recommend. While I have little doubt that the July 29th release will be polished and stable for the vast majority of users, it never hurts to just wait a little bit to make sure.

Note though that Windows 10 has a new feature which lets you easily roll-back to where you came from with just a few clicks:

https://techingiteasy.wordpress.com...-previous-version-of-windows-from-windows-10/

So if you have any problems, you can easily roll back

Mostly IT blogs but even Microsoft has been recommending it as resolution for issues that popped up during technical preview. It's just a best practice thing, but until I ran into weird driver issues early into the preview I did upgrade from 7 without issue. As with all things your mileage may vary.

Our goal (and again I'm speaking as an employee working on the product), is to have a billion people using Windows 10 within 2-3 years. Hundreds of millions of them are expected to come as upgrades, not clean installs or new PCs. This means that there has been more work and effort put into making upgrades stable, reliable, and fast in Windows 10 than any previous version of Windows ever.

It has to be easy enough for your grandparents to do it without asking you how or having any problems afterward. And that absolutely means never requiring (or ever strongly recommending) a clean install. Clean installs might always be nice for enthusiasts, but it's absolutely not a recommended course of action for regular consumers not using preview builds, at all.

 

[Berordn]

Clean installs might always be nice for enthusiasts, but it's absolutely not a recommended course of action for regular consumers not using preview builds, at all.

Sorry, I was kind of assuming that PC gaming fell under that enthusiast umbrella for anyone concerned about compatibility issues and I was kind of talking from that standpoint. I certainly wouldn't be recommending it for general use, but I probably shouldn't be jumping to the conclusion that everyone's concerned with that.

 

[Chinbo37]

How do future clean installs work


I have windows 7 on one comp and 8.1 on another. I will probably do the 10 upgrade without doing a clean install just to see how it is working etc. But say in a couple months after I upgrade i want to do a clean install. Will my keya from 7 and 8.1 work to directly install 10 from a iso?

 

[dLMN8R]

Sorry, I was kind of assuming that PC gaming fell under that enthusiast umbrella for anyone concerned about compatibility issues and I was kind of talking from that standpoint. I certainly wouldn't be recommending it for general use, but I probably shouldn't be jumping to the conclusion that everyone's concerned with that.

Honestly I wouldn't recommend it even for gamers who tend to the enthusiast side of things.

My Gaming PC has gone from Windows 8 to 8.1 and through all of the public Windows 10 preview builds without doing any clean installs, and it still runs just as well as ever.

I might want to do a clean install for the final version of Windows 10 just to "start fresh", but only from an organizational standpoint, not because of performance / stability.

 

[Eyothrie]

How do future clean installs work


I have windows 7 on one comp and 8.1 on another. I will probably do the 10 upgrade without doing a clean install just to see how it is working etc. But say in a couple months after I upgrade i want to do a clean install. Will my keya from 7 and 8.1 work to directly install 10 from a iso?

would like to know this too. I've got a Win7 install disc and key. I like to do clean installs once every 6-12 months and use the disc and key for this. How will I be able to do a clean install after upgrading to 10?

 

[dLMN8R]

would like to know this too. I've got a Win7 install disc and key. I like to do clean installs once every 6-12 months and use the disc and key for this. How will I be able to do a clean install after upgrading to 10?

The specific instructions are TBD but you'll absolutely have a way to do a clean install after upgrading:

https://twitter.com/GabeAul/status/605899873360019457

 

[Berordn]

I might want to do a clean install for the final version of Windows 10 just to "start fresh", but only from an organizational standpoint, not because of performance / stability.

Fair enough then, I did only have to do a fresh install from ISO when an nvidia driver prevented new builds from installing and the only suggestion was start fresh.

Tangentially related, are the preview builds going to be upgraded directly to RTM?

 

[Big Green Anus]

How much efficiency with the CPU and Ram when comparing Windows 7 and Windows 10? Have a 2006 Core 2 Quad and 8GB of Ram.

I'm likely to upgrade to Windows 10 anyway, but just curious

 

[charsace]

Most things work for me right now. Spartan is glitchy for me though and some things goes crazy with the setting windows. I have like 2 drivers that also aren't available yet.

 

[dgrdsv]

The specific instructions are TBD but you'll absolutely have a way to do a clean install after upgrading:

https://twitter.com/GabeAul/status/605899873360019457

This link says the exact opposite actually:

So if you upgrade your PC there will be no way of doing a clean install of Win10 and there will be no free upgrade from a clean install of Win7/8 after 1/Aug/2016.

This more and more looks like a scam scheme on MS's part - gift the copies of Win10 to most of Windows users at first and then, after people upgrade their H/W, make them buy new copies of Win10 since old licenses won't work anymore and it's unlikely that anyone will want to step back to Win7/8 after a year or so on Win10.

 

[dLMN8R]

This link says the exact opposite actually:

So if you upgrade your PC there will be no way of doing a clean install of Win10 and there will be no free upgrade from a clean install of Win7/8 after 1/Aug/2016.

This more and more looks like a scam scheme on MS's part - gift the copies of Win10 to most of Windows users at first and then, after people upgrade their H/W, make them buy new copies of Win10 since old licenses won't work anymore and it's unlikely that anyone will want to step back to Win7/8 after a year or so on Win10.

I don't know who that person is but he doesn't work for Microsoft.

Gabriel Aul is an Engineering Manager at Microsoft and is the public PR face of the entire Windows Insider program. Are you accusing him of lying about how licensing works in Windows 10? Or do you have some more information you haven't shared yet about why the person in the image you posted knows more than Gabe?

 

[dgrdsv]

I don't know who that person is but he doesn't work for Microsoft.

Gabriel Aul is an Engineering Manager at Microsoft and is the public PR face of the entire Windows Insider program. Are you accusing him of lying about how licensing works in Windows 10? Or do you have some more information you haven't shared yet about why the person in the image you posted knows more than Gabe?

What he said is true - your Win10 license will be tied to the device which you've used to upgrade your Win7/8 license on. This way you will be able to do clean installs of Win10 on this device. But if you'll change the device - and this happen all the time with desktop PCs and HTPCs - your Win10 license won't work anymore. And if this will happen after July 2016 you won't have any way of getting a free Win10 license anymore.

So lying? No. Not telling the whole truth? Highly probable.

 

[Koralsky]

How much efficiency with the CPU and Ram when comparing Windows 7 and Windows 10? Have a 2006 Core 2 Quad and 8GB of Ram.

I'm likely to upgrade to Windows 10 anyway, but just curious

You are more than fine for standard work (web browsing, music, movies and even Photoshop).

I am using Windows 10 preview version on three different laptops – weakest one, my wife’s machine, is with Dual Core Pentium T4500 processor, Intel GMA 4500M and 3GB ram. It runs the last two or three Win 10 builds better than Window 7.

For gaming and working every day with Unreal 4, I am using my Lenovo Y50 with GTX960m, Intel Core i7-4720HQ, 16GB ram and 250GB SSD drive and minus a couple instances, compatibility with the last update is almost perfect.

Win 10 10130 (latest build) is far from ‘bug free’ through

 

[munchie64]

Anyone know if the compatibility mode is as good as Windows 7 gaming wise?

 

[Skyzard]

What he said is true - your Win10 license will be tied to the device which you've used to upgrade your Win7/8 license on. This way you will be able to do clean installs of Win10 on this device. But if you'll change the device - and this happen all the time with desktop PCs and HTPCs - your Win10 license won't work anymore. And if this will happen after July 2016 you won't have any way of getting a free Win10 license anymore.

So lying? No. Not telling the whole truth? Highly probable.

Isn't that the same with windows 7?
...Maybe it's different with my oem key.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

What he said is true - your Win10 license will be tied to the device which you've used to upgrade your Win7/8 license on. This way you will be able to do clean installs of Win10 on this device. But if you'll change the device - and this happen all the time with desktop PCs and HTPCs - your Win10 license won't work anymore. And if this will happen after July 2016 you won't have any way of getting a free Win10 license anymore.

So lying? No. Not telling the whole truth? Highly probable.

You've always been allowed to upgrade your computer after buying Windows and installing it. You just have to reactivate Windows if the hardware changes more than a certain amount which is pre-determined by MS.

 

[Sky Chief]

The white windows logo left to the flag.

Thanks, worked for me

 

[Jin]

What he said is true - your Win10 license will be tied to the device which you've used to upgrade your Win7/8 license on. This way you will be able to do clean installs of Win10 on this device. But if you'll change the device - and this happen all the time with desktop PCs and HTPCs - your Win10 license won't work anymore. And if this will happen after July 2016 you won't have any way of getting a free Win10 license anymore.

So lying? No. Not telling the whole truth? Highly probable.

So if I upgrade to Skylake later this year I won't be able to install Win 10 through my Win 7 OEM disc?

 

[dgrdsv]

Isn't that the same with windows 7?
...Maybe it's different with my oem key.

OEM keys are tied to a hardware configuration. Once you activate them they're tied to that H/W and can't be used on a different H/W.

Box and digital retail keys can be used on any H/W configuration but they are limited by the number of installs active simultaneously. So you may have only one copy activated with the same retail license key in the world.

You've always been allowed to upgrade your computer after buying Windows and installing it. You just have to reactivate Windows if the hardware changes more than a certain amount which is pre-determined by MS.

Right. But you won't have a Win10 key to do the activation. So if you can't do a free upgrade of a clean Win7/8 install because that time has passed and you don't have Win10 license key and you've changed the innards of your PC after you did the free Win10 upgrade previously which tied your PC config to a Win10 license key - you're fucked?

MS has been avoiding a straight answer to this question for a year now. That's gotta say something.

 

[Momentary]

Since I've already updated to windows 10 "beta" or whatever from my windows 8.1 OS, does it know that I've changed over from a previous Windows OS once the consumer version is released.

 

[Chinbo37]

Right. But you won't have a Win10 key to do the activation. So if you can't do a free upgrade of a clean Win7/8 install because that time has passed and you don't have Win10 license key and you've changed the innards of your PC after you did the free Win10 upgrade previously which tied your PC config to a Win10 license key - you're fucked?

MS has been avoiding a straight answer to this question for a year now. That's gotta say something.

I will really wait for a clear answer on that before upgrading. Right now I am happy with my z77 and 3770k but that could change. I would like to see how windows 10 will be priced for retail. If they don't allow a flat price but want to charge a monthly fee ...

 

[etta]

I thought once you upgraded, you get a Windows 10 key tied to your account, and if you want to change the hardware, you have to call Microsoft and deactivate current hardware so you can install Windows 10 on the new hardware.

 

[Crowza]

In my testing, the only major issue that I've encountered with Win10 is a complete lack of support for Windows Media Center. So, if you use WMC - you are out of luck until a solution becomes available.

For those using WMC with SiliconDust tuners, they do have a WMC replacement DVR software coming out that works with their CableCard and OTA network tuners.

 

[Natels]

Do not upgrade to Windows 10 right now, stick with 7 or 8.

I've been on it for a few months, and gaming on an unstable OS is not perfect.

I have been gaming for months in Windows 10 with zero problems.

The OS has some bugs though, but gaming is no problem


Edit: One question, does anyone know if developer preview gets free update? I built my new rig a few months back and installed Windows 10 right away, been wondering if I'll get the free update

 

[Unknown Soldier]

OEM keys are tied to a hardware configuration. Once you activate them they're tied to that H/W and can't be used on a different H/W.

Box and digital retail keys can be used on any H/W configuration but they are limited by the number of installs active simultaneously. So you may have only one copy activated with the same retail license key in the world.

MS has not ever to my knowledge ever enforced this particular restriction of OEM keys. The restriction is there so systems integrators can't sell a PC with the same copy of Windows more than once. They couldn't care less if an end-user buys an OEM copy from Newegg to save a few bucks and upgrades their PC, and furthermore there are more than 1 billion PCs with Windows installed worldwide, MS isn't going to expend pointless resources to try and police all of them like that.

I've bought OEM copies of Windows. I've overhauled my PC afterwards. You know what happens? Windows prompts for reactivation. You can typically reactivate instantly over the Internet 2 or 3 times. Then it will fail and say you have to call the activation hotline thing. So you do that, it makes you enter some numbers, then it gives you numbers back, you put them in the activation screen, and Windows activates.

MS has better things to do than try and police a billion copies of Windows.

Right. But you won't have a Win10 key to do the activation. So if you can't do a free upgrade of a clean Win7/8 install because that time has passed and you don't have Win10 license key and you've changed the innards of your PC after you did the free Win10 upgrade previously which tied your PC config to a Win10 license key - you're fucked?

MS has been avoiding a straight answer to this question for a year now. That's gotta say something.

No, they just don't care about corner cases. The reality is that you will be able to download an ISO of Windows 10 from MS to do a clean install. They really dragged their feet on making Win8/8.1 ISOs available though, so hopefully they will be quicker with Win10 since they are anticipating people will want to clean install upgrade from Win7/8.1 to 10 with this free offer.

MS wants people on Win10 because security and patching 4 different versions of Windows is a nightmare for MS. Period. There's no evil ulterior motive here. They had to support WinXP for more than a decade and even had to pull resources from the long-delayed project that became Vista because of all the security problems XP had. They don't want to ever support 4 versions of Windows again, so much so that they are willing to give Win10 away to every person who's using Win 7/8.1, EVEN PIRATES, just to get them off the old goddamned OSes and onto the latest one. MS isn't doing this because they love you. They're doing this because they love themselves too much to keep forcing themselves to support 4 goddamn versions of Windows forever.

 

[dgrdsv]

I will really wait for a clear answer on that before upgrading. Right now I am happy with my z77 and 3770k but that could change. I would like to see how windows 10 will be priced for retail. If they don't allow a flat price but want to charge a monthly fee ...

I'll upgrade in any case - it's free so what do I loose? But if I'll have to buy Win10 box/license for my new PC eventually I won't be happy since I've bought Win8 pretty much because they said that the upgrade to Win10 will be free.

 

[etta]

MS has not ever to my knowledge ever enforced this particular restriction of OEM keys. The restriction is there so systems integrators can't sell a PC with the same copy of Windows more than once. They couldn't care less if an end-user buys an OEM copy from Newegg to save a few bucks and upgrades their PC, and furthermore there are more than 1 billion PCs with Windows installed worldwide, MS isn't going to expend pointless resources to try and police all of them like that.

I've bought OEM copies of Windows. I've overhauled my PC afterwards. You know what happens? Windows prompts for reactivation. You can typically reactivate instantly over the Internet 2 or 3 times. Then it will fail and say you have to call the activation hotline thing. So you do that, it makes you enter some numbers, then it gives you numbers back, you put them in the activation screen, and Windows activates.

MS has better things to do than try and police a billion copies of Windows.



No, they just don't care about corner cases. The reality is that you will be able to download an ISO of Windows 10 from MS to do a clean install. They really dragged their feet on making Win8/8.1 ISOs available though, so hopefully they will be quicker with Win10 since they are anticipating people will want to clean install upgrade from Win7/8.1 to 10 with this free offer.

MS wants people on Win10 because security and patching 4 different versions of Windows is a nightmare for MS. Period. There's no evil ulterior motive here. They had to support WinXP for more than a decade and even had to pull resources from the long-delayed project that became Vista because of all the security problems XP had. They don't want to ever support 4 versions of Windows again, so much so that they are willing to give Win10 away to every person who's using Win 7/8.1, EVEN PIRATES, just to get them off the old goddamned OSes and onto the latest one. MS isn't doing this because they love you. They're doing this because they love themselves too much to keep forcing themselves to support 4 goddamn versions of Windows forever.

This.

If it ever fails to activate because you changed hardware, call Microsoft or the activation hotline, they will ask you a few questions to make sure your key is legitimate, and then they will reset the activation limit.

 

[jediyoshi]

I would like to see how windows 10 will be priced for retail. If they don't allow a flat price but want to charge a monthly fee ...

Huh? They've already announced prices. Typical flat fee.

 

[dgrdsv]

MS has not ever to my knowledge ever enforced this particular restriction of OEM keys. The restriction is there so systems integrators can't sell a PC with the same copy of Windows more than once. They couldn't care less if an end-user buys an OEM copy from Newegg to save a few bucks and upgrades their PC, and furthermore there are more than 1 billion PCs with Windows installed worldwide, MS isn't going to expend pointless resources to try and police all of them like that.

I've bought OEM copies of Windows. I've overhauled my PC afterwards. You know what happens? Windows prompts for reactivation. You can typically reactivate instantly over the Internet 2 or 3 times. Then it will fail and say you have to call the activation hotline thing. So you do that, it makes you enter some numbers, then it gives you numbers back, you put them in the activation screen, and Windows activates.

MS has better things to do than try and police a billion copies of Windows.

What resources? License usage and violations are monitored and enforced completely automatically. The only moment they have to spend any resource is when an unhappy customer is calling their tech support to find out why his perfectly good OEM license doesn't work on his new PC.

No, they just don't care about corner cases. The reality is that you will be able to download an ISO of Windows 10 from MS to do a clean install. They really dragged their feet on making Win8/8.1 ISOs available though, so hopefully they will be quicker with Win10 since they are anticipating people will want to clean install upgrade from Win7/8.1 to 10 with this free offer.

MS wants people on Win10 because security and patching 4 different versions of Windows is a nightmare for MS. Period. There's no evil ulterior motive here. They had to support WinXP for more than a decade and even had to pull resources from the long-delayed project that became Vista because of all the security problems XP had. They don't want to ever support 4 versions of Windows again, so much so that they are willing to give Win10 away to every person who's using Win 7/8.1, EVEN PIRATES, just to get them off the old goddamned OSes and onto the latest one. MS isn't doing this because they love you. They're doing this because they love themselves too much to keep forcing themselves to support 4 goddamn versions of Windows forever.

So let's say that I've upgraded from Win7/8 during the free period and the machine I did this is now tied to a Win10 license which is stored in MS licensing system. Ok, fine, I can reinstall Win10 from an ISO as much as I want on this machine - the license will be acquired automatically each time.

But what if I changed the machine innards and that license doesn't work anymore for me? What exactly will I use to activate this install? Will I need to call MS to get my license working or what? They didn't answer these questions up till now.

This.

If it ever fails to activate because you changed hardware, call Microsoft or the activation hotline, they will ask you a few questions to make sure your key is legitimate, and then they will reset the activation limit.

What key? Nobody is getting any keys from Win10 upgrade program. The only key you will have is the key for Win7 or Win8 you used for the upgrade. Will this key work for Win10? MS doesn't provide an answer.

 

[Chao]

To those saying "why wouldn't you?",the answer is simple: sometimes a OS upgrade may make your system run shitty and slower as opposed to awesome and fast.

I don't ever trust "supported hardware" lists, If your machine is a few years old, an upgrade could be a terrible mistake.

 

[Skyzard]

Thanks for all the info guys. Hopefully will get away with using my OEM key to go to windows 10 if I upgrade. ... Hopefully they clear up what the license will be valid for (ie whether it goes when you upgrade hardware) too.

I don't really believe they are doing this to provide less support for older systems though.

They already announced when the support would be dropped. Why does them (temporarily) providing a free upgrade change any of that :S

 

[PodcastFips]

What key? Nobody is getting any keys from Win10 upgrade program. The only key you will have is the key for Win7 or Win8 you used for the upgrade. Will this key work for Win10? MS doesn't provide an answer.

Pretty sure there was supposed to be a tool that lets you retrieve a true Windows 10 key, no?

 

[dLMN8R]

What he said is true - your Win10 license will be tied to the device which you've used to upgrade your Win7/8 license on. This way you will be able to do clean installs of Win10 on this device. But if you'll change the device - and this happen all the time with desktop PCs and HTPCs - your Win10 license won't work anymore. And if this will happen after July 2016 you won't have any way of getting a free Win10 license anymore.

So lying? No. Not telling the whole truth? Highly probable.

This is making a major assumption that licensing in Windows 10 works identically to how it works in Windows 8.1.

 

[BolognaOni]

Thanks for all the info guys. Hopefully will get away with using my OEM key to go to windows 10 if I upgrade. ... Hopefully they clear up what the license will be valid for (ie whether it goes when you upgrade hardware) too.

I don't really believe they are doing this to provide less support for older systems though.

They already announced when the support would be dropped. Why does them (temporarily) providing a free upgrade change any of that :S

Given that they haven't cleared it up for over a decade that I've been following it, I'm not holding my breath... I believe there was like a year where the OEM version was sanctioned for home builders, but then it reverted to the old language again.

That said, I don't actually know anyone that has had a license pulled, and been unable to resolve it with a phone call. Just make sure you tell them that your old components "failed", and you're all good.

Just sucks that it's STILL ambiguous.

 

[etta]

What key? Nobody is getting any keys from Win10 upgrade program. The only key you will have is the key for Win7 or Win8 you used for the upgrade. Will this key work for Win10? MS doesn't provide an answer.

It probably will, since this is their last Windows product ever. They won't release Windows 11, 12, 13...etc. Instead, they will just update Windows 10 through normal updates. But I think they will give you a key when you upgrade from 7/8.1, or they will convert your 7/8/8.1 to a 10 key, as long as you convert it in that one year.

 

[Guri]

Besides, Windows 8 keys now work for 8.1. They could do a similar thing. Use your Windows 7/8 keys to activate Windows 10. I don't think we should be jumping into conclusions yet.

 

[FordGTGuy]

This link says the exact opposite actually:

So if you upgrade your PC there will be no way of doing a clean install of Win10 and there will be no free upgrade from a clean install of Win7/8 after 1/Aug/2016.

This more and more looks like a scam scheme on MS's part - gift the copies of Win10 to most of Windows users at first and then, after people upgrade their H/W, make them buy new copies of Win10 since old licenses won't work anymore and it's unlikely that anyone will want to step back to Win7/8 after a year or so on Win10.

Just to clarify, Gab Aul is in charge of the Windows Insider program and he knows what he is talking about.

Calling Windows 10 a scam is incredibly disingenuous.

 

[Lakerchick4life]

Doing a clean install on my PC and laptop is what I want to do just not sure how it can be done

 

[sfried]

There's upgrade paths from Windows Update for 7 and 8.1. Clean installs are always recommended but you can upgrade.

I can't afford a clean install due to the number of projects I have at hand.

Clean installs are a time gruelling ordeal since retweaking everything back to the way it was takes months (not including special config/reg edits for games to get them to run particular resolutions and other small issues). Wish the upgrade path let me remove the backup for the old OS.

 

[Berordn]

I can't afford a clean install due to the number of projects I have at hand.

Clean installs are a time gruelling ordeal since retweaking everything back to the way it was takes months (not including special config/reg edits for games to get them to run particular resolutions and other small issues). Wish the upgrade path let me remove the backup for the old OS.

Disk Cleanup can actually do that for you.

 

[sfried]

Fair enough then, I did only have to do a fresh install from ISO when an nvidia driver prevented new builds from installing and the only suggestion was start fresh.

Tangentially related, are the preview builds going to be upgraded directly to RTM?

Would it be adviced to uninstall old graphics card drivers before doing the Upgrade to Windows 10, and then reinstalling them?

Disk Cleanup can actually do that for you.

That's good to hear. I don't want to do a clean install (because I'm afraid I might have to reinstall motherboard/bios/ drivers etc. and I'm not even sure which drivers they might be using), but I do want to get it as clean as I can from an Upgrade path.

 

[Kaydan]

So Win 10 is more efficient than 7.

But is Win 10 more efficient than 8.1? All of the stuff they're jamming it with such as Cortana and XboxOne stuff seem to be system-based, but I have no interest in turning my PC into an extension of a console. I just want an even more efficient version of Win 8.1.

Xbox is not system based, it's app based. If you don't launch the app you don't get any overhead.

 

[PoweredBySoy]

Won't give advice going forward, check.

This thread is brutal.

You're the only one on this entire forum I actually listen to, lol.

 

[Bsigg12]

In my testing, the only major issue that I've encountered with Win10 is a complete lack of support for Windows Media Center. So, if you use WMC - you are out of luck until a solution becomes available.

For those using WMC with SiliconDust tuners, they do have a WMC replacement DVR software coming out that works with their CableCard and OTA network tuners.

They announced they are dropping WMC completely. Sucks for those who use it but there are a ton of options out there.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

Note though that Windows 10 has a new feature which lets you easily roll-back to where you came from with just a few clicks:

Yeah, I'm already aware. I was honestly impressed with how easy that was. I just installed to Windows 10 Insider Preview on a whim a couple of weeks ago. And then I kind of panicked when I realized that the 353 drivers that supported the 980 Ti that was on its way to my house had no Windows 10 support. I discovered that rollback option when I looked into it at work, clicked a few options, and I believe I was back up and running on Windows 7 after taking a shower. It was a surprisingly painless downgrade.

 

[Crowza]

They announced they are dropping WMC completely. Sucks for those who use it but there are a ton of options out there.

Unfortunately, there isn't many options for streaming record-once DRM protected programs. The stuff in the clear is fine, as there are dozens of options for that and almost any platform will work. Hopefully, SiliconDust's DVR will work (they are claiming it will).

 

[Berordn]

Would it be adviced to uninstall old graphics card drivers before doing the Upgrade to Windows 10, and then reinstalling them?

I think the issue I had has long since been resolved so you probably won't have an issue as long as you're already up to date. Doing it through Windows update was already pretty clean when the preview started, I think I just had too many old drivers causing trouble.

 

[dgrdsv]

It probably will, since this is their last Windows product ever. They won't release Windows 11, 12, 13...etc. Instead, they will just update Windows 10 through normal updates. But I think they will give you a key when you upgrade from 7/8.1, or they will convert your 7/8/8.1 to a 10 key, as long as you convert it in that one year.

The problem is that it's been a year since they've been avoiding giving any answer to that question.

Just to clarify, Gab Aul is in charge of the Windows Insider program and he knows what he is talking about.

Calling Windows 10 a scam is incredibly disingenuous.

What he says is in no way describing how a Win7/8 user will be able to use his free Win10 license to do a clean install of Win10 on a new PC. So while he may know what he's talking about he's also seems to be good at avoiding the answer to this simple question in very much the same way as all MS representatives did for the last year.

 

[yami4ct]

I thought once you upgraded, you get a Windows 10 key tied to your account, and if you want to change the hardware, you have to call Microsoft and deactivate current hardware so you can install Windows 10 on the new hardware.

Windows 8 works like that. It's incredibly easy. I just did it on my new homebuilt PC. You just call a number and a robot walks you through the process. You get a activation password to enter and the PC is good from there. Is there any evidence Windows 10 won't work like this? I can't imagine they'd throw out that system.