Windows 10 is arriving in just eight days, and that can mean only one thing; upgrade time. Microsoft has taken the unprecedented step of offering Windows 10 as a free upgrade this time around. As the old saying goes, never look a gift horse in the mouth. Only this particular gift horse is one of the largest multinational companies on the face of this planet, and it’s got one thing on its brain - money.
Before we delve into the murky depths of the upgrade plans, here’s a quick outline of what’s being offered. From Wednesday, January 29th, users who’ve reserved their copy of Windows 10 via the app in their system tray will be invited to upgrade. The update will be rolling out in waves. All legitimate users of Windows 7 and Windows 8 will receive it, and they will be able to upgrade to a like-for-like OS. So if you had Windows 7 Home, you’ll be entitled to Windows 10 Home, etc. The free upgrade will be available to take advantage of until July 28th, 2016. As long as you get it before then, it’s yours to keep.
Many of us get taken in by the latest shiny, new thing, and Windows 10 is just that. For that reason, many of us will be upgrading. It’s the new hotness and all signs point to it fixing all of the wrongs of Windows 8. For gamers Windows 10 will also be offering DirectX 12 support. It’ll be extremely limited at first, but the first few games supporting the API should begin trickling out this year.
However, for all the excitement of Windows 10, there’s millions of users out there who have no intention of running Microsoft’s latest operating system. For those with patience and a healthy dose of common sense, they’ll be waiting. The upgrade offer is available for a year, why upgrade right away? After all, one of Windows 10’s headline features is fixing everything broken by Windows 8, at which point Windows 7 users might question the worth in upgrading at all.
Likewise, early adoption is always about teething pains. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a new console, a game, or an operating system; there is bound to trouble in some capacity. If you wait it out, everyone else can find all the bugs and glitches, saving you many a headache. You can watch the ‘beta’ testers from afar.
I know what I’m doing come July 29th, but what are you?
