Windows 10 will be available July 29

[Larry Browning]

Looks like I will be having some fun most of August.
http://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-w...tag=CAD1acfa04

So who's going to upgrade with me?

[roger wiegand]

Do you think it will provide any more reason to "upgrade" from XP than the other recent versions have given? I haven't seen any new tricks I thought were worth spending the money or learning curve on. Of course I though MS Word hit its optimal level of functionality at version 3.1 in about 1986 and has only become more cluttered and obtuse since then.

[Larry Browning]

Do you think it will provide any more reason to "upgrade" from XP than the other recent versions have given? I haven't seen any new tricks I thought were worth spending the money or learning curve on. Of course I though MS Word hit its optimal level of functionality at version 3.1 in about 1986 and has only become more cluttered and obtuse since then.

Roger,
Could you give me an example of what you would consider to be a good reason to upgrade? Just curious. I would think that the fact that XP is no longer supported by MS would be a pretty good reason all by itself. I know that where I work XP is banned from the network. We spent a WHOLE bunch of money either upgrading or replacing every computer running XP.

I know there may be still some specialty software that won't run properly on Windows 8, and they may not run properly on windows 10. I personally don't think that is Microsoft's fault though.

[Lee Schierer]

I would think that the fact that XP is no longer supported by MS would be a pretty good reason all by itself. I know that where I work XP is banned from the network. We spent a WHOLE bunch of money either upgrading or replacing every computer running XP.

The only reason I felt it necessary to upgrade from XP was the fact that our secure banking links would no longer accept the older versions of Java that we had with XP and java said the newer versions wouldn't work with XP. I'm a firm believer in "If it isn't broken, don't fix it. I ran XP for years with no problems and very few if any crashes. My feeling is that the software industry drives its own future sales and profits by making software and operating systems obsolete so they can force you into buying newer editions which often time aren't significantly better. Just my 2 cents worth....

[Larry Browning]

My feeling is that the software industry drives its own future sales and profits by making software and operating systems obsolete so they can force you into buying newer editions which often time aren't significantly better. Just my 2 cents worth....

I also believe this. However, I also accept it as a fact of life and choose to embrace it rather than fight it. You know what the say "Resistance futile!" So we might as well learn to live with it.
You can saddle a dead horse, but it won't do you much good.

[Tom Stenzel]

You can saddle a dead horse, but it won't do you much good.

I don't mind getting rid of an old dead horse but do mind being forced to buy a new fresh dead horse.

-Tom

[roger wiegand]

Roger,
Could you give me an example of what you would consider to be a good reason to upgrade? Just curious.

There's not really much I want an OS to do that XP didn't do. A few compelling new things I can think of might include transparent and completely secure management of the myriad of passwords I need to use (LastPass handles this well for me on the browser side, but not in applications), or better some more convenient and more secure replacement for passwords, transparent and seamless management of connection to network drives I use regularly, ability to print to map printers (poster printers) without investing 2-3 hours of configuration effort every single blasted time, really useful and fast search of all local files (Spotlight on steroids perhaps), simple connections to projectors that work the first time, and, of course, inherent protection from viruses and malware.

I do use computers with both Win 7.1 and 8.1 installed (I only have one running XP, that to run Frontpage 2003 to support a website I don't have the time to update to a newer format; I also keep a Win97 machine to run some music software that turned into non-useful bloatware before it went out of business--the early program was great though!), my main everyday computers run OS X Yosemite (with Windows 7.1 running under VMWare or Parallels for Windows only programs), none of them consistently do the above. I spend what feels like an inordinate amount of time keeping printers, network connections, and backups working consistently on my wife's Win 7.1 laptop. It feels like most updates are rearranging the deck chairs, making the interfaces ever more cartoonish, and fiendishly hiding commands in new places for no apparent reason.

Enough ranting. I'm much happier having computers than not.

[Mike Henderson]

I have an update reserved for both of my machines. I'll give it a try, even though I know I should wait until the first service pack.

Mike

[Duane Meadows]

I have an update reserved for both of my machines. I'll give it a try, even though I know I should wait until the first service pack.

Mike

My understanding is there will be no "service pack". Just incremental updates! I'd think at some point there has to be an updated install .iso/disk released, though

[Mike Henderson]

My understanding is there will be no "service pack". Just incremental updates! I'd think at some point there has to be an updated install .iso/disk released, though

I should have put a smiley face on my comment. It was an attempt at a joke.

Mike

[Brian Henderson]

I want nothing to do with Windows 10 until it's been in the wild at least a year. Every version of Windows comes with a ton of bugs. I've got 7, it works fine for me, I don't need anything different until they have proven that the new software is reasonably stable and bug-free.

[John Coloccia]

I'll try it on my laptop first. If that goes well, I'll get a new drive for the desktop, and do a fresh install there.....someday.

[Pat Barry]

I'll jump in with both feet if it gets rid of the start menu in Windows 8. I just HATE the popup menu on the right side of the screen that comes up virtually everytime I touch my touchpad

[Curt Harms]

The "free" upgrade offer is supposed to be good for 12 months after the release of Windows 10 so there's no rush. Let the Beta testers -er- early adopters have the 'fun'. Has anyone seen the EULA that comes with the 'free' upgrade? Is there one yet?

[Wade Lippman]

Of course I though MS Word hit its optimal level of functionality at version 3.1 in about 1986 and has only become more cluttered and obtuse since then.

I thought Word97 was the best and stayed with it for 18 years until new antivirus software deleted it and I couldn't find the disk. I fumbled around for a while until I found LibreOffice 4.4. It is Word97 with modern formats and such.