(1) Image your current Win 7 install
(2) Upgrade to Win 10 to secure free license
(3) Restore saved image from step 1
(4) Do clean install of Win 10 if/when you feel like it
Tried Windows 10. Didn't like it, even with Classic Start Menu. Performance in games benchmarked the same for me (except for the couple of old ones it broke). "Minimalist services" can easily be replicated by disabling a load of stuff anyway (Homegroup xxx, Function Discovery xxx, Distributed xxx, BITS, etc, for the average home user). Went back to Windows 7 and not missing much at all. The only 2 tangible differences I saw were support for DX12 and TRIM for PCI-E SSD's (neither of which I have). Other "new" stuff included features that were in XP, then removed and now being reintroduced (remember the XP Virtual Desktop Powertoy)? Most of the rest was "pretend your PC is a 24-32' touch-less tablet and you want to use mobile apps on a desktop because we want to copy Google & Apple after our traditional business model hit the wall!" UI fluff whose "betterness" is entirely subjective.
Windows 7 "extended" support is actually until Jan 4th 2020, so you've got another 4 years of supported security fixes, etc, and even then Win7 won't stop working on Jan 5th. The so called "end of mainstream support" is laughable anyway given the "missing" features aren't due to end of a support date or driver coder incompetence, but rather Microsoft's usual "vision" based planned obsolescence... :sneaky:
There is no reason to buy windows 7 right now. There is no reason to still be using 7 in a home environment.
There is very little reason to bother with 10 at this point either...granted on a completely new system I don't see why you wouldn't go with 10 - except that everyone I know who took the plunge hated it and went back.
Obviously those "better performance" reports are few and far between. People said that about 8 as well and general consensus is that it still sucks.
My favorite things about people who say people are dumb for staying on 7 are these:
"7 is so old" --- um...and that matters why? This is an OS, not your 80's hair metal t-shirt.
"Windows 10 is so much more secure!" --- you mean, at the moment right?
"DX12!" --- yea, that isn't actually used by anything yet
I personally know no one who is running Win7 over Win10 right now. It's ok though, it's cool to hate on new OS's.
You know exactly what I mean. The modern Windows NT kernel based OS's (Vista, 7, 8, etc) are several orders of magnitude closer to each other in ever depreciating gains per iteration vs the old flaky "sort of 16/32 bit, DirectX 1.0, doesn't even support FAT32, USB 1.0, UDMA for PATA, or AGP graphics out of the box" Windows 95. It's one hell of a straw-man to even begin to make a 7 vs 10 must = 7 vs 95 comparison. MS are "hitting the upgrade reluctance wall" due to year on year hardware stabilizing, the annual prior "upgrade rat race" ending and also hitting the usability peak for general desktop UI stuff. Eg, PCI-E has been around since 2004 - those 11 years under one forwards / backwards compatible bus have been more stable than the previous incompatible ISA -> Vesa-Local-Bus -> PCI-> AGP during 1991-1996. Same with SATA vs PATA DMA 0-7 / PIO, USB vs RS232 Serial / PS2 / parallel ports pre-plug & play, floppy to competing super-floppy non-standards to universal USB flash, etc.Windows 95 hasn't "stopped working" either. :hmm:
Seems odd considering that's what the vast majority of people are still using... Same goes for Office 2003-2010 versions, which is what I see far more of than 365 in various sized businesses during the week as part of my job.I personally know no one who is running Win7 over Win10 right now.
I'm not hating on it. Common sense says you let it sit before jumping on the bandwagon. It is the foundation of your system, not some app you can just uninstall on a whim. Lately it seems cool to just believe that newer is better because some company says so. (PS. your particular comment is getting to be pretty cliche). Some of us prefer things working as is, not constantly installing and uninstalling an OS just because. That's why I said a new system could go with 10.
Ironically all those I'm talking about (not liking 10) are in IT.
Seems odd considering that's what the vast majority of people are still using... Same goes for Office 2003-2010 versions, which is what I see far more of than 365 in various sized businesses during the week as part of my job.
I am using win 7 and I will use it until all the issues are gone with win 10. This will probably take long time. About mainstream support, it's not a big deal.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2452...ream-support-but-it-isnt-being-abandoned.html
I haven't constantly installed/uninstalled an OS since Windows 98. I ran 7, 8, 8.1, and 10 on release. A lot of people in IT are incredibly dumb, FWIW...so I really don't take the "X is in IT and doesn't like Y" argument seriously at all.
It's understandable that an IT guy wouldn't like a new OS of any kind, no matter how good it is. They have to learn a ton of new things to do all the things they need to do for their networks.
For the average home user, Win 10 is a great OS and easy to use. IT guys just don't want to relearn all the other stuff they need to learn about a new OS.
Well when it comes to swapping personal anecdotes, I know several friends & family who've hated the "feel" of it and asked for help reverting, even with Classic Start Menu installed. One described it as a "advertising billboard with an OS tacked on..." I laughed at his 'exaggeration', then saw this and understood exactly what he (and millions of others) don't like about it...I thought it was obvious, but apparently I need to rephrase: I don't personally know anyone who has upgraded to Win10 and has then been displeased and reverted back to Win7.
Win10 for sure, any issues are so minor, in fact I've had none and I'm a serious gamer and use Win10 every day, Win7 is on limited life span any ways ie on extended support now and EOL is Jan 2020 which is not that far away.
DX12, improved security, speed, plus mainstream support in its early days are some of the advantages of Win10 so no-brainer IMHO.
Well when it comes to swapping personal anecdotes, I know several friends & family who've hated the "feel" of it and asked for help reverting, even with Classic Start Menu installed. One described it as a "advertising billboard with an OS tacked on..." I laughed at his 'exaggeration', then saw this and understood exactly what he (and millions of others) don't like about it...
Sorry, but I have to just laugh at this paragraph.