The official launch date for Windows 10 is July 29 and it will be free for users running Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. If you are not eligible for the free upgrade because you are running an earlier version of Windows, the Home and Pro versions will sell for $119, and $199, respectively.
How do I get my free upgrade?
If you are eligible for the free upgrade, you will be notified by the “Get Windows 10” icon in the bottom right hand corner of your taskbar. If you don’t see the icon, check to make sure that your current version of Windows is up to date and all of the recent updates and patches have been installed. To avoid the rush on July 29th, Microsoft is allowing you to schedule your installation now.
Windows 10 has a new look and feel.
To overcome the problems with Windows 8, Microsoft has made significant changes to this new operating system. The Start Menu is back and has been redesigned. The new Start Menu will have a list of your most used applications, most visited folders, and recently added software. Windows 10 will stay in desktop mode if it recognizes a mouse and keyboard and tablet mode when there is no keyboard and mouse.
Will Windows 10 run on my machine?
According to Microsoft, the “minimum requirements for Windows 10 are a 1GHz processor, at least 1GB of RAM, and 16GB of hard drive space.” Newer PC that are already running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 should work fine. However, some older software and peripherals may have problems after you install Windows 10. Also, if you are running an old version of software that is vital for your business, check with the software manufacture to confirm that the program will function properly on Windows 10. To ensure that your PC or tablet makes the transition, visit Microsoft’s Windows 10 Specifications site.
Always backup your system before any upgrade.
It is highly recommended to do full onsite and offsite backup of your computer before you make any changes to the operating system. An external hard drive can be connected to your computer to easily backup your entire system. You can buy a large External Hard Drive on Amazon.com for less than $100. There are several offsite online back-up services like Carbonite, Dropbox, Box, and OneDrive. These are cheap options to backup a large amount of data. Online backup services like these save your files to the Cloud and give you the peace of mind that if your home experiences a fire, is burglarized, or there is a hardware issue with your external hard drive, you have an exact copy of all your data at an off-site location.
Here are a few more common questions about the upgrade process. Click on the links for Microsoft’s answers.