Windows 10 Launches Next Month

[Fanghawk]

Windows 10 Launches Next Month

Microsoft's Windows 10 will finally be available on July 29, complete with full Cortana and Xbox integration support.

It was only nine months ago when <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/137744-Microsoft-Windows-10-not-Windows-9>Microsoft revealed it would dive straight into Windows 10, an operating system that united desktop, mobile, and gaming devices across a single platform. Since then we've learned of several features worth getting excited about - not the least of which <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/140152-Windows-10-Will-Update-For-Free-On-Pirated-Windows-Copies>was a free upgrade for Windows 7 and 8 users. The only remaining question was when it would finally be released, but now we have the answer: Windows 10's availability date is July 29, 2015.

To switch to Windows 10, you'll have to reserve the upgrade in the Get Windows 10 app - which should be sitting in your taskbar now. From there the app will notify you when the upgrade is available, which can be scheduled for a convenient time.

That's well and good, but what kind of features will Windows 10 offer? First of all, Halo's Cortana will arrive on your devices as a digital personal assistant and answer to Apple's Siri. Internet Explorer will be removed in favor of Microsoft Edge, a streamlined browser with built-in commenting and Cortana integration. Windows 10 users will also get access to the full Office 2016 suite, including universal applications for Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.

On the gaming front, the Xbox app will let you stream PC games directly to your Xbox One or Windows 10 tablet. Video capture and editing is also supported with Game DVR, as is playing with friends across devices. Finally Windows 10 is designed to fully support DirectX 12, which will herald <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/139558-DirectX-12-is-Windows-10-Exclusive>several Xbox exclusives arriving on PC at later dates.

And that's not even getting into features like the upgraded Windows Store or updated apps that function between devices. Combined there's a very solid chance of Windows 10 being the most popular Microsoft OS since the beloved Windows 7. Will you be getting the upgrade at launch?

Source: Windows, via <a href=http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/microsoft-announces-windows-10-release-date-1.3095086?cmp=rss>CBC

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[Scarim Coral]

I gonna pass the offer to get the upgrade for free.

I think the only time I would want 10 is when I build a new pc.

 

[CrystalShadow]

... Hmm...

No, I think I'll wait it out and see what people actually think of it. Upgrades always tend to be a real pain at the best of times.
I'd like to know what I'm getting into before I even think about it.

Besides, free upgrade sounds good on paper, but what are the downsides?
And considering I in fact have a retail copy of windows 7 ultimate (which is amongst the least restrictive kind of windows license you can get), I stand to actually lose quite a bit if my product key becomes invalid, and windows 10 turns out to be a bit of a dud in comparison.

 

[NLS]

I just noticed the Windows 10 icon in my taskbar. Clicked on it. About 3 clicks and an email address later (you don't even have to untick the "keep me updates with product news", it's not selected by default), and I'm set to go. It's apparently a 3GB download that'll come when the time is right and that's it.
I'm almost expecting it to just go fully automatic and one day I'll come home from work and my computer will just have silently upgraded in the background.

 

[NLS]

... Hmm...

No, I think I'll wait it out and see what people actually think of it. Upgrades always tend to be a real pain at the best of times.
I'd like to know what I'm getting into before I even think about it.

Besides, free upgrade sounds good on paper, but what are the downsides?
And considering I in fact have a retail copy of windows 7 ultimate (which is amongst the least restrictive kind of windows license you can get), I stand to actually lose quite a bit if my product key becomes invalid, and windows 10 turns out to be a bit of a dud in comparison.

Well, you can still reserve and just decide to not install it right away, or cancel out at any time. Also, since it's a 3GB download I'm guessing it's gonna be a straight forward upgrade instead of a clean install. Pretty much a glorified patch with new features.
Downsides? Dunno. Microsoft doesn't really need the money gained from upgrades. They're still gonna make money through new purchases and enterprise licences. And Windows Licences are only a minor part of Microsoft's income, they may not get instant cash from this giveaway, but there are loads of other long-term benefits for them. Such as: Winning back consumer trust in the Windows brand and focusing their support efforts on one platform, among other things.

 

[lancar]

I'm cautiously optimistic, but the question remains as to why I would want to upgrade from something that still works great?
I'll probably wait and see how it all unfolds before I decide.
Knowing me, it'll likely take quite some time. Probably until the last day of the free upgrade offer.

 

[Baresark]

I am interested in DX12, that is really the only reason to care as a PC gamer. I mean, it's awesomely optimized, but I don't see myself using their terrible app store or anything. I will probably reserve it, but I may put off upgrading until I know all the kinks are worked out.

 

[CrystalShadow]

... Hmm...

No, I think I'll wait it out and see what people actually think of it. Upgrades always tend to be a real pain at the best of times.
I'd like to know what I'm getting into before I even think about it.

Besides, free upgrade sounds good on paper, but what are the downsides?
And considering I in fact have a retail copy of windows 7 ultimate (which is amongst the least restrictive kind of windows license you can get), I stand to actually lose quite a bit if my product key becomes invalid, and windows 10 turns out to be a bit of a dud in comparison.

Well, you can still reserve and just decide to not install it right away, or cancel out at any time. Also, since it's a 3GB download I'm guessing it's gonna be a straight forward upgrade instead of a clean install. Pretty much a glorified patch with new features.
Downsides? Dunno. Microsoft doesn't really need the money gained from upgrades. They're still gonna make money through new purchases and enterprise licences. And Windows Licences are only a minor part of Microsoft's income, they may not get instant cash from this giveaway, but there are loads of other long-term benefits for them. Such as: Winning back consumer trust in the Windows brand and focusing their support efforts on one platform, among other things.

Hmmm. Those are fair points, I admit.
Still, I'm approaching this cautiously, because while they do improve things often enough (I have a windows XP system around, and seeing it side-by-side with something more recent does prove that), but they are equally capable of massively screwing things up for no clear reason.

So I'd still rather have some sense that I know what I'm getting into here, rather than just going in blind and hoping for the best...

 

[NLS]

... Hmm...

No, I think I'll wait it out and see what people actually think of it. Upgrades always tend to be a real pain at the best of times.
I'd like to know what I'm getting into before I even think about it.

Besides, free upgrade sounds good on paper, but what are the downsides?
And considering I in fact have a retail copy of windows 7 ultimate (which is amongst the least restrictive kind of windows license you can get), I stand to actually lose quite a bit if my product key becomes invalid, and windows 10 turns out to be a bit of a dud in comparison.

Well, you can still reserve and just decide to not install it right away, or cancel out at any time. Also, since it's a 3GB download I'm guessing it's gonna be a straight forward upgrade instead of a clean install. Pretty much a glorified patch with new features.
Downsides? Dunno. Microsoft doesn't really need the money gained from upgrades. They're still gonna make money through new purchases and enterprise licences. And Windows Licences are only a minor part of Microsoft's income, they may not get instant cash from this giveaway, but there are loads of other long-term benefits for them. Such as: Winning back consumer trust in the Windows brand and focusing their support efforts on one platform, among other things.

Hmmm. Those are fair points, I admit.
Still, I'm approaching this cautiously, because while they do improve things often enough (I have a windows XP system around, and seeing it side-by-side with something more recent does prove that), but they are equally capable of massively screwing things up for no clear reason.

So I'd still rather have some sense that I know what I'm getting into here, rather than just going in blind and hoping for the best...

Aight, nothing wrong with waiting. You've got a full year before the offer runs out, so no rushin.
Btw: You can't "downgrade" your windows license from Ultimate/Pro 7/8.1 to Win10 Home. You're gonna get Win10 Pro (since there's no Win10 Ultimate (Windows 7 Ultimate was just a glorified home version of Enterprise, and succeeded by Win8.1 Pro)) if you get the upgrade.

 

[Frezzato]

... Hmm...

No, I think I'll wait it out and see what people actually think of it. Upgrades always tend to be a real pain at the best of times.
I'd like to know what I'm getting into before I even think about it.

Besides, free upgrade sounds good on paper, but what are the downsides?
And considering I in fact have a retail copy of windows 7 ultimate (which is amongst the least restrictive kind of windows license you can get), I stand to actually lose quite a bit if my product key becomes invalid, and windows 10 turns out to be a bit of a dud in comparison.

This makes me wonder just how seamless installing Windows 10 would be. I can only hope that an upgrade would be just as flawless as it was with Yosemite, which by the way works perfectly fine on my 2009 MacBook. I quoted you specifically because I remembered you have a YouTube account and I wonder if you would lose compatibility with the associated software and hardware you use to make your videos. Hardware wouldn't be much of an issue I imagine, but software compatibility is something to ponder.

I'm hopeful that the free applications I use will be made for Windows 10, like VLC and other stuff like Subtitle Edit, AviDemux, Handbrake, and Audacity. Not to mention Comodo and Avast! I'm guessing they'll still work with the upgrade. Those programs, if not compatible, will surely be made compatible. But I have a full install of Adobe Web Premium 5.5, and losing that would truly suck since it's one of the last iterations from the time before Adobe switched to the monthly fee model.

It's very odd. I don't think I've ever upgraded a Windows OS. It's always involved me abandoning the old machine and just buying a new one.

 

[Worgen]

I'm certainly doing it on my laptop which is running 8.1. I'll sign up for it on my desktop but I want to see how it is on my lappy before I actually switch from 7.

 

[SecondPrize]

Hmm, do we have to move all our data somewhere if we're installing a new OS or does it kind of drop on top of the current one. By this point, with microsoft, I can barely be assed with the new operating systems if it means I have to do anything.

 

[CrystalShadow]

... Hmm...

Spoiler: old post

No, I think I'll wait it out and see what people actually think of it. Upgrades always tend to be a real pain at the best of times.
I'd like to know what I'm getting into before I even think about it.

Besides, free upgrade sounds good on paper, but what are the downsides?
And considering I in fact have a retail copy of windows 7 ultimate (which is amongst the least restrictive kind of windows license you can get), I stand to actually lose quite a bit if my product key becomes invalid, and windows 10 turns out to be a bit of a dud in comparison.

Spoiler: old post

Well, you can still reserve and just decide to not install it right away, or cancel out at any time. Also, since it's a 3GB download I'm guessing it's gonna be a straight forward upgrade instead of a clean install. Pretty much a glorified patch with new features.
Downsides? Dunno. Microsoft doesn't really need the money gained from upgrades. They're still gonna make money through new purchases and enterprise licences. And Windows Licences are only a minor part of Microsoft's income, they may not get instant cash from this giveaway, but there are loads of other long-term benefits for them. Such as: Winning back consumer trust in the Windows brand and focusing their support efforts on one platform, among other things.

Spoiler: old post

Hmmm. Those are fair points, I admit.
Still, I'm approaching this cautiously, because while they do improve things often enough (I have a windows XP system around, and seeing it side-by-side with something more recent does prove that), but they are equally capable of massively screwing things up for no clear reason.

So I'd still rather have some sense that I know what I'm getting into here, rather than just going in blind and hoping for the best...

Aight, nothing wrong with waiting. You've got a full year before the offer runs out, so no rushin.
Btw: You can't "downgrade" your windows license from Ultimate/Pro 7/8.1 to Win10 Home. You're gonna get Win10 Pro (since there's no Win10 Ultimate (Windows 7 Ultimate was just a glorified home version of Enterprise, and succeeded by Win8.1 Pro)) if you get the upgrade.

That's good to know. And yeah, 'ultimate' was literally the catch-all version of windows. Includes everything there possibly is to include. Which is... Overkill, but... Whatever.

Still, it's worth remembering that it gets upgraded to the same version. (or it's nearest equivalent at least).
Thanks for letting me know.

... Hmm...

No, I think I'll wait it out and see what people actually think of it. Upgrades always tend to be a real pain at the best of times.
I'd like to know what I'm getting into before I even think about it.

Besides, free upgrade sounds good on paper, but what are the downsides?
And considering I in fact have a retail copy of windows 7 ultimate (which is amongst the least restrictive kind of windows license you can get), I stand to actually lose quite a bit if my product key becomes invalid, and windows 10 turns out to be a bit of a dud in comparison.

This makes me wonder just how seamless installing Windows 10 would be. I can only hope that an upgrade would be just as flawless as it was with Yosemite, which by the way works perfectly fine on my 2009 MacBook. I quoted you specifically because I remembered you have a YouTube account and I wonder if you would lose compatibility with the associated software and hardware you use to make your videos. Hardware wouldn't be much of an issue I imagine, but software compatibility is something to ponder.

I'm hopeful that the free applications I use will be made for Windows 10, like VLC and other stuff like Subtitle Edit, AviDemux, Handbrake, and Audacity. Not to mention Comodo and Avast! I'm guessing they'll still work with the upgrade. Those programs, if not compatible, will surely be made compatible. But I have a full install of Adobe Web Premium 5.5, and losing that would truly suck since it's one of the last iterations from the time before Adobe switched to the monthly fee model.

It's very odd. I don't think I've ever upgraded a Windows OS. It's always involved me abandoning the old machine and just buying a new one.

Yeah, I wonder that same thing actually. Reminds me that the hardware I've been using for video capture so far is already pretty flaky. (you have to use weird workarounds to even get it working on Windows 7, so... Who knows how that will be.)

I can reasonably assume the software either works, or will soon, but it could involve nasty surprises I guess.
(My main programs for videos and associated contents are virtualdub, audacity, and inkscape, with most of the editing done using Lightscape. Some minor issues to do with codecs are also possible of course. Some small handful of things in those videos are done with blender and the Gimp... But I have little reason to fear that any of those will stop working - or not be patched if they do. Well, aside from virtualdub maybe. That one's starting to look like it isn't getting proper support anymore... Not sure.)

Of course, doing gaming videos, especially of older games also throws up the question of what it will take to actually get the games themselves to run.
So far that isn't an issue because they've all been console games (not out of choice, but rather by necessity, since for a while doing PC games was completely impractical. That's changed now, but since I've been so irregular with videos generally, I haven't really caught up with the consequences of that change.)

I'm actually not sure I've ever upgraded an OS either to be honest.
What tends to happen in my case is either I get a new computer, or, in many cases I end up setting up a dual-boot system. (or more, depending on whether I'm in the mood to mess with, and get annoyed by Linux or BSD again...)

 

[AndrlCh]

I'm certainly doing it on my laptop which is running 8.1. I'll sign up for it on my desktop but I want to see how it is on my lappy before I actually switch from 7.

This is pretty much my plan, too. I'm cautiously optimistic about Windows 10, so I'm not sure I want to jump completely in on all my computers at once.

 

[Worgen]

I'm certainly doing it on my laptop which is running 8.1. I'll sign up for it on my desktop but I want to see how it is on my lappy before I actually switch from 7.

This is pretty much my plan, too. I'm cautiously optimistic about Windows 10, so I'm not sure I want to jump completely in on all my computers at once.

I've got a dev preview build on my lappy, but its running on a vm so I can't get a good feel for its performance. I do like the ui much better than 8s, I don't think its worse than 7s but its not better.

 

[Callate]

Right! Time to buy a copy of Windows 7.

I'll wait for the reviews, but what shows in the preview video still looks an awful lot like the inelegant, space-hogging, hide-all-the-buttons-and-knobs-from-the-pleibians interface I've grown to loathe in my limited interactions with Windows 8.

 

[Laughing Man]

Hmm, do we have to move all our data somewhere if we're installing a new OS or does it kind of drop on top of the current one. By this point, with microsoft, I can barely be assed with the new operating systems if it means I have to do anything.

No it should install on top of the OS as is without affecting your data, however standard good practice would be to do a full back up of any important data before installing the update, just in case.

 

[Recusant]

Now, I'm not much of a console gamer, and so have to piece together what I've overheard, but doesn't Cortana go crazy in one of the later Halo games? Is that really what you want to be encouraging, Microsoft? I know Halo is a big recognition point for you guys, but unless this is a pre-emptive "We DID warn you; look what we named it!" thing in case of problems down the line, I think you may be misstepping.

Combined there's a very solid chance of Windows 10 being the most popular Microsoft OS since the beloved Windows 7.

Is that really much of a boast?

 

[ddrkreature]

I have it reserved on both my PCs (laptop and desktop) but I'm only going to install it on my laptop at first and sew how it is before going for the desktop. I wish microsoft would go into detail about the windows service thing. If Win 10 just turns into windows service and makes you pay for it yearly, HELL NO! I'm going to stay optimistic on it, though, and hope that Win Service is something separate.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

I as I said when I first heard of the free upgrade, I'll sit on the offer for a few months and let the everyone else test out the release build. That's what's best to do with any big Windows release. Even with a full system backup, I don't want to mess around with reinstalling Win 7, if Win 10's first few months have issues.

Maybe if I had a spare PC or a spare HDD to dual boot from, I'd volunteer as a tester.