Upgrade to Windows 10?

Upgrade to Windows 10? a reader asks…

Hello, now that Windows 10 is available, should I upgrade now or wait?

You might want to peruse my previous article about this: Windows 10 Upgrade Tip, but let me give you a quick way to make a good decision (based on my opinion which has been fleshed out by researching what other computer professionals have to say):

It’s a consensus that for most consumers, it’s better to wait at least a month or three. Anytime a new operating system is released, early adopters quickly discover bugs, things that don’t work right, devices or peripherals that won’t work till their drivers are updated, etc. Microsoft will probably be quick about quashing those bugs, but unless you’re desperate to upgrade, why not wait till the dust settles and some updates to Windows 10 have been released, then do the upgrade?. You have until July 29th, 2016 to get the free upgrade, so there’s really no rush.

That said, if you currently use Windows 8.1 and aren’t really happy with your computer, then you might want to take the upgrade sooner. You might very well see a slight improvement in performance, particularly if your computer came to you brand-new with Windows 8.1 on it. Older computers that were upgraded to Windows 8 might have older devices inside them and there could be problems with drivers for those devices.

If you’re still running Windows 8.0, then by all means upgrade, either to 8.1 or Windows 10. You’ll

If you have Windows 7, there’s really no reason to rush. If your computer isn’t performing well, then you really need to see about cleaning it up before you upgrade to Windows 10 anyway (some tips here).

For the most part, upgrading to Windows 10 is pretty simple and trouble-free – but that’s not guaranteed and you will be very unhappy if you’re one of the few who has trouble. You also have a 30-day window from when you upgrade in which you can roll back to your previous version of Windows without any trouble.

If you have any other version of Windows (Vista, XP, etc.) then it’s well beyond the time you considered retiring that old computer, or upgrading to a more modern operating system. Just be conscious of potential pitfalls when trying to use old hardware with newer versions of Windows. That’s likely why Microsoft didn’t include the free upgrade offer for older versions.