Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard about Microsoft’s newest operating system: Windows 10. You could say that Microsoft is very “proud” of their latest release, and they’ve gone to never before seen lengths to “offer” it to their current customers. Windows 7 and 8 users have been given a year to receive a free upgrade to Windows 10, otherwise they’ll have to purchase the operating system at the full retail price of $119 for the Home version, or $199 for Windows 10 Professional. The free upgrade will end on July 29, 2016. I personally haven’t recommended installing the free upgrade on existing systems due to the many issues it has caused many of my clients, but have said that it’s ok to purchase a new computer with Windows 10 on it. If you’re still on the fence, read my prior post “Should I Upgrade to Windows 10“. If you’ve decided that Windows 10 is not for you at this time, keep reading.
As I said earlier, Microsoft has gone to great lengths to “encourage” their customers to upgrade. Why all the quotation marks? Because Windows users have been bombarded with ads and scheduled downloads that can inadvertently install Windows 10 without their knowledge or intention. It’s almost become criminal at this point the way people are being bullied into something that they don’t want. There is help, however. If you’re a Windows 7 user and don’t want to be reminded constantly that your free upgrade is going to expire, do this: Right-click anywhere on the taskbar (the bar on the bottom of the screen to the right of the “Start” button) and click “Properties”. Under the “Notification area” heading, click “Customize…”. In the window that pops up, look for “GWX Get WIndows 10.” Click the dropdown arrow, and choose “Hide icon and notifications”, then click “OK” in the bottom right. The pop ups will finally disappear! If you have Windows 8, make sure you’re on the “Desktop” app. If not, from the “Tiles” screen with the word “Start” in the top left corner, click “Desktop”. Simply follow the same steps that I listed above for Windows 7.
Windows 10 will be a good thing. It’s basically a hybrid of Windows 7 and 8 which is helpful. Many people hated the app tile interface design of Windows 8, so Microsoft re-instituted the “Start” button into their 8.1 upgrade, and brought back a more familiar look and feel to Windows 10. The way they’ve gone about getting people to switch to Windows 10 though is deplorable in my opinion. By the way, don’t fall for the hype: if you’re a Windows 7 user, Microsoft will continue to offer Windows Updates through January 14, 2020, and WIndows 8 support will end on January 10, 2023. New features won’t be developed for Windows 7, but security updates will continue until 2020. In other words, you don’t have to upgrade your computer by July 29th.