Microsoft Store Offers Free Laptop If They Can't Upgrade Your PC To Windows 10 (microsoft.com)

Microsoft is now promising that their Microsoft Store employees "will give you a free Dell laptop if the staff can't do a same-day upgrade on your eligible PC by close of business," reports new Slashdot submitter Pritam Dash. To be eligible for the Dell Inspiron 15, the PC must meet Microsoft's upgrade requirements -- and be checked in by noon -- and in a further effort to boost adoption for their of the Windows 10 operating system, Microsoft is also announcing that "If your PC isn't compatible with Windows 10, we'll recycle it and give you $150 toward the purchase of a new PC." (This second offer is limited to PCs already running Windows 8). Both offers are valid until July 29th, "while supplies last."

Meanwhile, the U.S. army is "half a year behind the January 2017 deadline to adopt Windows 10 set by Defense Department Chief Information Officer Terry Halvorsen," and has hired Microsoft engineers to assess their 1.1 million devices and legacy systems.

Comments

The U.S.A. army?

[Anonymous Coward]

If the U.S.A. army runs Windows 10 does that mean the other countries will be able to spy on them easily?

Re:The U.S.A. army?

[Anonymous Coward]

No. It only means that the military trying to coup d'etat in order to prevent trump from things like deporting all muslims will be stopped at the planning phase.

Something like in turkey is unthinkable in the US.

Re:The U.S.A. army?

[Z00L00K]

Desperate time calls for desperate measures.

Re:The U.S.A. army?

[Anonymous Coward]

No. It only means that Microsoft will be able to spy on them easily.

Re:The U.S.A. army?

[cjjjer]

More easily than say XP?

Re:The U.S.A. army?

[Plus1Entropy]

What the fuck are you talking about?

Re: The U.S.A. army?

[Xman73x]

Microsoft's an idiot! Ms are you stupid there using old software to keep ISIS and any Terrorist Organization from hacking there computers etc and our defense grid! Wake up you fools!!

Re:The U.S.A. army?

[Dcnjoe60]

If the U.S.A. army runs Windows 10 does that mean the other countries will be able to spy on them easily?

The US army isn't switching to Windows 10. They are switching to something that looks like Windows 10, but supposedly has certain features removed or disabled. Of course, re-enabling them is just a software patch away, either from official sources or not.

lame

[Anonymous Coward]

To be eligible for trade-in, you must own the qualifying device, device must power on, battery must hold charge and not be required to be plugged in to operate, and be in fully functional, wor king condition without broken/missing components, cracked display/housing, liquid damage, modification(s) or have device warranty seal broken to be considered working. Cannot be password protected, and include original chargers/accessories. Must contain hard drive. Devices must be running Windows 8 or newer. Any appraised value will be determined at trade-in and provided as a Microsoft retail store credit.

Lame. Anyway, I've found hassles with 8 to 10 upgrades only around a third of the time - those are the times I'm called into fix, and that takes at most a couple of hours. The annoying thing is when something doesn't work quite right under 10.

Re:lame

[Applehu Akbar]

" battery must hold charge and not be required to be plugged in to operate, and be in fully functional, working condition without broken/missing components, cracked display/housing, liquid damage, modification(s) or have device warranty seal broken to be considered working. C"

So...not like the average Windows laptop I see these days ("So what if the J key is missing! I hardly ever have to type a J, and if I do I can always copy and paste.")

Re: lame

[Anonymous Coward]

"The annoying thing is when something doesn't work quite right in Windows 10"

That would be known as "always".

Re:lame

[mysidia]

How about undetectable modifications, such as a bit of code injected into BIOS firmware designed to target the Windows 10 installer or bootloader and trigger a reboot once detected, or slowdown, so the install process times out or takes longer than 8 hours?

Re:lame

[Anonymous Coward]

So basically its any laptop that can run windows 10.

Re:lame

[qubezz]

Simple, reinstall win8.1 fresh from media, take ownership of everything on the drive and NTFS compress the whole drive, run system cleanup to be sure it's as small as possible, and set the page file to 0, and disable hibernation (powercfg -h off). Image the partition. Put it back on the drive with 1MB free, but only after you've used MHDD to ATAPI permanent-resize the drive to the minimum required LBA blocks.

You don't want to play their game though, it's done through one of those trade-in recyclers that resells equipment and always hoses the customer: Any appraised value will be determined at trade-in and provided as a Microsoft retail store credit. All trade-ins are subject to Microsoftâ(TM)s discretion and approval. All trade-ins are final. Recycle for Rewards program provided by CExchange, LLC., and other terms and conditions may apply.

Re:lame

[qubezz]

If you want to slow them down even more, use MHDD to set the drive config, and set the maximum UDMA mode to DMA0.

Re: lame

[Anonymous Coward]

Average? Are you on fucking welfare? Of just not know what "average" means?

bring it in 5 minutes before store closing time

[turkeydance]

profit!

Re:bring it in 5 minutes before store closing time

[Stan92057]

"Quote" the PC must meet Microsoft's upgrade requirements -- and be checked in by noon "End Quote"
Turkeydances,bring it in 5 minutes before store closing time= FAIL lol got to read the fine print

Re:bring it in 5 minutes before store closing time

[Eloking]

bring it in 5 minutes before store closing time

profit!

I'm pretty sure it's already planned and it's a trap. Something like triple time for the employee that do overtime to upgrade your machine and a setup to do update real quick.

Re:bring it in 5 minutes before store closing time

[Desler]

Are you illiterate? It spells out the conditions in the second setence of the summary.

Re:bring it in 5 minutes before store closing time

[jmccue]

Welcome to Slashdot, no one reads the summary these days, never mind the article

"Eligible PC"

[HTH NE1]

Darn, there goes my plan to trade in an old PowerBook or Centris. "Eligible" likely means one that can run Windows 10, so it's a guarantee they'll get it done same-day by close of business. So get in just before closing, but make sure the replacement Dell is comparable in features to the machine you brought in.

Re:"Eligible PC"

[Anonymous Coward]

You just need to flood the system. Bring in 100,000 eligible computers. Surely they can't upgrade that many. You would end up with well over 90,000 free laptops.

Re: "Eligible PC"

[Anonymous Coward]

99,999*

FTFY.

Re:"Eligible PC"

[orangepeel]

I had the same reaction. For a moment there I was regretting having thrown out my old 486 ... the one with the VESA Local Bus IDE hard disk controller and video card. Oh, and the two ISA slots. One had a 16-bit ATI TV tuner card stuck in it, and the other an esoteric 8-bit controller card for that Mars 105 black & white hand-held scanner I bought from a DAK catalog back in '89.

Re: "Eligible PC"

[Anonymous Coward]

99,999*

FTFY.

"well over 90,000"...learn to read fuckwit.

What could possibly go wrong?

[Dster76]

http://www.pcworld.com/article...

there’s no way to turn off some of the telemetry data Windows 10 collects about your system and beams back to the mothership. Microsoft executives don’t consider this a privacy issue. If you do, Windows 10 isn’t for you.

Now let's put this on 1.1 million military systems.

Re:What could possibly go wrong?

[Anonymous Coward]

Windows got retrofitted with this telemetry stuff via Windows Update. Not as if you could avoid it on any Windows PC now.

Re:What could possibly go wrong?

[Anonymous Coward]

The MIL is getting a different version of Windows 10 than you or me.

Re:What could possibly go wrong?

[Anonymous Coward]

Skynet - maybe it's not from an App after all.

Re:What could possibly go wrong?

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.pcworld.com/article...

  there’s no way to turn off some of the telemetry data Windows 10 collects about your system and beams back to the mothership. Microsoft executives don’t consider this a privacy issue. If you do, Windows 10 isn’t for you.

Now let's put this on 1.1 million military systems.

I don't think the "Enterprise Edition" has this telemetry. Corporations won't allow it. Neither would DoD.

Re:What could possibly go wrong?

[Yvan256]

Windows XP didn't get retrofitted with this telemetry stuff. Neither did Windows 98SE.

Re:What could possibly go wrong?

[Anonymous Coward]

Out of curiosity, could it be blocked by a specialized hardware firewall? Or would Windows 10 cease to work in that case?

Re:What could possibly go wrong?

[Anonymous Coward]

BS. Just don't install the updates. They are only recommended.

Re:What could possibly go wrong?

[Anonymous Coward]

Telemetry in Windows 7 and 8 is still optional and easy to disable:

http://www.infoworld.com/article/2981947/microsoft-windows/the-truth-about-windows-7-and-81-spy-patches-kb-3068708-3022345-3075249-and-3080149.html

Re:What could possibly go wrong?

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't think the "Enterprise Edition" has this telemetry. Corporations won't allow it. Neither would DoD.

It does. Contrary to popular belief you can't disable telemetry on Enterprise. You can only set it to a lower level:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/itpro/windows/manage/configure-windows-telemetry-in-your-organization

Re:What could possibly go wrong?

[Anonymous Coward]

All Windows Versions prior to WIndows 7, that includes XP and 98SE, don't get any Updates anymore.

False. Vista is in extended support for another year, Server 2008 until 2020.

Re: What could possibly go wrong?

[ljw1004]

If the telemetry says only things like "10 days since last crash" or "browser was switched from Edge" then I struggle to see any privacy or security issues.

If the telemetry is "this software was installed and these apps have crashed" then I certainly hope the IT managers are collecting this telemetry and it's up to them to figure a secure way to do it, maybe with Microsoft maybe without, as they see fit.

If the telemetry is "this sequence of keystrokes was pressed" then there are obvious security and privacy risks.

I haven't yet been able to find solid details on what telemetry and when... Only rumours and insinuations.

Disclaimer: I work at Microsoft, but in OSS C# language area, not Windows.

Re: What could possibly go wrong?

[hairyfeet]

Well when you can't get the OS to stop calling home despite flipping every switch, disabling multiple programs AND using reg hacks I'd say it really doesn't matter WHAT information they are collecting, the simple fact that I have zero control over what my OS is doing is enough to consider it malware.

Re:What could possibly go wrong?

[Bite The Pillow]

So explain this to me. Office 2013 is a step back in usability for keyboard jockeys. There are things I cannot do without either using a mouse, or hitting TAB a bunch of times. And TAB doesn't go in any sensible order. And the whole OS is heading that way.

Won't telemetry data help Microsoft figure out how people use things? When submitting a request via Connect.microsoft.com or whatever, they will actually have data that yes, people use it that way, and they should fix it.

The super telemetry data is overkill, certainly. But how does this hurt anyone?

In addition, the people most likely to benefit (knowledgeable techies) are the ones most likely to disable it and be underrepresented in the sample data. And the decisions continue to go against the power users, many of whom don't have a choice in the OS being used.

I expect transparency, and I expect to be able to capture and decode all traffic. But that opens the door to spoofing, and I suspect that may be frowned upon. If they manage to do it the right way, I have no objection to telemetry. If not, then no one should stand for it.

But a blanket objection, to opt out of something that will benefit you? It makes no sense. When I use the keyboard exclusively, then have to click a mouse on the Save dialog (or maybe Save As), that should be a red flag, and that needs fixed.

Re: What could possibly go wrong?

[rtb61]

Dude, shit, like compulsory upgrades. Don't rabbit it on about what it currently seems to do when that can change at any second and you have agreed to that change. Probe doesn't go deep enough, you have agreed to a longer probe, probe doesn't shake out enough data, you have agreed to have a vibrator added, probe doesn't see where it needs to see, you have agreed to a bend to the right and corkscrew if necessary. Windows anal probe 10, it is bad now and it will only get worse, much, much, worse. For nerds of course, the thought of M$ watching them masturbate has caused some real issues with 'er' personal expression and deep long standing, without relief animosity. A real do not anti-social and dangerous to society as a whole operating system, no corporation should have that global power and they should pay a severe penalty for attempting to gain it.

Re:What could possibly go wrong?

[Alain Williams]

This I would like to know. What is a MS machine is not connected to the Internet - will it eventually grind to a halt ?

Re:What could possibly go wrong?

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you really suggesting Vista as a viable OS?

Better use 7/8 and not install the telemetry updates (or uninstall them if already installed)

Re: What could possibly go wrong?

[Anonymous Coward]

If the telemetry says only things like "10 days since last crash" or "browser was switched from Edge" then I struggle to see any privacy or security issues.

You don't see any privacy issues with them spying on what browser you use? WTF?!

I might not have a problem telling them if asked, but they aren't even fucking asking.

Re:What could possibly go wrong?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not possible. The govt. has plenty of PCs that are not connected to the internet at all. They simply wouldn't work if what you say is true.

Re:What could possibly go wrong?

[dddux]

"This I would like to know. What is a MS machine is not connected to the Internet - will it eventually grind to a halt ?" No. I routinely use Windows XP and Windows 7 in my audio studio, and these systems are not connected to the Internet. Their sole purpose is making music. For everything else I use Debian Linux with MATE desktop on another bootable partition, but I usually use my laptop with Debian Linux and MATE for Internet. One breathes much easily with Linux for Internet. No virus-antivirus and no malware-anti-malware "games". Just using the computer like a normal human being without any worries.

Re: What could possibly go wrong?

[Cinnamon Beige]

I don't think I care of they get their notice as "Edge writing home about how lonely Edge is now that you don't use Edge anymore (sob emoji)" but I do care if it's "W10 sending notice to MS that you switched to Pale Moon 10 days ago."

However, the first is only if it was done as an opt-in, or an explicit condition of making the browser free.

Re:What could possibly go wrong?

[EndlessNameless]

The military systems that matter have no connectivity to the public internet.

If internet-connected machines were a concern, the perimeter firewall could mitigate the issue entirely.

The DoD runs its own WSUS repositories, so their servers and workstations would have no need to connect to Microsoft anyway.

Re: What could possibly go wrong?

[EndlessNameless]

Keep in mind that consumer editions cannot go below Basic telemetry. The default is Enhanced, which includes more than the list below.

From Microsoft directly (reformatted and edited for brevity since Slashdot hates multilevel lists):

• Basic device data, including device attributes (such as camera resolution and display type)
• Internet Explorer version
• Battery attributes (such as capacity and type)
• Networking attributes (such as number of network adapters, speed of network adapters, mobile operator network, and IMEI number)
• Processor and memory attributes (such as number of cores, architecture, speed, memory size, and firmware)
• Virtualization attribute, such as Second Level Address Translation (SLAT) support and guest operating system
• Operating system attributes, such as Windows edition and virtualization state
• Storage attributes, such as number of drives, type, and size
• Connected User Experience and Telemetry component quality metrics, including % of uploaded events, dropped events, and the last upload time.
• Quality-related information, such as the device characteristics of a Connected Standby device, the number of crashes or hangs, and application state change details (such as how much processor time and memory were used, and the total uptime for an app)
• Compatibility data. Helps provide an understanding about which apps are installed on a device or virtual machine and identifies potential compatibility problems.
• General app data and app data for Internet Explorer add-ons. Includes a list of apps that are installed on a native or virtualized instance of the OS and whether these apps function correctly after an upgrade, including the app name, publisher, version, and basic details about which files have been blocked from usage.
• App usage data. Includes how an app is used, including how long an app is used for, when the app has focus, and when the app is started
• System data, including the amount of memory, as well as information about the processor and BIOS.
• Accessory device data. Includes a list of accessory devices, such as printers or external storage devices, that are connected to Windows PCs
• Driver data. Includes specific driver usage that’s meant to help figure out whether apps and devices will function after upgrading to a new version of the operating system. This can help to determine blocking issues and then help Microsoft and our partners apply fixes and improvements.
• Windows Store, including app downloads, installations, and updates. It also includes Windows Store launches, page views, suspend and resumes, and obtaining licenses.

The default setting also includes crash dumps and system events, although consumers can disable that if they know how.

Reference https://technet.microsoft.com/...

Re:What could possibly go wrong?

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't think for a second Apple doesn't do the same thing.

NOT worth it!

[Anonymous Coward]

Either you lose a perfectly good PC and get a junk Dell that has Windows 10, or you have a perfectly good PC ruined by having Windows 10 installed!

In what way is either of these better than having a PC that works well with Win 7 or better yet Linux on it?! Its NOT WORTH IT!! Just say NO!!!!!

Re:NOT worth it!

[Anonymous Coward]

What happens if you grab the offer, get their new Dell laptop, and then replace it with Ubuntu or Mint OS ?

Re:NOT worth it!

[Anonymous Coward]

The hardware will still be junk.

"to boost adoption for their of the Windows"

[Anonymous Coward]

Well done.

Not just that...

[Anonymous Coward]

But how many Windows 8+ systems are worth less than the 150 dollar M$ store credit? I can't imagine many. And furthermore, is there anything you can buy in the M$ store that costs less than 150 as a replacement? Pretty sure there isn't which makes this a cheap buyback+upsell scam.

Re: Not just that...

[Anonymous Coward]

Every buyback program is an upsell scheme. Nothing fucking new there. Love the M$ shit too... what are you, 6?

Will the new laptop ...

[PPH]

... run Linux?

Re:Will the new laptop ...

[Anonymous Coward]

They've taken awat the ability of Windows RT systems from running Linux so I would not hold out much hope for any device supplied by Mictosoft to be able to run Linux especially if they are giving it away.

As for taking it to the Microsoft Store... Well that's one way to get more punters than staff into the place.

Re: Will the new laptop ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Was thinking the same thing about Linux.

Also, was wondering if this was a"special" Dell, ya know, one with baked in backdoors/spyware in firmware/hardware itself.

Re:Will the new laptop ...

[Anonymous Coward]

You can always run Linux, even if only in a Virtualbox VM. I suggest older versions because the GuestAdditions on newer ones give up the booty pretty easy to the Government (via Windows). If you are on a Linux host you can watch everything going on easily. Microsoft makes all traffic a total bitch to look at... this coincides with their spy-all approach.

You can also burn a live cd, or put a live distro on USB with something like YUMI multiboot.

If you want actual uncompromised Tails, use Tails 1.4.1. There's a copy on kat.cr.

Whoever modded this Funny is homosexual. Your question is also homosexual. You are undoubtedly Microsoft team homosexual with the PR approach.

Re: Will the new laptop ...

[Anonymous Coward]

The requirement for this offer is that the OS must be Windows 8 already. The best way to grab a new Dell Laptop is to reflash and reprogram your BIOS such that:

if (OS_Bootloader == Win 10) reboot;

Profit!!!

Re:Will the new laptop ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes it can, after you've had the MS drones spill their impotence all over it :)

Now (wishful thinking) could I get MS to pay me $150 to leave my PC alone so I can continue running Linux which already replaced their "OS" a long time ago...

Re:Will the new laptop ...

[Anonymous Coward]

If you want actual uncompromised Tails, use Tails 1.4.1. There's a copy on kat.cr.

How are other versions of TAILS compromised?

The lowest bidder wins

[Anonymous Coward]

So a bunch of engineers on H-1B visas will be assessing the DoD computers?

Hmmm

[jason777]

1) Bring in old laptop sure to not be compatible
2) Get free laptop
3) Profit

Re:Hmmm

[Anonymous Coward]

From the summary: "To be eligible [...] the PC must meet Microsoft's upgrade requirements."

Re:Hmmm

[jason777]

doh

Re:Hmmm

[Anonymous Coward]

1)Bring in a laptop that meets the bare minimum requirements
2)Get free laptop
3)?
4)profit

Re:Hmmm

[Anonymous Coward]

Bring in a laptop running linux or BSD without a window environment, and then configure BIOS to boot to the internal HD first. That will probably stump most of their $7.50/hr technicians...

Microsoft will literally SUCK YO DICK

[Anonymous Coward]

to let you put US Government surveillance apparatus (Windows) in your home.

Why? They would rather SUCK YO DICK than get killed by the condemned CIA.

Re:Microsoft will literally SUCK YO DICK

[Z80a]

Microsoft is a global company that don't give half of a shit for the US government... unless well paid.
The telemetry is most likely used to determine the brand of toothpaste you use, rather than your sensitive data.

Creepy

[Tablizer]

Microsoft has gone into Gollum mode with Windows 10

Re:Creepy

[Anonymous Coward]

It's because of the US Government, not Bill Gates looking for more revenue or leaked Skype bootyhole videos.

Re:Creepy

[PolygamousRanchKid]

Microsoft has gone into Gollum mode with Windows 10

Nothing creepy at all . . . it's simple greed. The new Microsoft CEO, Satya Nutella, obviously has a bonus tied to Windows 10 installations.

Just wait until December. Microsoft will be sending out folks to your home, to give you a free PC with Windows 10 installed on it. Just to boost the installation numbers over the goal line for Satya Nutella.

That's the gag with Windows 10 Telemetry . . . Microsoft can always know how many PCs are running it. So Satya Nutella can't fudge the numbers.

Re:Creepy

[Anonymous Coward]

Skype is a bootyhole.

Re:Creepy

[Altrag]

I'm sure Nadella is getting some bonuses cause CEO, but even aside from that there's plenty of (greedy) reasons for MS to want to push Windows 10:

1) They get little to no revenue from upgrade installs at the best of time. The vast majority of people "upgrade" their Windows the day their PC dies and they have to buy a new one. So at the very least, they aren't losing much with the push.

2) It saves them having to maintain Win7 and Win8. For some reason, MS still takes the flak for bugs in their system even after they've EOL'd it because people love to hate them, so their choice is either put effort into old systems forever, or get people to stop using the old systems. (This is also why Windows Update is no longer easily optional. Or at least not easily. People don't update then blame MS when they get infected.)

3) Similar for future compatibility. Developers like to use new features, but they also need to look at the widest install base. A few of the big devs (including MS themselves) with the time and money to do so will support multiple sets of features but for the most part, they target the lowest common denominator. So again, MS is stuck either maintaining old versions forever to prevent pissy devs or get enough installs moved to the new version that third party devs can justify losing a few potential sales in order to improve their product.

4) And of course, all of the telemetry and the bit of advertising spread around the system is a potential revenue source in itself. Not really sure how much of a revenue source it is but I'm sure they've at least got plans for monetizing that information if they haven't done so already.

I don't particularly agree with the automatic forced update to Win10 that was turned on a few weeks ago (not the least of which because I do tech support and its had compatibility issues with a few of our customers' systems that I get stuck dealing with,) but I certainly see the business logic behind at least pushing people to the new version, without needing to focus on a single person's bonuses.

Re:Creepy

[Anonymous Coward]

you make him sound so..delicious

Re:Creepy

[Anonymous Coward]

I would prefer Satay Nutella - peanuts AND hazelnuts.

Re:Creepy

[Anonymous Coward]

Q: how do you make money selling something everyone already has and is quiet content to keep there old version of?
MS A: force(*cough*fully encourage) upgrade by any means possible, tie the new model to data harvesting for a continued revenue stream, and start toying with a subscription model to ensure your serfs keep ponying up the cash.

start posting failures

[Anonymous Coward]

Start posting which PCs have failed please. Help others who might just throw their PCs away when they don't work and lets make a profit perhaps.

Re:start posting failures

[guruevi]

The computers have to be compatible with Windows 10 in order to be eligible for the upgrade. If your system can't be upgraded for whatever reason, it is by definition not eligible, I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't exclude all custom systems, upgraded systems and any system that doesn't have a Windows 8 sticker on it. It's a nice little marketing scam.

If you own an Acer G73j...

[Pollux]

...let me save you some time. Don't bother updating the laptop to Windows 10. It has driver compatibility issues that cause the laptop to freeze minutes after you boot the machine.

My mom has one, and I spent six hours over the 4th of July weekend trying to upgrade it. After a bunch of searching online, I came to the conclusion that some geeky workarounds like disabling the network port and using unsigned drivers was just not the right solution for mother. Instead, I just installed an SSD into the spare drive bay and installed a fresh copy of Windows 7. She says it runs like a brand new laptop. I figure that will buy her another two, maybe three years.

Huh, I got an email saying they'd be installing...

[Anonymous Coward]

Windows 2010.

I was amazed at how forward thinking they were. Gov work, there's laughter, there's crying, there's CACs.

Will it run Linux?

[WOOFYGOOFY]

Headline: Microsoft offers free new laptop if your computer can't run Windows 10!

"Will it run Linux?", getting out my pen knife......

Re:Will it run Linux?

[will_die]

After august yes windows 10 will run linux. https://blogs.windows.com/buil...

Re:Will it run Linux?

[Anonymous Coward]

That's not Linux, it's a GNU and Ubuntu userland on a Linux emulation layer.

So day to upgrade

[lapm]

So it does take day to succesfully install then? Or does this mean small business is supposed to close doors for a day to have upgrade, assuming its goes without problems like erasing your programs without permissions, messing your passwords, etc...

Re:So day to upgrade

[Altrag]

I would hope that if you're running a business on the machine, small or otherwise, you have a better plan than waiting for MS to upgrade it for you, where you have no control over the process (and has a good chance of involving FORMAT C: if the upgrade install doesn't work first try.)

I'm sure someone somewhere will do this and then get pissed off when "within a day" doesn't somehow magically mean "within 10 minutes" but lets hope that's not the majority. There will probably be far more people bitching that Win10 doesn't look and work exactly like Win7 because somehow a lot of people seem to think they can get improvements (ie: changes) and have absolutely no changes at the same time.

VIA/S3 Unichrome Pro Integrated Video Adapter [BIO

[martiniturbide]

I have a Intel Pentium Dual Core E2180 clone PC with a "VIA/S3 Unichrome Pro Integrated Video Adapter [BIOSTAR MICROTECH] 1106:3343" video adapter that looks like crap on Windows 10. Will it be covered by the Microsoft's upgrade requirements? Who knows?

As the upgrade push continues ....

[King_TJ]

I'm interested to see just how motivated Microsoft is to get everyone upgraded to Win 10. The pressure they've been putting on everyone to upgrade before August, when the free upgrades from 7 or 8 expire has been tough for a LOT of people to refuse. But it hasn't been all that realistic for corporate users.

For example, where I work, we had all of our Windows users on Windows 7 Professional. We took a pass on Windows 8. Now, we're ok with making the move to Win 10, except the Microsoft upgrade process isn't always very practical. We usually use a pre-built drive image with all of our software set up on it. But a machine that has never run Win 10 before, even if it "qualifies for a free Windows 10 upgrade" only qualifies if you install 10 via the upgrade process where it can check in with the MS activation server and register the PC as qualifying. If you just blast our pre-made Windows 10 image onto the drive and boot it back up, it boots as inactivated Win 10 and wants you to pay full price for a working product key code.

In a few cases, upgrading the way MS wants you to do it resulted in PCs that had problems. Sometimes it's just because a newer BIOS version needed to be flashed onto it before starting (as happened with one of our older Dell laptops). But it means just telling users they can "go ahead and click the box to do the upgrade" can be trouble-prone. So to ensure a smooth process for people, I.T. has to go through all of this manually. One of our remote offices has resigned itself to just paying full price for Windows 10 licenses for all of its PCs in a couple months, when we get time to do an in-person office visit for a few days. They'd rather pay thousands more to MS than hassle with the process required to get the "qualifying free Win 10 upgrades" for its machines.

How many other places will just skip the upgrade instead of rushing to meet this "free" deadline? If there are enough of them, I bet MS does something else to get people on Win 10 at no cost or at reduced cost.

Re:As the upgrade push continues ....

[MightyMartian]

Our biggest problem with in place upgrades (other than drivers) was that they tend to toast roaming profiles. In the end we juat learned to delete the server and workstation copies of the profiles and start from scratch, and that largely seemed to fix it. All in all it has worked out reasonably well, though setting up the training lab computers was a real challenge, and even with mandatory profiles the Windows 10 start tiles (which are stored in the local app data store) seem to have a mind of their own. And yes, we tried Classic Shell, but man oh man is it unstable.

Re:As the upgrade push continues ....

[qubezz]

If you really wanted win10 pre-activation locked in, you'd have some monkeys go around to each computer with SSDs and SATA cards using a win7 image with either OEM certificates or a bootloader hack and let it upgrade THAT to lock in the upgrade on Microsoft's servers. After doing that, you can push an image on them. Why would you though? There is literally ZERO reason to use Windows 10 in a business place, and tons of reasons not to.

Re:As the upgrade push continues ....

[MightyMartian]

Primary reason is EOLs. Many of our workstations were running Vista, and it made no sense to hit 7 at this point. Yes, 10 has ample challenges and is a pain in the ass, but most the problems are dealt and we are now not facing a major upgrade for several years.

Re:As the upgrade push continues ....

[PRMan]

Does this help: http://www.howtogeek.com/22434...

Nice!

[nospam007]

So i can drop off all those machines, where clients request that upgrade, to that shop and they will do the work for me?

And instead of getting badmouthed myself when the upgrade ain't possible, I'll get a free laptop to shut them up with?

And I just have to temporarily buy the machine, Nice!

Update my HP Jornada 820?

[Anonymous Coward]

It is pre-installed with Windows. Looks like I get a free PC since the operating system is in ROM and has no hard drive.

Two problems and one solution

[fulldecent]

The solution's right there: Army drops off 1.1 million laptops at store before noon. Upgraded before 4pm.

It's almost like even the /writer/ didn't RTFS.

Zero reason to use Windows 10 in business?

[King_TJ]

The mentality that there's NO reason to upgrade to 10 in a business setting reminds me of the nay-sayers who never wanted to move off of Windows '98, back in the day. Sure, MS put out a lousy OS (Windows ME) as the next part of the upgrade path, just as Windows 8 was a pretty bad attempt at improving 7. But by the time XP came out, it made LOTS of sense to move to it.

I think that's where we're at with Windows 10 now. What do we gain as a company from moving from 7 to 10?

Off-hand:

- Options for full disk encryption without resorting to 3rd. party add-ons
- Support for the latest hardware that can't even run older Windows OS versions (like the Surface Pro 4 tablets)
- Cortana, giving users a new option to instantly find and launch the applications needed without even touching anything on the PC
- Native support for high DPI (4K and 5K) resolution displays with proper font scaling

Secondarily, it just puts your company in a better place, moving forward. Potential new hires can see your organization keeps up with current technology. And it buys you a window of another 4-5 years or more where you know you can buy a new peripheral and it will have driver support, instead of always having to verify if it really "still works with Windows 7".

Re:Zero reason to use Windows 10 in business?

[sanf780]

Cortana can be seen as a negative point. I am thinking of a situation like when you search for a document with an already sensitive title and Cortana sends a search to Bing server outside of your control. I particularly would not like that.

Apart from that, some of your claims are doubtful at this point of time. Most applications do not take into account high DPI screens yet (too much baggage on the software side, not OS). I find it strange you are not outraged by the fact that new HW does not work with older OS. It kinda resembles the HW issues with GNU/Linux these days.

Re:Zero reason to use Windows 10 in business?

[Anonymous Coward]

The option for full disk encryption in windows 10 is the same as in windows 7 - buy the pro version and use bitlocker.

I guess you could argue that there's some kind of encryption available in 10 for home users, but business shouldn't be using that (at least, not on machines that can hold customer data) as the keys are held by Microsoft.

Re:Zero reason to use Windows 10 in business?

[Anonymous Coward]

It may not make sense for a company with sensitive data such as trade secrets or a company in the health care industry where it is important to protect patient records. You can disable some telemetry settings but who knows if they are really being disabled? Some have reported that they have disabled telemetry settings only to have Windows 10 enable them again. Companies cannot afford for files containing sensitive information being phoned to MS headquarters and could potentially be given to third parties by Microsoft or stolen from Microsoft. Most of the companies I know would rather use a third party hard disk encryption application than the one that comes with Windows 10. Many companies have software or hardware that isn't compatible with Windows 10.

Free laptop comes at a price ..

[tetraverse]

The Windows 10 laptop is free but to use it, you have to allow it to send all your activity back to the mothership and the basic free apps require paying a yearly subscription to enable full functionality.

Re:Actual DoD statement on the subject

[Bite The Pillow]

http://iase.disa.mil/Pages/ind... has 3 relevant rules for Windows 10. It must be deployed by January 2017, Domain-joined systems must use Windows 10 Enterprise Edition, and Windows Telemetry must be configured to the lowest level.

It's right there. DISA is the DoD cyber rule maker, and you don't have to be military to read or use their guidance.

There is no special build. And apparently basic telemetry is fine.

You Cannot Upgrade My PC

[Anonymous Coward]

You can't upgrade my PC! Over my dead body! I won't allow it.

Now where's my free laptop?

MS Muthafuctchas REALLY Want You To Do This!

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

If they are spending several hundred on a user to go to Windows 10, what make you thing there's ANYTHING to your advantage in doing so?

"Take our Futching Trojan Horse operating system, kiddo! It's not JUST FREE, we will PAY YOU to take it!"

This is not good. Trust me. It's not good at all.

Re:MS Muthafuctchas REALLY Want You To Do This!

[Anonymous Coward]

You're a loon.

Re:MS Muthafuctchas REALLY Want You To Do This!

[Anonymous Coward]

Accusing other posters of being loons is exactly something a loon would do.

Re:MS Muthafuctchas REALLY Want You To Do This!

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a FRESH INSTALL not an upgrade!!!!!!!! They only wipe the drive and install Win 10.

Re:MS Muthafuctchas REALLY Want You To Do This!

[Anonymous Coward]

Implying other posters are loons is exactly what a clever loon would do.

Checkmate, loon.

Re:MS Muthafuctchas REALLY Want You To Do This!

[Anonymous Coward]

Loons are people like you who don't care about their privacy.

Or maybe you're just a kid who doesn't care because you only use your PC for video games and media consumption.

Shame I don't have ...

[Qbertino]

... my old Cyrix 200+ with 75Mhz Motherboard running Windows 3.11 and DOS 5 around anymore. Dang, missed a free laptop. ...

However; I do have my Sharp PC 1403 lying right here, strip-printer, datasette and all. I wonder it that counts. It *is* a PC - as in Pocket Computer - but a PC none-the-less. It's got kick-ass multimedia capabilities too - as you can see here. I'd be impressed if they get Windows 10 running on that.

But I'll also take the free Laptop, thank you.

Re:Shame I don't have ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, I'm sure your Sharp 1403 or your Cyrix 200+ meets Windows' upgrade requirements (like already running Windows 8,) part of the fine print of the deal.

This is more like, "If you're too stupid to upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 8 we'll do it for you!"

Why offer this?

[redelm]

Why make this offer? Just for publicity? Or could it be that many people have trouble upgrading and MS needs to counter the chatter by giving the press something? I've never heard of such an offer before.

3d printable modular eco-friendly laptop anyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68

Slashdot Audience

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a shame that I've only seen this on Slashdot (so far). The people that frequent Slashdot either don't need Microsoft's assistance in updating their computer or they won't want it updated. This means the multitude of people using Windows and have no idea of how to update won't see this special deal at all. These users have no idea of how to use Linux or don't care to ever try the OS. Why would they? Windows has everything they could need and Linux is very limited in easy to find software. Sure you can get open source programs, but that means they would have to know how to get to the software in the first place. I've been using Windows 10 since its release and I've yet to have any issues with the OS or it collecting data on me. I have nothing to hide anyway. And the stuff I do that should be kept private they don't look for any way.

Processing update 6 of 147...

[Anonymous Coward]

If they can't possibly be installing all of the updates.

I upgraded several Atom based devices from 8.1 to 10 - took some time but definitely doable in a day...

On the other hand, the updates took a ridiculously long time...

Intel HD Graphics 3000 Chipset

[Anonymous Coward]

Pretty much every PC with an HD Graphics 3000 chipset will fail for them. The Microsoft WHQL driver included with Windows 10 will boot ONCE, but on subsequent boots, the display will fail to initialize.

Bring an old laptop with Intel HD Graphics 3000 chipset to the Microsoft Store, win a prize.

Read the small fine print

[bjoeg]

PC that meets Window 10 upgrade requirements

Ok so most old computers are outted.

Devices must be running Windows 8 or newer

Right, so basically if it can run Windows 8, it most likely can also run Windows 10

Windows 10 upgrade or free laptop

[Anonymous Coward]

The main thing to know about this free upgrade to Win 10 is that it is a FRESH INSTALL not an upgrade with all your data and programs. PLEASE READ THIS.
They will wipe the drive and install Win 10. Who doesn't want their pictures, etc. You will be left with only windows 10.

Re:Actual DoD statement on the subject

[Anonymous Coward]

There is no special build. And apparently basic telemetry is fine.

There absolutely is a different build for the military.

Not only that, but military systems are not connected to the internet. Unclass systems are on NIPR, which isn't the same as commercial internet. There are plenty of filters to block anything sent back to microsoft. All systems and software updates go through mil channels and not MS. I'm not even going to address any of the systems that are stand-alone, air-gapped, or SIPR and other high-side networks.

Sounds like a meaningless offer

[Anonymous Coward]

The laptop has to be running Windows 8 and be compatible with Windows 10? I'm sure the clerks check to see if the laptop in question is on the Windows 10 compatibility list meaning that this laptop has been tested with Windows 10. Such an upgrade would take just over an hour from personal experience depending how fast of an internet connection you have. Very few of these systems that are considered compatible with windows 10 will fail the update. If your system isn't on the Windows 10 compatibility list and the upgrade fails, the clerks will simply tell you that your laptop isn't on the Micro$oft Windows 10 compatibility list and therefore you are not eligible to receive a free laptop.

So which is it?

[ausekilis]

A free laptop or free disposal of your old plus $150 peeing on your foot toward a new one?

Re:Actual DoD statement on the subject

[rcharbon]

Minimal telemetry is OK enough because if you're running a system that needs to be secure, you're running it on a network that doesn't connect to the public Intertubes. Might be inefficient, but isn't insecure.

re: new hardware not working with older OS

[King_TJ]

I find that annoying or irritating, sure ... but not to the point of outrage. In particular, the Surface Pro 4 is actually made by Microsoft, so why wouldn't they design it to help push their latest OS instead of encouraging people to stick with the older stuff they'd like to move away from? That's just good business logic from their perspective.

(And really, it's no different than Apple's business model all along, as a provider of both the hardware and the OS.)