Slashdot Asks: Free Upgrade To Windows 10 Ends Today: What's Your Thought On This?

Exactly one year ago, Microsoft released Windows 10 to the general public. The latest version of company's desktop operating system brought with it Cortana, and Windows Hello among other features. While users have lauded Windows 10 for performance improvements, the Redmond-based company's aggressive upgrade tactics have spoiled the experience for many. Whether it was installing Windows 10 on computers without users' consent, or eating up tons of bandwidth for users who couldn't afford it, or whether it was deceptive dialog boxes, Microsoft definitely deserves a lot of blame -- and rightfully, a bunch of lawsuits. But many of these things, hopefully, will end today -- July 29, 2016 (or to be exact, Saturday morning 5:59am EDT / 2:59am PDT) Today is officially the last day when eligible Windows 7 and Windows 8 computers could be upgraded to Windows 10 for free of charge. After this, an upgrade to Windows 10 will set you back by at least $119.
We asked you a couple of weeks ago whether or not would you recommend someone to update their computer to Windows 10, and the vast majority of you insisted against it. What's your thought on this now? Those who opt out of updating to Windows 10 will also miss the Anniversary Update -- and its features -- which Microsoft plans to release on August 2 for free of charge.

Comments

Windows 10, Windows 10, Windows 10!

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh thank god, another Windows 10 story!
I was getting worried we might go a day without one.

Re:Windows 10, Windows 10, Windows 10!

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't forget Cortana. What would we do without Cortana? I wouldn't know. Would you? Can you even conceive of going just one day without Cortana?

Re:Windows 10, Windows 10, Windows 10!

[malditaenvidia]

John 117 sure can't.

Re:Windows 10, Windows 10, Windows 10!

[Miamicanes]

"Cortana, why is Windows 10 so ugly?"

Aero Glass was too slow on non-Intel platforms, so Microsoft removed it entirely to avoid having Windows look uglier and worse on ARM tablets than it does on a top of the line i7 workstation.

"Cortana, what percentage of people who buy top of the line i7 workstation-class computers actually CARE about running Windows on ARM?"

***DIVISION BY ZERO ERROR***

Re:Windows 10, Windows 10, Windows 10!

[Anonymous Coward]

Windows 10 is like Donald Trump, no one likes it, but we keep hearing about it.

Re:Windows 10, Windows 10, Windows 10!

[Qzukk]

Not only that, in windows 10 unless you pick an ugly-as-fuck high contrast theme, the default themes have almost* no difference between the focused window and other windows, making it infuriating to use on a two-headed PC since I have no way of knowing where the focus is.

*: I noticed that the focused window's title text is slightly less gray, that's it.

Re:Windows 10, Windows 10, Windows 10!

[Anonymous Coward]

I did a free upgrade to Linux Mint, they seem to have forgotten what the P in PC means, I have been building computers since 1977.at first they were nothing but a box of parts that needed a LOT of soldering, they were to give the geeks freedom , freedom to do what we wanted not what some dictator sysadmin tells us what to do, look at what is coming down in a few days with the first major update, how many things they will prevent us to doing to OUR computers.

so while they tell most of America what to do and how to do it . I will spend my golden years
using my computer they way I want to .

Same As Before

[sexconker]

My thoughts are the same as I've expressed before on these Windows 10 stories.
I'll describe them in detail again.

Fuck MS.

Re:Same As Before

[prograsm]

My thoughts are similar: The OS is nice, it's as usable an OS as Microsoft has made. But there's a reason Microsoft made it propagate like a zombie outbreak. People don't want it. MS has to know there are serious issues with the direction decision makers are taking the company when one of their more tolerable new friendly operating system releases is given away for free and older versions of their product are still preferable. Trying to monetize your customers is not working, M$. Learn from that.

Re:Same As Before

[Killall -9 Bash]

19% market share for an OS that has been free for a year is fucking pathetic.

Re:Same As Before

[Anonymous Coward]

19% market share for an OS that has been free for a year is fucking pathetic.

so tru :-D.

same can be sed about da market share of linux on the desk, free for 25 years.. 2% share.. lmfao.

Win7 4 life

Re: Same As Before

[Miamicanes]

Linux WAS actually well on its way to becoming a meaningful alternative, until Ubuntu (who was responsible for most of that popularity) succumbed to Tablet Fever and, like Microsoft, proceeded to slaughter its golden egg-laying goose.

Remember 2008? Just slightly over 8 years ago? Back when "Ubuntu" had almost become SYNONYMOUS with "Linux" as far as books, magazines, and mainstream users were concerned? Now look at them... the only reason they're even still RELEVANT is because of all the popular distros that take Ubuntu's Unity trainwreck and undo most of the damage.

Re:Same As Before

[Anonymous Coward]

Speaking as small tech support shop, I've had non-technical people willing to pay me to go back to whatever they had before. And I'm not counting the ones that had genuine problems with Win10 (Sound/USB/Networking not working, program incompatibility, etc). Fortunately the rollback feature usually works and most people got the computer to me within the month, so only a few customers actually had to pay full repair rates.

TL;DR - people will pay to NOT have Windows 10

Re:Same As Before

[sexconker]

No, you monetize your product by selling it. When you monetize your customers, you're selling them. People don't want Windows 10 spying on them, serving up ads, having built in backdoors, etc.

Re: Same As Before

[sexconker]

Android isn't free. AOSP is free. AOSP is not Android.
Count up the number of devices running AOSP, the number of devices running Android, and the number of devices running some other mutation of AOSP that isn't free.

Re:Same As Before

[gweilo8888]

Windows 10: The World's Least Successful Commercial Virus.

Re:Same As Before

[chipschap]

Forced updates is the deal breaker for me. Given the stuff MS does these days (see the /. article on the "anniversary" update), I can't trust them not to undo whatever I've fixed, delete stuff, make stuff run that I don't want, etc. I have 8.1 on a separate (seldom booted) partition and even though it's crap, I haven't lost control over it, at least not yet.

Re:Same As Before

[Darinbob]

It's not just the veneral disease outbreak aspect of Windows 10 that is bad. Though the itching is pretty annoying. But there were so many gawdawful design decisions. Decisions made that benefit Microsoft while hurting customers, like an automaker who uses corrugated tin for the seats because it's cheaper and keeps the drivers more alert than with cushioned seats (because it felt like the right time for an automobile analogy).

The default settings for Windows 10 were just plain awful. Their use of a torrent-like method to share Windows 10 with others that was made an opt-out feature. Their extremely bizarre feature to share wifi passwords if your friends already have them (later removed when MS sobered up). Their spyware, and their methods of bypassing the hosts file to make sure it's hard to block this. Their repeat of the IE mistake by making Cortana integrated and supposedly unable to be removed (just the name Cortana is a stupid idea, it's from a lousy xbox game that the majority of enterprise users will never have heard of). And the biggest hugest fuckup of them all, the inability to skip updates, even the pointless updates unrelated to security, the automatic reboot of your machine by default in the middle of doing your work or playing your game just because Microsoft thought it was a good time for an update.

Re:Same As Before

[jimbob6]

No, trying to monetize your products is a critical part of being in business. Monetizing your customers is more like fraud or slavery.

Re: Same As Before

[Thelasko]

Linux WAS actually well on its way to becoming a meaningful alternative, until Ubuntu (who was responsible for most of that popularity) succumbed to Tablet Fever and, like Microsoft, proceeded to slaughter its golden egg-laying goose.

That's only half the story. GNOME did the same thing. An entire generation of operating systems were lost to "tablet fever". At least Microsoft was smart enough to realize it was a mistake.

Re: Same As Before

[Thelasko]

You do realize that you can install any desktop environment that you want onto Ubuntu, right? (or onto any linux distro)

1. The default environment is the one most people use.
2. The default environment is the one that receives the most testing.
3. The default environment is the one that receives the most support.
4. The default environment has had the most attention into it's functionality and user experience.

I've recently tested what you propose on Mint and Debian. The default user experience is superior. When I tried installing Cinnamon on Debian, I was left with a lackluster desktop. On Mint it's fantastic.

Re: Same As Before

[jemmyw]

You've totally nailed it on the head there. 8 years ago I was using Ubuntu. It seemed like Linux on the desktop was getting better at a nice pace. The graphics stuff improved considerably from 2006-2008 such that the same laptop that in 2006 felt pretty jerky just moving windows around was silky smooth in 2008. And then somehow it all went to shit and I bought a macbook.

Re: Same As Before

[dbIII]

Easy linux path to dominance. One linux distro for windows users. That simple.

This has been covered hundreds of times here. A work-a-like that's built on something very different and chasing a moving target is always going to disappoint.
It's different.
No point trying to hide it.
If you hide it people are always going to find out and get confused by subtle differences instead of knowing that they should be doing things differently.

Maybe try this little exercise - get someone who has never used linux to boot a Knoppix DVD. It all looks very different but they all seem to work it out almost instantly. I get people to use that to see if they are having hardware problems instead of MS Windows configuration problems, among other things.
Slavishly copying the MS interface of the month is in my opinion a very bad idea especially now where there are a mix of elements from MS Win10, MS Win7, MS WinXP and MS WinNT lurking on systems when you drill down into configuration settings. Getting something to work close enough to the original would be a thankless task that would piss people off even if it was possible to completely succeed.

It's like painting a camel and calling it a pony.

Relief!

[Anonymous Coward]

Now I can get back to the normal update cycle without worrying about getting Windows 10 accidentally on my part.

Re:Relief!

[SeaFox]

No, I think that's forever ruined.
They can't install Windows 10, but they can add all sorts of spyware to what you have via system updates, and they have already tried.
So from now of you will need to have automatic updates off and actually check up on each update before installing.

I have about a half-dozen I'm preventing from installing now because one of them causes my Firefox to crash all the time. Not sure which one, most of them are security-related regarding graphics drivers or something like that. All I know is, Firefox stayed running before I installed them and once it started crashing uninstalling them fixed it.

I might say something to Microsoft, but their response it either going to be blaming Firefox or saying I have to update to Windows 10 to fix it.

Re:Relief!

[Pseudonymous Powers]

Now I can get back to the normal update cycle without worrying about getting Windows 10 accidentally on my part.

"Would you like to upgrade to Windows 11 Alpha Preview?"

Handy guide to operating systems

[Man On Pink Corner]

BSD: Free as in speech

Linux: Free as in beer

Windows 10: Free as in herpes

Dont care

[Ubi_NL]

I moved to osx (with all its own flaws) and linux when windows 8 was introduced. As long as my employer is slow in adapting windows 10, and as i have no control that except quitting, i just simply cannot be bothered.

Re:Dont care

[OzPeter]

I moved to osx

Have you ever run something like Little Snitch and seen the ton of places that OS X wants to connect to? It's a real eye-opener

Re:Dont care

[_xeno_]

In short, yes.

If you read through their privacy stuff you'll notice they talk mostly about how they encrypt all the data they collect on you and how they try and keep it "secure" - but they still collect a ton of data on you. iOS was known to gather your location, OS X has been sending all the wifi passwords you connect to back to iCloud for several versions (yet no one cared until Windows 10 did the same thing then everyone got mad), iTunes sends back information about what music is on your Mac, and who knows what else since I'm not about to dig through their excessively long privacy policy to find what they gather on you.

In short: yes, OS X collects a shit load of info about what you're doing and then sends it back to Cupertino. But they "encrypt" it so I guess it's OK.

Re:Dont care

[antdude]

Encrypted? Yeah whatever. How about they have nothing? I don't use the cloud services and always deny sending data back to home when possible.

Re:Long done

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks! Your check is in the mail! Oh, just a heads up: our typing records say your password for hotmidgetongoataction.com is pretty weak. I think you should add another exclamation mark to the end of it.

Thanks again,
Microsoft

Doesn't affect me; couldn't care less

[kheldan]

I'm still on XP until I finally get around to putting some version of Linux on the machine. I didn't want Win10 for free, I'm sure as hell not paying for it, either. If I wanted to be spied on and watched like a criminal in prison or an animal in a zoo exhibit, I'd go live in a tent near any major intersection in America in full view of the cameras and microphones.

I just upgraded my OLD PC to Win10

[TimSSG]

It is NOT as bad as I feared; but, it is slower than I hoped it would be. Windows 7 was faster; maybe after I defrag the speed will go up. I now have to check and see which programs fail to work. NOTE: If you have a NON windows software firewall installed; you really likely need to uninstall it before upgrading. NOTE2: The TinyWall software firewall front-end did NOT work for me on Windows 10; even though their website says it should. Tim S.

Re:A no-brainer...

[AmiMoJo]

All the privacy violations mean Windows 8.1 us the last good version. Maybe if France forces them to do a privacy enhanced version it might be worth another look.

All the stories I'm seen look horrifying

[Sowelu]

They keep removing management features, they keep forcing weird searches on users, they are slowly crippling Steam in favor of their app store -- am I really just seeing the negative stuff when it's not so bad, or is there some major Stockholm Syndrome going on? I'm pretty happy with Windows 7 on my nine-year-old gaming laptop that's slowly flaking out and has finally stopped keeping up with new releases.

I've heard you can activate your old license key for Windows 10 without upgrading your machine...is that viable if you want to apply it to a new computer, or is it tied to the hardware like Win 7 licenses?

Re:All the stories I'm seen look horrifying

[ilsaloving]

OEM licenses are not transferable. If you got Windows 7 with your machine, it's an OEM license. If you upgrade to Windows 10, it's still an OEM license.

Honestly, stick with Windows 7 for the time being. There is very little in Windows 10 that could be considered compelling unless you have a specific use case that Windows 10 happens to satisfy, but with all the continually accumulating negatives, that use case would have to be pretty darn serious and specific to justify either losing control of your machine, or having to pay through the nose to not lose functionality.

Re:Long done

[i.r.id10t]

So can you tell us how you feel about the data logging, the changes coming to available settings with the Aug 2 update, etc?

Well...

[MitchDev]

...if it means M$ stops trying to force/trick people into "upgrading", GOOD!

Re:Long done

[OhPlz]

Yea, hurry up and get the free forced updates, free advertising in your start menu and in the notification center, free removal of policy options, free violation of the hosts file for Microsoft/NSA privacy invading domains, etc. You could get all that and more and pay absolutely nothing! I liked Win10 when it was still pre-release. I despise what Microsoft is doing with it now. I regret updating my personal machines to it. My work machine may become Linux just because of the forced updates with reboots. It's one thing if it keeps me from gaming for a bit, it's another if it prevents me from getting work done. Yea, fine.. Enterprise may be safe from a lot of that for now, emphasis on "for now". They switched Lync over to Skype for Business and what a pile of crap that is.

How many times has this exact thread been asked

[LichtSpektren]

This exact Ask Slashdot has already been done at least three times. The answer isn't different: Don't upgrade if you don't want Microsoft constantly spying on you and tampering with your computer and splicing in and out features.

Re:Long done

[QuietLagoon]

...Those who have a pathological hate for MS will never switch, those who believe the haters and refuse to switch to Windows 10 get what they deserve, and those on the fence about switching to Windows 10 better move quick or risk paying for what they could have had for free....

What about those, such as myself, who actually had liked Windows in the past, and upgraded multiple licenses with every release (except Vista and Windows 8), starting at Windows NT?

.
I've stated here in the past that I would be willing to continue to upgrade my Windows licenses, even paying for the privilege of doing so, if I could turn off the egregiously excessive data harvesting that Windows 10 performs.

However now, that I've already moved one computer from Windows to Linux, I'll add one more condition for me to stay with Windows... I'm still willing to pay for the upgrade license, but in addition to being able to turn off the egregiously excessive data harvesting, I would also want my computer not to become just another screen that advertisers (including Microsoft) can use to show me advertisements.

Re:If you have the time...

[LVSlushdat]

Shit... IF I want bash, I'm gonna be using Linux or one of the 'BSDs... FUCK MICROSOFT and the bus they came in on.....

Depends

[Comboman]

If you currently have Windows 8/8.1, there's no harm in upgrading and getting back the start menu. If you currently have Windows 7, you should probably stick with it.

Re:Depends

[BarbaraHudson]

There are still CNC controllers running DOS. Software doesn't just stop working because it gets older.

Re:Depends

[AmiMoJo]

With 8.1 you can easily avoid installing the back-ported spyware. With Windows 10 it's baked in and mandatory, with no off switch. That's why I'm sticking with 8.1. It's got plenty of life left in it, reasonable variable DPI support and good security.

I had some Windows 7 machines until this year, but there seem to be issues with networking that Microsoft isn't interesting in fixing now. Network shares taking a long time to open initially, stuff like that.

Re:Depends

[Darinbob]

I hated the windows 10 start menu, it in no way is the same as the Windows 7 version. Like how they went from simple XP start menu to the ugly Windows 7 novice-mode start menu, going to Windows 10 start menu is as big or a bigger change (but not better).

Re:A no-brainer...

[LVSlushdat]

MY "hardware driver requirements" are VERY specific.. Such that NO MS product will EVER touch MY hardware ever again.. I supported/used MS products from 1991 to 2010, at which time I retired.. At that time, all of my home systems were moved to Linux.. and thats where they'll stay...

Unblockable OS-level advertising

[ThatsNotPudding]

THAT is my thought on Windows 10. I'll pass.

Windows?

[shawnhcorey]

Windows? Do they still make that?

Re:Long done

[BarbaraHudson]

Just because a version is out of support doesn't mean you can't legally use it. Your license doesn't automatically terminate (yet - this policy will change when it's a subscription service).

All part of the master plan.

[GoodNewsJimDotCom]

Fools! You didn't upgrade despite our trying the best to be jerks about it! We'll get your family pictures one way or another... By the way, we'll still use dirty tricks to force you to upgrade to 10, and we'll send out to debt collection to get you to pay now.

Re:what a loser

[Miamicanes]

Except Windows-running computers HAVE to be rebooted occasionally, or they'll get slower and slower. I think it's because Microsoft creates a VSS restore point prior to installing the disruptive update, then treats the system like a virtual hard drive mounted from that restore point until you finally reboot. It's been that way ever since Windows XP.

The last (and probably ONLY) version of Windows that you could truly get away with going for weeks without rebooting was Windows 2000 (prior to one of the later service packs... somewhere between SP3 and SP5, I think, which made Win2k require frequent reboots just like XP did). I still fondly remember installing Windows 2000, installing a bunch of other stuff, rebooting, then proceeding to go for almost a month without rebooting after installing Norton Antivirus and updating the AGP GART miniport drivers. Now, Windows wants you to reboot if you so much as raise your voice at it (though I think the never-ending reboots reached their worst point under Vista, before mellowing out slightly with Windows 7)

Re:Good

[Z00L00K]

I don't believe it until I see it for real, and the push for Win 10 had made me wary of any update from Microsoft.

I just worry that they will release an "update" that cripples Win 7 soon.

Re:If you have the time...

[nukenerd]

It's highly unlikely that they will revert to previous Windows pricing once this free upgrade period is over. ... I fully expect to see a low-cost upgrade option available soon.

No, it will be a rental model. Those who have taken the free offer will find themselves being left behind with future updates unless they sign up to rental at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Let's bookmark this page for future reference to see who turns out to be right.

Re:what a loser

[Leslie43]

It boots fast because it's not actually shutting down.
What it's doing is closing apps and logging you out then goes into a modified hibernate/sleep mode. Read up on Fast Startup (Fast Boot for Win8).

It's a nice feature, even if it's lying to you.

Re:Handy guide to licenses

[Darinbob]

Oh gawd, the flame war was supposed to be dead, now I can feel it rumbling in its grave! Run everyone, run before it's too late!

Re:Another Windows Failure

[Sir Holo]

MS lied to you? For shame.

Please provide details – I have not heard of this happening to anyone else, ever.

Oh noes!

[hattable]

I missed it! How did I not get a notification or something? Was it a feature you had to enable?

Pleased the harassment ends

[Tetch]

Free Upgrade To Windows 10 Ends Today: What's Your Thought On This?

I'm very pleased for my friends and relatives that the continual harassment from Microsoft to do "something that sounds scary and sinister" will now end.

As for me, I couldn't care less .... I use only Linux for my day-to-day needs (the only gaming I do these days is Tetris and Mahjongg), though I keep a copy of XP in a VM for those rare occasions I need to run a Win32 app. I have Doom 3 installed on a real metal WinXP somewhere here .... never finished it ..... got bored by all the dim lighting ..... maybe I'll finish that one day. At least it didn't "require a Steam connection", and therefore Internet connectivity.

I thought about buying a copy of Win7 Pro while you still could (well it is quite a nice product if you can get it at a reasonable price), but in the end just couldn't face the continual struggle with Microsoft's dirty tricks department over whose PC it is. They made it perfectly clear they would bolt on telemetry to Win7 & 8.x, and would try ever tricksier ways to force download the Win10 files over my link onto my hard drive, and fool me into starting the upgrade, which were only circumventable by switching off all security updates and maintaining constant hyper-vigilence. I have enough stress in my life, without that nonsense. F*ck that. Out here, we are free, and the air smells good.

So I say hooray for the end of free Win10 upgrades :)
"And tap into America !" .... (sorry - wrong link, I know, but it'll do)