"Microsoft finally learned how to count to 10!"
I've heard this joke several times since the release of Windows 10 and it's pretty funny once you think about it. After all, the list of Windows versions spanning from 1 to 10 has definitely not gone in sequential order: Windows 1,2,3,95,98,2000,ME,XP,Vista,7,8,10. But here we are, and what everyone really wants to know is, should I upgrade to 10? Well, let's talk about it.
The adoption of a new Microsoft OS has typically been rather slow. Upgrade costs, unreliable features and resistance to change are among the most common reasons for someone to keep on using their current version of Windows. This time around Microsoft is getting rid of one of those hurdles by offering Windows 10 as a free upgrade to anyone with a valid 7 or 8 license. What this does is make it easy for you to get on the Windows 10 bandwagon and that's just what Microsoft wants.
As of writing this, there are around 75 million computers running Windows 10 which accounts for about 5% of the total out there. Compare that to Windows 7's 50% and Windows 8's 19% market share, you can see the mountain that Microsoft still has to climb. By giving away Windows 10 for free, Microsoft is banking on the fact that there will be more Windows 10 machines out there than anything else in a year or two, and in the OS game; market share is king.
Now that Windows 10 is free, the next questions is, should you upgrade? I'll be going over my list of Pros and Cons and I'll let you make that decision for yourself. First off, we'll start with the Cons.
The number one Con that I have right now is the lack of proper driver support. The simple fact that some programs currently do not work on Windows 10 can be a real deal breaker for some people. That picture editing program, or that web browser you love may not work 100% right now, and that could be a good enough reason to wait a little while longer before upgrading.
The second Con on my list is the "Free" nature of Windows 10. Some people have called the release of Windows 10 more of a Beta than a finished version. There have been reports of updates and patches leaving some users with broken features or unrecoverable installations. Over time, these occurrences will become less frequent and Windows 10 will work just as well as 7 or 8 for most people. Getting the OS for free is great, but not if you are forced into being a beta tester while they work out the bugs.
The third and final Con that I have is about privacy. There has been a lot of negative buzz about how Windows 10 tracks your every move and sends all of that data back to the Microsoft Mothership for analysis or worse... straight to the NSA. Now, before we go out and build more tin foil hats, I think we need to think about the fact that almost all of our devices already do the same types of data collection. Log into your google account and search for baseball hats and before you know it you might get an email from a hat store with a coupon. The real story is that a lot of the data collected is anonymized and scrubbed of identifiers, so it can't be traced to you. And you can turn the feature off as well, however, it is not very straight forward to do so. That's my biggest issue with the privacy settings in Windows 10.
Now let's take a look at the Pros of upgrading to Windows 10.
There is a new Start menu! Long have the people lamented Windows 8's Start menu screen, along with its sub menu. Built around tablets more than a desktop, I really feel that this was the sole reason for Windows 8's slow adoption. The new Start menu combines the old and the new, giving you a list of programs much like Windows 7 and the tile view of Windows 8 for other things. Overall, it is a good compromise and it really improves the day to day use of the OS.
Another cool feature of Windows 10 is Cortana. This Siri-esque personal assistant can help you with the weather, email notifications and tracking numbers, calendar events, and it should even let you know about that delayed fight you're going to be way too early to. Overall, it's a nice addition to the Windows 10 playbook but something most Siri users won't be that excited about.
Microsoft Edge is the new web browser included with Windows 10. It's fully integrated with Cortana so you can right click on pretty much anything and Cortana will be able to do a contextual search on it. Searching for Pluto while reading an article on the former planet will not garner you a picture of a dog. The other cool feature of Edge is the ability to write notes onto a webpage and save a screenshot of it without having to go into another program. Think Minority Report, except you're actually just circling the TV you want to buy on Amazon.
My last Pro is the use of Universal Apps. This has been something that Microsoft has been trying to do since the release of Windows 8. With the release of the App store, Microsoft wanted to have a single place to download all of the Apps you need for your device, much like the Apple and Android stores. The difference with the Windows 10 universal Apps is that they will be truly universal between all devices running Windows 10, including all Windows phones and tablets. This all circles back to market share, it is a lot more attractive for an App developer to create one version and have it used on a desktop, tablet and phone rather than 3 separate ones. Bringing everything under one umbrella is going to make for better Apps and in the end, a better user experience.
To summarize my thoughts on Windows 10: I like the direction that Microsoft is headed with the new Start menu and universal apps but I am a bit hesitant about the current driver and update issues. Overall I have found that most people like Windows 10 after upgrading, which usually is not said about Windows 8. So there you have it; Windows 10, a better Windows 8.