
Ask HN: Why should one upgrade or not upgrade to Windows 10? - beefield
The time is running out for the free upgrade. What are the reasons one should do the upgrade and what are the reasons one should skip the upgrade?<p>In my specific case I run Windows 8 very rarely in VirtualBox, so I wonder about the license implications for that.<p>I do understand that there are lots of articles of different degrees of credibility all around the web, I would just like to see the collective wisdom of HN readers to produce somewhat balanced arguments for both sides to help doing the decision.
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kgtm
If you are worried about telemetry, like some people are, the only version
that allows completely disabling it is Windows 10 Enterprise.

Having said that, the main reason for at least initiating the update is to
mark your existing key as "Windows 10 eligible". After the upgrade is
complete, you can easily roll back to the previous OS version (from within
Windows, trivial and no side effects) and you can continue working on Windows
8.1 while now having a valid Windows 10 key for the future.

You can also perform the above procedure using a VM snapshot, upgrading, and
then simply using your snapshot instead.

If you are a developer using Windows as your main OS, a very strong reason to
upgrade and not roll back is the upcoming Anniversary Update. This will bring
the "Windows Subsystem for Linux" which means you can natively run the entire
Ubuntu userspace, like bash, tmux etc. That is pretty exiting!

IMO if you rarely use the VM in question, your top priority should be future-
proofing your Windows 8 key.

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beefield
Thanks. It is literally months since I last launched the VM, so I am not that
worried about telemetry. I guess I am balancing between wasting some time now
to make the upgrade vs. being pissed at myself in a few years time when I
suddenly need to do something on windows 10 and need to purchase the license.

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brudgers
I primarily run Ubuntu on two different machines. Both have Windows
installations as well. I upgraded both and the two other PC's around the house
to Windows 10.

All the telemetry can be turned off. Except for one of my machines all of it
is (but for the peer to peer upgrade delivery). The other machine I turned
most of it off but I used a Microsoft associated email account and the PIN
sign in rather than local sign in because I wanted to have a better
experience.

Windows 8 defaulted to collecting data via the login. Ubuntu defaults to
collecting data and sending it to Amazon and which ever search engine is
currently paying for product placement. Apple and Google collect data by
default with their operating systems. Use apt on Debian, or NPM, or Github or
Facebook or Linkedin, everyone is collecting data.

The reason to upgrade to Windows 10 is that it's a better Windows. Now that it
has multiple workspaces I might even switch back because the interface is
gorgeous. On the scale of companies I trust with my data, Microsoft is higher
than those which have a first order business plan based on monetizing it.
Mostly, I'm a Microsoft customer not a Microsoft product and that creates a
slightly better alignment with whatever interests I might have in regard to
confidentiality.

Good luck.

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zaroth
Well for me, my Macbook Air will not boot Windows 10. The nVidia graphics card
panics because of something to do with VGA-emulation under EFI booting.

In theory there is a magic incantation of hex in an EFI startup script that
will turn back on the necessary emulation, I dunno.... As soon as Windows
installed the nVidia driver, the next boot would never succeed.

Plenty of CPU/GPU power to run it, but I just couldn't get it to work. I had
to go back to 7 (please don't mention 8).

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ahoka
I think it's worth updating to Windows 10, because it's the first version of
Windows that was built in a more open-to-feedback way. Microsoft started
listening to its customers during beta so there are a lot of small nuisances
fixed and useful features added. Trivial things like proper full screen for
the terminal.

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pixel_fcker
You're going to _have_ to upgrade eventually. You either do it for free now,
or you pay later.

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BrockSamson
I would disagree. Depending on what you use your computer for you may find an
alternative operating system that suits your needs. If you have Windows
dependant software or workflows then you will eventually find that support for
your preferred version of Windows is withdrawn. Microsoft will offer extended
support for a minimum of 5 years from the date of a product's general
availability. [https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13853/windows-
lifec...](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13853/windows-lifecycle-
fact-sheet)

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boniface316
I upgraded to Windows 10 twice, both times I had wifi issues. So I downgraded
it.

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jmnicolas
Telemetry.

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atmosx
If someone worries about telemetry why use windows at all?

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brudgers
If someone is really worried about telemetry, that person should probably
avoid connecting to the internet because the internet operates with reasonable
efficiency by collecting data. My browser sends way more telemetry than
Windows ever will.

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Inspiresavvy
I do not like Windows 10 interface.

~~~
ljk
agreed. the inconsistency between old and new UI is distracting

