Some basic questions

At the moment I am using Win 7 (Dell OEM) and still considering Win 10. However, there are a few basic questions that I would be grateful for answers to.

1) I have Windows updates set to 'ask before downloading'. The impression I get from the media and internet is that MS are pushing users to upgrade with all their might. However, I haven't had anything at all from MS. Is this just me? If I actually decided to download Win 10 I am presumably going to have to call MS - have you got a suitable link?

2) As noted above my Win 7 OS is the pre-installed Dell OEM version. Am I entitled to the free upgrade?

3) I understand that the free upgrade will end about July this year. Is it possible to download the upgrade now but only install it after the end of the free period?

4) Is there a site where I can check whether my current system - hardware and software - is compatible with Win 10?

5) I take it that the upgrade will not carry over any of my installed programs.

Agrippa said:

1) I have Windows updates set to 'ask before downloading'. The impression I get from the media and internet is that MS are pushing users to upgrade with all their might. However, I haven't had anything at all from MS. Is this just me? If I actually decided to download Win 10 I am presumably going to have to call MS - have you got a suitable link?

2) As noted above my Win 7 OS is the pre-installed Dell OEM version. Am I entitled to the free upgrade?

3) I understand that the free upgrade will end about July this year. Is it possible to download the upgrade now but only install it after the end of the free period?

4) Is there a site where I can check whether my current system - hardware and software - is compatible with Win 10?

5) I take it that the upgrade will not carry over any of my installed programs.

1. Look at your keyboard and the Windows key, if you have been 'pushed' anything you will have a similar-looking icon on the Notification Area.

2. I've done several Dell Notebooks running either Win7 w/SP1 or Win8.1 without problems.

3. That is one choice I've seen, download and Upgrade or download and Upgrade later.

4. Go to http://support.dell.com and put in your Service Tag [label on the computer case], it may say whether Dell has tested for Win10. Again, I've done some older Dells that weren't listed but since Dell used a lot of Intel motherboards I didn't have many problems, just had to download a few drivers but mostly LAN/Network so as to get connected and Update other drivers.

5. Most programs transferred just fine, a few wouldn't work with Win10 but as with any Upgrade there will be some that won't work.

Thanks for the replies.

Firstly, it's now clear to me that my cunning plan to download now and upgrade at my leisure would be a complete failure. So, I need to bite the bullet and make a decision by the end of July. I have reinstalled a system image before so I'll bear in mind the possibility of making a fresh one before any upgrade.

I'm still a little unclear about transfer of existing programs. Let me give two specific examples.

I use Audacity a lot and I did have problems in getting Windows to interact with it. If I upgrade to Win 10 will I find that I still have a working copy of Audacity as opposed to having to reinstall it and get all the tweaks right again.

I have the Windows XP mode that came with Win 7 Professional and in it I have a number of programs that need XP. If I upgrade will I still have a working XP mode with the programs in it still working? If I could do this I would be extremely impressed.

nope to winxp mode ,not in win10 ,,time to move on ,or stay with win7 .but in my opinion you could upgrade to win10 ,activate it ,then do a clean install of win10,skip the part when it ask for a key for win10 ,it will activate on its own once installed ,starting over loosing everything win7, it will run nicer ,my opinion ,, then you could create a partition on the harddrive and reinstall your win7 ,and xp mode,, some will say it wont work but I think it will ,you might just have to call Microsoft to activate win7 ,telling them its only on one computer ,,,

About Windows XP mode from Microsoft:
xp mode for Windows 10 - Microsoft Community

Other programs such as your Audacity can still be reinstalled but in the process of reserving Win10 I've gotten a list of what didn't work, one being CCleaner. Not a problem getting the most current version. There's always a program or more that don't work when upgrading, especially when one skips a version or two of the OS.