I think because of xp, that's why Microsoft might have decided to make 10 free for 7 and 8.1 users. Xp has to die and should already be dead. It's a skeleton in a coffin these days compared to the rest of computing.
Is Windows 10 going to be delivered through Windows Update though? I wouldn't be surprised if it was.
I'd imagine that would be the easiest way for average users. I hope they offer an ISO as I like to clean install, but the update seems logical. Also has there been any word for free updates to those on XP or Vista? Seems the word free, may open the door for those users whose only reason for not getting a new OS is based on pure cost alone.
I think there are lot of people that are what I call "browser based" in the sense that the OS really woulndt matter what type it was, be it windows or Linux or OSX, just as long as there web browser of choice worked, as 99% of what they use a computer for is internet based. They don't see the need to update because their browser still works on XP, so "what's the point? I'm not spending money if this already works" (not too mention they don't understand the risk, but that's another topic) however, toss the word free and show off some of the on-line features and I'll bet many of the browser based folks would be willing to change.
agree, I have win10 on a 8 year old Dell with Centrino Duo cpu,3gig ram ,and even runs quite nice on a Acer1 with atom cpu ,with 2gig ram ,as for device drivers ,the dell is missing 2 in device manager ,like a card reader and or Bluetooth deviceIf you can't believe 'articles' then how about personal experience?
Experience, trumps guesswork and articles every time.
Since 2005, the only ones of my customers who have upgraded from XP to a newer OS are the ones that had their old XP PC crash on them and they went to a local retail store and bought a new computer, oblivious to what OS was on it. Then it was my job to try to make the new PC look and act as much like XP as possible. I can do that!
One local retail store manager told me that about 30% of people buying new PC's with Windows 8 or 8.1, bring them back in total disgust.
The bottom line is, that the new OS's are just not popular with the rank and file of computer users. Those are the home PC users that don't come to forums, or show up in magazine statistics.
I've been an OS tester on every OS since Windows XP, and out of all of them, I still prefer XP-Pro-SP3, which I'm using right now.
The only OS that may ever replace XP in my life, would be Windows 10. I can make it look and act pretty much like XP, with just a few insignificant differences. And, it comes with an admirable package of hardware drivers. So far, so good!
I've installed it on a ten year old Desktop and a six year old laptop and it's running just fine on both.
Because Superfly thought it might've been XP running on the POS computer he saw, whereas he probably was seeing POS Ready 2009 running instead (which is still based on the Windows XP codebase)
Additionally, the POS build is indeed supported until 2019, so it was applicable here in response to Superfly's comment.
I have every windows since 3.1, I say XP is the most logical OS microsoft has made.
I always wonder at these sorts of discussions. It's very simple really. Most people are not interested in the OS or upgrading. Most people need to do certain tasks with their computers and nothing else. For them a PC is not a toy and not a hobby, it's a tool, just like a hammer. How often do you "upgrade" your hammer? Most people would answer - when it breaks. Same with computers.
Why bother upgrading? Personally I buy new hardware when I have a new task for which the old hardware is insufficient. Or the old machine dies. Unless I buy new hardware, I don't see any reason to upgrade the OS or any of the software. For some software you need to pay a lot of money every year with small incremental improvements in the updated versions. My employer pays for those, I would never do it with my personal money. Same with the OS.
So, I really don't see why should anyone be surprised that people still use XP. I also use XP - I have an old laptop which I use for some specific purpose. It runs XP and I don't plan on "upgrading" it. My main machine runs 7 and so far I don't see any reason to change to anything else, certainly not to 8, but even 10 is not that impressive so far.
I give you an example. I have an Android phone. Recently Google came up with the new version of the OS (Android 5). All the forums were buzzing with excitement. Recently the update came to my phone. The result - the phone is slower, battery life is much worse, some apps are misbehaving. I wish I did not press that"update" button. Because with phones it's very hard to go back - the manufacturers do not want to you to.
Why would you move to an aging, insecure OS that's not optimised for modern hardware.
Xp nor vista won't get the free update because Xp for starters is going to be 14 years old this year and the thinking of Microsoft is probably the fact that you should have already gotten your act together and upgraded to a later version. Vista won't get it because obviously, it was a train wreck from the get-go and if you were running vista, you knew that. Their thinking is that by Windows 7, you'd have gotten your act together and not be running a train wreck. Vista I can see that being a legit reason, Xp because of vista, might not be that solid.
You underscored the necessity of Windows 8 to the crisply designed live tile. That is what the Windows PC, even macs for that matter, have basically come to; a mix of internet based usage with some local file based usage but the internet based stuff takes dominance. This is actually something I've found doing deployments of Windows 8 and explaining to people why things changed the way they did and the first question I always ask is, "What is the first thing you do when you turn on your PC, or your first program?" Literally, about 9 times out of 10 is starting an internet browser with 1 out 10 times being something that isn't a browser. From there it's either email or facetubes or something just internet based. That's nice and all, but having a singular window open with eight or more tabs open isn't the most effective way of doing things. An operating system built upon the concept of programs first and files first doesn't do internet first that well, hence why Windows 8 happened the way it did. It took your different browser tabs (or at least attempted) and plopped them into a little window on your Start Screen that is alive and feeds you updated bits information at a glance. It's an operating system that's now built on internet first principles. Windows 10 is making it now internet first, programs first, files first.
That's really what needs to be instilled.
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