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Windows 10 Pros and Cons – Will You Make The Switch?

• Daniel Cooper
• June 4th, 2015

By now you may have noticed the new little Windows icon at the bottom right of your computer screen. That new logo has been patched in to anyone’s PC with an officially registered Windows 7 or 8.1 OS; if you can see it that’s because you qualify for the free upgrade to Windows 10. Clicking that link opens a small popup that tells you a little bit about the new OS and then asks if you would like to register to receive Windows 10 on July 29. Registering will allow Microsoft to patch your PC with a few updates between now and then to speed up the full upgrade when it becomes available next month. If you’re wanting to switch that’s quite the little bonus. But, it’s also quite the aggressive sales tactic on Microsoft’s part, although it should help Microsoft to speed things along to their 1 billion user goal target. The big question is: will you make the switch?

Microsoft has been abundantly clear that there are many reasons that you should make the leap to Windows 10. They’ve been stressing all of the things that we will gain by making the switch and I’m sure many will want to simply get their beloved Start Menu back. There will be many on the 8.1 system that will be ecstatic to jump ship back into something that is a little less touch-centric. Personally, I’m incredibly excited to see the new PC to Xbox integration and it will be nice to see some of the new games that take advantage of this, like Fable Legends. Having Direct X 12 built into the system will also be great for anyone that is into gaming. The new version of IE, Edge looks interesting and will hopefully prove to be a much more viable choice in comparison to it’s predecessor. The addition of Cortana will be useful, assuming it functions better than the Alpha version I have on my phone here in Canada. However, some may think the most beneficial feature will be the added security. With only one uniform OS Microsoft will theoretically be able to better manage and protect its systems because they won’t have to divvy their time between each version of Windows. But, this also has it’s limitations.

Microsoft has had a lot less to say on what you’ll lose by switching to Windows 10. Because Windows 10 is the first step to creating a unified OS, it should be noted that after switching to Windows 10 users will lose control of updating their OS. Once you’re in, you’re in; you will lose a level of freedom on your system. If you use the Windows Home edition, you will be unable to prevent updates – Pro and Enterprise will be able to put them off, but that is it. You will also lose Windows Media Centre, there are other alternatives, but this may be important to you. In addition to this, some of the new features will have limitations. blogs.windows.com says that, “Windows Hello requires specialized hardware, including fingerprint reader, illuminated IR sensor or other biometric sensors.” Users may also find that Cortana and the new Xbox Music/Video streaming options are only available in certain regions at launch. These last little benefits will surely role out to more regions over time, but I’d assume Microsoft will be more focussed on bringing Windows 10 to its phones, tablets, and consoles first.

There are obviously both pros and cons for jumping to Windows 10 and everyone will feel a little differently about it. As a gamer that primarily uses an Xbox One or PC, I have to say that I am definitely enthusiastic about the perks that Windows 10 provides in this area. There is enough in that department alone that I am excited to see the new system in action. But, at the same time, I think that Windows 10 will be the end of an era. Microsoft has confirmed that after 10, they will be dropping the numbers and simply moving forward with just Windows. And that does make me a little bit nervous. If Microsoft can get the new OS right, I will happily jump to Windows 10 without worrying about having less control over my PC’s updates. In my eyes, Windows 10 seems to be a good step in the right direction after the backlash from Windows 8. Now that you’ve seen both the pros and cons, what are your thoughts? Will you make the switch to Windows 10?