Free upgrade to Windows 10? Is this a sucker punch?

[KEW]

I keep getting a pop up which says "Introducing Windows 10...Microsoft recommends that you reserve your copy of Windows 10...For a limited time we are offering a FREE upgrade to Windows 10.

I know of absolutely no reason for Microsoft to decide I should get a free copy of their software, so believe this must be some sort of scam. Just wondering if anyone knows the scoop.

First few hits under google look pretty legit. If so, why is MS giving away their bread and butter?

 

[rojo]

Related.

I reckon that basically, encouraging users to upgrade will allow Microsoft to deprecate older versions of Windows more quickly. Fewer operating systems to support means support is easier and cheaper to offer. Beyond that, the home market is an insignificant portion of their revenue anyway. If they can increase adoption in the home, they can also more easily increase adoption in the enterprise. Even at my work there has been discussion of internal testing of Win 10 with an eye on beginning deployment within the next few months, whereas traditional operating procedure has been to wait until at least SP1 has been released before considering adoption of a newer Windows release.

One major difference between Windows 10 and all previous versions of Windows is the conspicuous absence of Steve Ballmer. One can clearly see that saner minds have prevailed in the UI of Windows 10 than the failed attempt that was Windows 8. More relevant to the current discussion, though, the exodus of the last High Old One has freed Microsoft to experiment with their business model. Offering Windows 10 as a free upgrade is a bold move, but I daresay Microsoft won't lose any money as a result.

Yes, most likely the notification you see is legit. Just make sure the page you're taken to is indeed a microsoft.com address when you click through.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Another good reason is get people more used with idea of using public resources like Skydrive - aka Dropbox, but much more integrated into windows and office.
Obviously some storage tiers cost extra

 

[ski2xblack]

I suggest waiting until they have the bugs worked out...Disregarding the privacy settings and other issues others have gryped about, I spent the last week fussing w/ windows 10. It installs initially and seems ok, at least until the first Windows update requiring a restart comes along. My 'puter won't restart after windows updates, forcing me to reinstall the operating system each and every time Windows does it's automatic updates, which as far as I can tell cannot be switched off. Nothing like waking up to the blue screen of the automatic recovery program in the morning, yay! Oh, and the reinstall wipes all apps, programs, settings, as well as restore points, including those back to Windows 7. Lovely.

So if anyone else wants to be subject themselves to this sort of fun, be sure to back everything up (to an external drive) and have your old boot discs handy.

 

[afterlife2]

Fuzz says it's also slow.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Fuzz says it's also slow.

BSA says it's faster than Windows 7, but about as fast as Windows 8.1

 

[afterlife2]

I guess if you have a couple of computers you can try it out.

 

[rojo]

I'm not sure anything's as fast as Windows 8.1. Windows 8.1 went through its full lifespan from OOBE to GTFO in about 2 hours on this laptop, just long enough for me to back up the factory recovery image and upgrade to Win 10. No other modern OS has been born and died on any of my computers in the past decade as quickly as that. Vista comes in at a close second, though, lasting about 4 hours on my previous laptop before being ditched for Debian + XFCE. Not sure whether replacing the Verizon-bloated Android install on my phone with Cyanogenmod counts, as I basically ended up with the same kernel as when I started. Hmmm.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

offtopic: Recently got verizon phone - LG G4. Most of VZ bloat I was able to disable into never to see again obscurity.

As for rooting the phone or installing CM? I used to play with it back in the day with my first Motorola Droid (1st gen slider), but the my need for that kinda dyed. Company is paying for tethering option so I don't even need to hack the phone for that. Upside is stock F/W is typically more secure by default than CM ones. If I don't like windows manager I could change it easily with Google or Nova etc...

 

[highfigh]

I keep getting a pop up which says "Introducing Windows 10...Microsoft recommends that you reserve your copy of Windows 10...For a limited time we are offering a FREE upgrade to Windows 10.

I know of absolutely no reason for Microsoft to decide I should get a free copy of their software, so believe this must be some sort of scam. Just wondering if anyone knows the scoop.

First few hits under google look pretty legit. If so, why is MS giving away their bread and butter?

I talked to a friend who manages a computer store and before Windows 10 was released, he said he wasn't even going to look at it until it came out. Last time, I asked for his opinion and he said "If it's a clean install, it's great, but if it's an upgrade from Win7, it's a CF". BTW- CF doesn't stand for 'Corn Flake'.

 

[ellisr63]

Don't forget to turn off all the Privacy Invading apps they have by default turned on. I wouldn't be surprised if the reason they are giving Windows 10 away is because they are selling your privacy.

 

[Bizarro_Stormy]

BTW- CF doesn't stand for 'Corn Flake'.

Carly Fiorina..?