My friend and her husband were over for dinner one night and she mentioned that she accidentally upgraded her new laptop to Windows 10. I was about to ask further questions but before I could her husband said it was not an accident, but a user error. We moved on to a new topic.
Upgrading to a major release of an operating system, Mac or PC, is a big step, something I would recommend only after due deliberation. Windows 10 was released in July 2015, and as of this writing, is less than one year old. The reviews have been very good, though my rule of thumb would be to let the techies run the new operating system through its paces for a year to identify the bugs and foibles of the new release.
A few days later, a client called and needed help with a looping persistent request to upgrade their Windows 7 system to Windows 10. Windows 7 was downloading the Windows 10 upgrade and then would be halted by the user, who did not want to go through the upgrade. "Why fix something that isn't broken?" We connected through Teamviewer's handy freeware and reviewed the settings pictured above. You will find this window through the Control Panel / System and Security / Windows Update. My client's system was set for the recommended update policy to "Update Automatically". I had the client select "Check for updates but let me choose" option and restart Windows (always a good idea to flush out the old and set the new with a reboot).
From the Microsoft site I pulled these dates for the lifecycle of current Windows operating systems.
Windows 7 SP1 mainstream support ended January 13, 2015. They will continue to provide limited support through January 2020.
Windows 8 SP1 mainstream support will end January 9, 2018. They will continue to provide limited support through January 2023.
Windows 10, released in July 2015, mainstream support will end October 13, 2020. Limited support provided through October 2025.
Are you ready for the upgrade to Windows 10? Qualified Windows 7.1 or Windows 8.1 devices can upgrade for free. Offer ends July 29th, 2016
Upgrading to a major release of an operating system, Mac or PC, is a big step, something I would recommend only after due deliberation. Windows 10 was released in July 2015, and as of this writing, is less than one year old. The reviews have been very good, though my rule of thumb would be to let the techies run the new operating system through its paces for a year to identify the bugs and foibles of the new release.
A few days later, a client called and needed help with a looping persistent request to upgrade their Windows 7 system to Windows 10. Windows 7 was downloading the Windows 10 upgrade and then would be halted by the user, who did not want to go through the upgrade. "Why fix something that isn't broken?" We connected through Teamviewer's handy freeware and reviewed the settings pictured above. You will find this window through the Control Panel / System and Security / Windows Update. My client's system was set for the recommended update policy to "Update Automatically". I had the client select "Check for updates but let me choose" option and restart Windows (always a good idea to flush out the old and set the new with a reboot).
From the Microsoft site I pulled these dates for the lifecycle of current Windows operating systems.
Windows 7 SP1 mainstream support ended January 13, 2015. They will continue to provide limited support through January 2020.
Windows 8 SP1 mainstream support will end January 9, 2018. They will continue to provide limited support through January 2023.
Windows 10, released in July 2015, mainstream support will end October 13, 2020. Limited support provided through October 2025.
Are you ready for the upgrade to Windows 10? Qualified Windows 7.1 or Windows 8.1 devices can upgrade for free. Offer ends July 29th, 2016