Microsoft: 10 reasons to upgrade to Windows 10

Martin Brinkmann
Jul 20, 2015
Updated • May 22, 2018
Windows, Windows 10
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83

Why should you upgrade a machine running a previous version of Windows to Windows 10? Or buy a computer with Windows 10? Or build one and install Windows 10 on it?

That's what Microsoft attempts to answer with a new short video entitled "10 Reasons to upgrade to Windows 10: IT'S FAMILIAR".

The first thing you may notice when you watch the video is that it is rather difficult to discover the ten reasons in the video.

Update: As pointed out in the comments, the video that Microsoft uploaded contains only one reason to upgrade to Windows 10. The company decided to publish a series of 10 videos (one each day until release) that showcase reasons to upgrade to Windows 10. This video highlights the "it is familiar" reason only.

I played the video twice and came up with seven reasons only. Lets get started with the video first and discuss the reasons afterwards.

The reasons I discovered for upgrading to Windows 10 are:

  1. Start Menu
  2. Live tiles
  3. Best of Windows 7
  4. Best of Windows 8
  5. Cloud Sync
  6. Familiar desktop
  7. Windows 10 is free

Did you find the other three? Lets take a closer look at each reason in detail.

Start Menu

windows 10 start menu

Windows 10 ships with a start menu again. If you are a veteran Windows user you know that Microsoft replaced the start menu in Windows 8 with the Start Screen, a fullscreen interface that opened whenever you wanted to perform tasks such as search or launching programs.

The Start Menu is not just a copy of the Windows 7 start menu though as it uses a different layout and design, and displays live tiles in it as well.

It can best be described as a mix of the classic Windows 7 start menu and the Windows 8 start screen interface.

You may remove all apps and live tiles from the start menu if you won't use them.

Probably the biggest issue I have with the start menu in its current form is the placement of the Power button. It is not placed at the bottom of it, the way it was in all previous versions of Windows except Windows 8, but on top of the all apps button. It happened more than once in the past that I wanted to shut down the system but clicked on all apps instead.

Live Tiles

Live Tiles display updated information in the start menu. This can be news, weather information or the most recent photos you added to your account.

While this may be useful on mobile devices, I cannot see the appeal of it on the desktop. Sure, it is nice to have the weather report displayed to you whenever you open the start menu, but the start menu is usually not open long enough to act as a working "news" source.

Best of Windows 7 / Windows 8

While Windows 10 offers most what Windows 7 and Windows 8 have offered, there are features that Microsoft removed from the operating system.

This includes Windows Media Center, DVD playback capabilities, desktop gadgets, some games, Windows Live Essentials.

On top of that, the company modified how system updates work on Windows 10 by making updates mandatory.

Cloud Sync

Microsoft's file and data synchronization service OneDrive has been fully integrated into Windows 10. The service, which you had to install as a standalone program on previous versions of Windows, syncs data across devices automatically, for instance photos you took with your smartphone to your computer, or specific Windows 10 user preferences to other devices running the operating system.

This has been part of Windows 8 for the most part as well.

Familiar Desktop

This one is rather puzzling as it seems to address Windows 7 users exclusively as Windows 8 offers a different two-tiered interface where users navigate between desktop and Start Screen interface.

The desktop is -- for the most part -- identical to that of Windows 7. There are notable exceptions, support for virtual desktops for instance or the start menu mentioned above.

It is fair to say however that Windows 7 users will be more at home than in Windows 8.

Windows 10 is free

There is no arguing here even though it is not free for everyone. There are two main options to get Windows 10 for free:

  1. You have a Windows 7 or Windows 8 license that is eligible for the free upgrade during the first year.
  2. You have joined or plan to join the Windows Insider program.

Now You: What are your reasons to upgrade / not to upgrade to Windows 10?

Summary
Microsoft: 10 reasons to upgrade to Windows 10
Article Name
Microsoft: 10 reasons to upgrade to Windows 10
Description
Microsoft published a video that highlights ten reasons to upgrade to the company's new operating system Windows 10 from earlier Windows versions.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. Dan Donx said on January 15, 2023 at 10:29 am
    Reply

    What mental age of reader are you targeting with the first sentence? 10?

    Why not write an article on how to *avoid* upgrading from W10 to W11. Analogous to those like me who avoided upgrading from 7 to 10 for as long as possible.

    If your paymaster Microsoft permits it, of course.

  2. Dexter said on January 15, 2023 at 11:14 am
    Reply

    5. Rufus
    6. Ventoy

    PS. I hate reading these “SEO optimized” articles.

    1. cdr said on January 15, 2023 at 3:32 pm
      Reply

      I used Rufus to create an installer for a 6th gen intel i5 that had MBR. It upgraded using Setup. No issues except for Win 11 always prompting me to replace my local account. Still using Win 10 Pro on all my other PCs to avoid the bullying.

  3. sv said on January 15, 2023 at 6:40 pm
    Reply

    bit pointless to upgrade for the sake of upgrading as you never know when you’ll get locked out because ms might suddenly not provide updates to unsupported systems.

    ps…. time travelling?
    written. Jan 15, 2023
    Updated • Jan 13, 2023

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on January 16, 2023 at 5:49 am
      Reply

      This happens when you schedule a post in WordPress and update it before setting the publication date.

  4. Anonymous said on January 16, 2023 at 8:24 am
    Reply

    Anyone willing to downgrade to this awful OS must like inflicting themselves with harm.

  5. basingstoke said on January 16, 2023 at 11:18 am
    Reply

    I have become convinced now that anybody who has no qualms with using Windows 11/10 must fit into one of the following brackets:

    1) Too young to remember a time before W10 and W11 (doesn’t know better)

    2) Wants to play the latest games on their PC above anything else (or deeply needs some software which already dropped W7 support)

    3) Doesn’t know too much about how computers work, worried that they’d be absolutely lost and in trouble without the “”latest security””

    4) Microsoft apologist that tries to justify that the latest “features” and “changes” are actually a good thing, that improve Windows

    5) Uses their computer to do a bare minimum of like 3 different things, browse web, check emails, etc, so really doesn’t fuss

    Obviously that doesn’t cover everyone, there’s also the category that:

    6) Actually liked W7 more than 10, and held out as long as possible before switching, begrudgingly uses 10 now

    Have I missed any group off this list?

    1. Heinz Strunk said on September 19, 2023 at 3:57 pm
      Reply

      You have missed in this group just about any professional user that uses business software like CAD programs or ERP Programs which are 99% of all professional users from this list.

      Linux doesn’t help anyone who is not a linux kid and apple is just a fancy facebook machine.

  6. ilev said on August 24, 2023 at 7:34 pm
    Reply

    Microsoft has removed KB5029351 update

    1. EP said on August 24, 2023 at 9:21 pm
      Reply

      only from windows update though
      KB5029351 is still available from the ms update catalog site

  7. Anonymous said on August 24, 2023 at 11:05 pm
    Reply

    1. This update is labaled as PREVIEW if it causes issues to unintelligent people, then they shouldn’t have allowed Preview updates ot install.

    2. I have installed it in a 11 years old computer, and no problems at all.

    3. Making a big drama over a bluescreen for an updated labeled as preview is ridiculous.

    This is probably another BS internet drama where people ran programs and scripts that modified the registry until they broke Windows, just for removing stuff that they weren’t even using just for the sake of it.
    Maybe people should stop playing geeks and actually either use Windows 10 or Windows 11, but don’t try to modify things just for the sake of it.

    Sometimes removing or stopping things (like defender is a perfect example) only need intelligence, not scripts or 3rd party programs that might mess with windows.

  8. john said on August 24, 2023 at 11:17 pm
    Reply

    Windows 11 was a pointless release, it was just created because some of the Windows team wanted to boost sales with some sort of new and improved Windows 10. Instead, Microsoft cannot support one version well let alone two.

    1. John G. said on August 25, 2023 at 12:08 pm
      Reply

      Windows 11 is the worst ugly shame by Microsoft ever. They should release with every new W11 version a complete free version of Starallback inside just to make this sh** OS functionally again.

  9. EP said on August 25, 2023 at 3:10 pm
    Reply

    motherboard maker MSI has recently released a statement regarding the “unsupported processor” blue screen error for their boards using Intel 600/700 series chipsets & to avoid the KB5029351 Win11 update:
    https://www.msi.com/news/detail/MSI-On–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–Error-Message-of-Windows-11-Update-KB5029351-Preview-142215

  10. EP said on August 29, 2023 at 7:32 pm
    Reply

    check out the following recent articles:

    Neowin – Microsoft puts little blame on its Windows update after UNSUPPORTED PROCESSOR BSOD bug:
    https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-puts-little-blame-on-its-windows-update-after-unsupported-processor-bsod-bug/

    BleepingComputer – Microsoft blames ‘unsupported processor’ blue screens on OEM vendors:
    https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-blames-unsupported-processor-blue-screens-on-oem-vendors/

  11. Leonard Britvolli said on August 30, 2023 at 10:33 pm
    Reply

    While there may be changes or updates to the Windows 10 Store for Business and Education in the future, it is premature to conclude that it will be discontinued based solely on rumors.

  12. sembrador said on September 5, 2023 at 9:32 pm
    Reply

    My advice, I left win 15 years ago. Now I’m a happy linux user (linuxmint) but there is Centos, Fedora, Ubuntu depending on your needs.

  13. EP said on September 6, 2023 at 11:55 am
    Reply

    motherboard maker MSI has recently released new BIOS/firmware updates for their Intel 600 & 700 series motherboards to fix the “UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR” problem (Sept. 6):

    https://www.msi.com/news/detail/Updated-BIOS-fixes-Error-Message–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–caused-BSOD-on-MSI-s-Intel-700-and-600-Series-Motherboards-142277

  14. Raphael Benzo said on September 24, 2023 at 9:52 pm
    Reply

    I try to disable the Diagnostics Tracking Service (Connected Devices Platform User Services) but it wont let me disable it, any help will be greatly appreciated.
    Tank you for your help

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