5 Reasons not to upgrade to Windows 10

Martin Brinkmann
Jul 8, 2016
Updated • Jul 5, 2017
Windows, Windows 10
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The free to upgrade period to Windows 10 is almost at an end, and it is likely that many users who have not upgraded yet consider doing so.

The reason is simple: the upgrade is free, and it is possible to go back in the first month should things turn out not to your liking.

That's a pretty good incentive to try out the new operating system. There are other things that you may like about Windows 10, and I will reveal them in another article that I'll publish soon.

This article on the other hand concentrates on reasons why you may not want to upgrade to Windows 10.

Now, some may find these reasons insufficient while others that they are strong enough not to upgrade to Windows 10. I'd like to read what you have to say about them in the comment section below.

Reason 1: Time, effort and never change a running system

windows media center

Microsoft tries to make it as easy as possible to upgrade to Windows 10. You get notifications on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 powered by the Get Windows 10 application for instance.

Also, the upgrade downloads directly without you having to download an ISO image first, burn it to DVD or USB Flash drive, and start the installer manually afterwards.

While that is the case, it still requires time and effort to install the operating system. If things go right, you may spend a couple of hours at the very least setting up Windows 10 after the upgrade.

You need to learn to interact with new features, a new search, Cortana, Microsoft Edge instead of Internet Explorer, maybe the whole apps concept if you upgrade from Windows 7.

Also, some tools like Windows Media Center are not available anymore, so that you may need to look for alternatives.

But what if things go wrong? You might want to create a full system backup previously that you can restore, but you will lose quite a bit of time in this case.

Why bother if the current system runs well, and is configured the way you like it? Some new features, like DirectX 12 support may persuade you to give it a try despite the fact, but if you don't require those, there is little incentive to run the upgrade.

The only thing valid is that you will end up with an operating system that is supported longer than your current one. Windows 7 is supported for the next five years though, and Windows 8.1 for the next eight.

Reason 2: Compatibility

Software and hardware compatibility can block you from upgrading to Windows 10 even if you want to.

The upgrade installer runs a compatibility check to give you some reassurance in this regard. It does not check all components and programs though. For instance, it won't check portable software as well as many peripherals.

Generally, speaking, most software and hardware that runs on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 should also run on Windows 10.

The compatibility tool ensures that the core system will function properly after the upgrade.

I recommend you check your favorite search engine to find out whether important software is compatible with Windows 10.

Or, and that will surely add time to the whole upgrade process, use a virtual machine to run Windows 10 to see if hardware and software is compatible.

Reason 3: Less control over system updates

Two things play a role here. First, Windows 10 ships with fewer update management options than previous versions of Windows.

The two options displayed to you when it comes to updates are to install them automatically, or to notify to schedule a restart.

While you can get some control back using the Group Policy, it is only available on select versions of Windows 10.

Using the Group Policy, you may set Windows 10 up to notify you about updates and installs.

More problematic than that is a change in how updates are delivered. Microsoft started to create update packs for Windows 10 that combine a variety of updates in a single installer.

These cumulative updates introduce a truckload of changes to the system. The June 2016 cumulative update installs for instance ten security patches. If one of the patches breaks the system, you are left with no option but to uninstall the whole cumulative update to fix it.

Reason 4: Feels unfinished

settings

Windows 10 feels like an unfinished product in some regards. There is the new Settings app and the old Control panel for instance.

You may notice menu and icon inconsistencies, notice that Microsoft Edge is too bare bones even for a bare bones browser, or that some of the apps that replace traditional desktop programs are not cutting it.

Microsoft works on those things, and the Anniversary Update will fix some. Still, there is plenty to do even after the release of the Anniversary Update.

Microsoft will get there, eventually, but some users may prefer to wait until the company does before they upgrade to Windows 10.

Reason 5: Privacy

Privacy may or may not be a big issue. What's clear is that Microsoft pushes telemetry gathering with Windows 10 a tad further than it did on previous versions of Windows.

The custom installation dialog lists several pages of privacy related switches and settings for instance, but even if you disable all those, you have not plugged all telemetry leaks.

In the best case, you are able to reduce the data that is collected by the operating system to a large degree. You may use Windows 10 privacy tools for that, of which there are plenty available.

You may also get some ads, in the start menu, other menus or as notifications, but may turn off those in the options as well.

Now You: Would you say those are valid reasons not to upgrade to Windows 10? Do you have others?

Summary
5 Reasons not to upgrade to Windows 10
Article Name
5 Reasons not to upgrade to Windows 10
Description
The article looks at the top five reasons not to upgrade a device running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 to Microsoft's new Windows 10 operating system.
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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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