What you need to know before upgrading to Windows 10

Microsoft will launch Windows 10 as a free upgrade worldwide in two days’ time, on 29 July. Before upgrading, users will need to be aware of some important information.

The company is planning a staggered rollout for the operating system. It will launch this week for PCs and tablets, and users of Windows 7 or newer worldwide will be eligible for the free upgrade.

But the rollout to Intel and ARM based smartphones will take place later in the year, and to various IoT and other devices late this year and early into the next.

There will be eight different versions of Windows 10 to be released, including home, pro and enterprise variants of Windows 10 for desktops.

There is also a major focus on mobile devices and the IoT. Windows 10 Mobile will be designed for mobility, such as smartphones. Windows 10 IoT Mobile, Windows 10 IoT Enterprise and Windows 10 IoT core will offer varying degrees of complexity for IoT devices, with the latter designed for low-cost, small footprint devices. Finally, Windows Server will be upgraded and is at the technical preview stage.

Not all OEMs will be ready with Windows 10 PCs in store by the 29 July date. While it was initially rumoured that no PC manufacturers would be ready with Windows 10 PCs, Microsoft has confirmed that devices from Dell, HP, Lenovo and Acer should be available at launch. But other OEMs may take longer to push out PCs with the new OS.

Some 5 million Windows Insiders have been testing the OS prior to its formal launch, so the release version is unlikely to bring any major surprises.

From the previews and beta builds it is known that Microsoft has designed the OS to work across a broad range of devices. The desktop UI has been redesigned to bring back the start bar but also incorporate Metro tiles. Metro apps have been tweaked to run in real windows instead of tiles. Other major features include the integration of Microsoft’s Cortana virtual assistant into the OS and the introduction of universal applications designed to work and sync across smartphones, tablets and PCs.

But the launch will still be the first introduction to the OS for the vast majority of Windows users. David Kelleher, director of communications at GFI Software, has put together a list of important information for users electing to upgrade.

To automatically upgrade on 29 July, users will have to preregister via their existing operating system or the Microsoft website. If users miss that date they can still register and receive the upgrade for up to a year after launch.

The community technology preview versions of Windows 10 will not convert to the full version, so users will have to download and install it fresh, Kelleher noted. Enterprise versions of Windows are not eligible for the free upgrade so work machines won’t automatically be updated.

Before an upgrade it will be important for users to have their existing Windows 7 or Windows 8 product keys at hand. Finally, users will be able to downgrade if they do not like the upgrade or if crucial vendor apps are not compatible.

Microsoft has also recently revealed the minimum hardware requirements for Windows 10 on various devices. The desktop editions will require a minimum 1 GHz processor or SoC, as well as 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage for a 32-bit OS or 2 GB of RAM and 20 GB storage for a 64-bit OS. It will also require at least one option for network connectivity, such as Ethernet or Wi-Fi.

The company confirmed earlier this month that Windows 10 will maintain the traditional 10-year support life cycle, with five years of mainstream support and five years of extended support. In keeping with the concept of delivering Windows as a service, Microsoft plans to continue iterating on and upgrading Windows 10 for at least the first part of this life cycle.

On the flip side, users will need to keep Windows 10 up to date in terms of features or face being cut off from bugfixes and security updates as well.

Image courtesy of Microsoft.