We have arrived at the week in which Windows 10 will be available for everyone, which will be presented on July 29, 2015 as a free update for those who have a Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 PC with original license. Obviously, for those who use the computer to work or at least keep us running well without risk, the questions and doubts about Windows 10 are many and the official Microsoft forum has been taken by storm with many discussions on issues that needed clarification .
Now arrived at the fateful moment, it is worth listing here the answers to the most important and frequent questions asked about the update of Windows 10, clarifying if there are known limits, risks and problems.
1) Question: Windows 10 is truly free
Answer: Yes it is
We explained that Windows 10 is free as an update for those who have Windows 7 and Windows 8, if you proceed with this update within a year of its release, then by 29 July 2016.
Windows 10 will then run on a regular license forever.
The only limitation is that the free copy of Windows 10 is linked to the used machine, that is to our specific PC and cannot be transferred.
On the same PC, however, you can install Windows 10 as many times as you want, after the update.
After July 29, 2016 Windows 10 becomes paid for everyone.
2) Question: What happens to the previous license "> return to Windows 8 or 7 from Windows 10 only within 30 days.
READ ALSO: Windows 10 license costs and limits on new and old PCs
3) Question: What is the advantage of reserving the update?
Answer: We have seen that you can book the update to install Windows 10.
On the one hand this is a way that Microsoft has found to promote the event, on the other hand it allows Microsoft to spread the distribution of the updates over several days, without clogging its servers.
In fact, everyone can update without a reservation and download Windows 10 as an update or free download of the ISO manually.
I point out that in reality, most experts suggest waiting with Windows 10 at least until it is verified that there are no problems.
In this regard, read here if it is worth switching to Windows 10 immediately.
If the reservation has been made, it can be canceled by pressing the Windows 10 icon near the clock and going to " see confirmation ".
4) Question: Will all my programs, games and applications work on Windows 10?
Answer: It is not known yet.
In theory, everything that worked in Windows 8.1 will work in Windows 10 and since there is continuity between these two systems, unless there are exceptions, everything will work.
More risks are instead on an older PC, which has Windows 7 (see also what changes in Windows 10 for those who have Windows 7).
In any case, you can always check if the PC is ready for Windows 10
5) Question: Are there any programs and features removed in Windows 10?
Answer: Yes.
We have listed in another article what disappears in Windows 10 which was in the other editions.
In particular, Microsoft has abandoned Windows Media Center which will not be available in Windows 10.
Also, DVDs cannot be played with Windows Media Player (but VLC Player can be used).
6) Question: Can you do a clean install of Windows 10 from scratch?
Answer: It can be done, but to maintain the free license the installation can only be done on the computer where Windows 10 was first installed as an update.
You can also cleanly install Windows 10 and activate it using the Windows 7 or 8.1 code.
You will therefore not have to repurchase Windows 10 or go back to the previous version of Windows to update again.
In another article, the guide to install Windows 10 cleanly from scratch
An interesting aspect of this is that you can switch for free from Windows 10 32 bit to Windows 10 64 bit .
7) Question: What editions of Windows 10 are available?
Answer: As already explained, there are several editions of Windows 10, among which the most convenient and least expensive is the Home.
However, if you are updating your PC with the first year free promotion, you get the edition corresponding to the current one.
In general, the Starter and Home versions of Windows 7 and 8 are updated to Windows 10 Home, while the Pro and Ultimate editions are updated to Windows 10 Pro.
All in all, although we will see it in a future article, the basic differences between the two versions Home and Pro, if we talk about home use of the PC, are minimal.
8) Question: Will you lose programs, photo documents and personal files in the update?
Answer: Absolutely NO, being an update, what is on the disk will remain where it is and there will be no deletion or formatting.
The installed programs will also remain and will not need to be reinstalled.
9) Question: What are the main new features of Windows 10?
Answer: Windows 10 has several new features compared to previous versions and we will talk about it in other articles.
To be brief we have:
- New Windows 10 Start Menu that combines Windows 7 features with the Windows 8 startup screen.
- Cortana, the voice assistant integrated in Windows 10.
- DirectX 12 to have better video games
- Microsoft Edge, the new web browser that will be exclusively on Windows 10 as the default browser on the system.
- Biometric support (Windows Hello) for authentication.
- Support for having virtual desktops.
- New notification center.
- Improved command prompt.
If you have any other questions, this is the right place to ask them.
