For a while now I have put off installing Windows 10 which also led to me not writing about it; however, this has now changed.
I installed the "Windows 10 Insider Preview" several months ago and have been putting it through some paces.
Windows 10 will be given away free to people who have a computer with specific Windows Operating Systems on them. If your computer has Windows 7.1 SP1, 8.1 (Windows phones too) then you will get the free upgrade. If you are running 8, upgrade for free to 8.1 and you will be covered.
The version of the OS you have affects which version of W10 you will receive. If you have Windows 7 "Starter," "Home Basic" or "Home Premium" versions you will get W10 "Home." If Windows 7 "Professional" or "Ultimate" you get W10 "Pro." For W8.1 you get W10 "Home" edition. For 8.1 "Pro," "Pro Student" and "Pro WMC" you will get W10 "Pro."
Your computer must meet the following minimum criteria. A 1GHz, for 32-bit computers 1GB of RAM or for 64-bit 2GB, 20GB of space on the hard drive, and at least a DirectX 9 graphics card and a 1024 x 600 pixel display. Basically most any modern computer today will meet those requirements. Even my nine year old Netbook could run W10.
Next, why is it called W10 when W8.1 was the one before? Well first off a short history of their naming conventions. They started with "Windows 1" through "Windows 3," then Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, W7, W8, W8.1 and now W10. They are not very orderly in their naming. I have heard reasons such as possible programming confusion between the "9" in W9 and the nines in Windows 95 and 98. Although, that sounds unlikely to me; I guess it could be possible.
I have also read that the Japanese consider nine to be unlucky because in Japanese the word for nine sounds similar to the word for "pain" or "anguish" and MS did not want them to feel uncomfortable about Windows. The bottom line is, only a few at MS know the real reason and right now they are not sharing.
Now if you qualify and want Windows 10 for free you must download and install it within a year of its official release date. At this moment the date for release is July 29, 2015. If you have a qualifying computer you will see a small Windows icon on your taskbar near the time. To get W10 click the icon (shown in the graphic on right).
You will be asked to enter your email address if you want to receive notifications of its arrival and several advertisements about how great it will be. You do not have to enter your email but you do have to click the, "Reserve your free upgrade" link. It will then be downloaded sometime around Wednesday, July 29.
