Last week we looked at Windows 10 requirements and a few other housekeeping tasks regarding getting it for free. Today a few questions I have received about it for the last several weeks are answered.
First, why is it free for the first year? The main reason seems to be that Microsoft wants everyone using it. The money they once made on OS sales has continued to drop over recent years. Apple stopped charging for upgrades to their OS several years ago. And as always the Linux operating systems, (mainly Ubuntu) have been free since their inception; though used by few.
They will even be rolling it out to users with pirated (read illegal) copies of those qualifying versions of Windows. However, these versions will still be unregistered. I do not believe there has been any clarification as to what that means for the users. MS just wants everyone in the world on Windows.
I have been using W10 for a month or so now and have a few thoughts about it. You will probably wonder if you should opt to get it for free or not. I would suggest if you are a normal user, i.e., not a geek like me, you may want to wait for month or two after the original roll out. The main reason being that some things will most likely have to be ironed out during the first few weeks of the OS. This is standard. So wait and get it after all the news stories are over.
Next, will you like it? I think that for those who loved Windows 7, you will most likely appreciate 10 and for those who hated Windows 8.1, you will most probably like this version.
The much hated Metro screen is gone. And yes, the Start Menu from W7 is back as in the past, plus it has a few of the "Live Tiles" on the right side. Those tiles can be rearranged, added, deleted, etc. so you can pretty much do with them as you would like. In the test version, you could not totally remove them all but rumors abound for the final version in July.
Another big change is the default web browser. Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE) has been around for 20 years. When W8 was released MSIE was, and is, at version 11. However, this all changes with W10, it has been rebuilt from the bottom up and will been known then as "Microsoft Edge."
Edge has "Page Annotation" built-in meaning you can write notes on a web page with your mouse, or finger if you have a touchscreen device, then you can save the graphics and/or send them in emails, Facebook, Tumbler or any other social network. Also, "Reading Mode" is in Edge which allows you to read a web page more like a magazine. It will remove ads, extraneous graphics and other junk from the page which does not pertain specifically to the article you are reading. This is available in other browsers now, but Edge is catching the MS browser up with features offered by others in the past.
More to come next week.
