Windows 10 was a free upgrade until summer 2016, but now that party is over, and you'll have to pay if you're still running earlier OSes. Nevertheless, Windows 10 is a chance for everyone who missed out on all the real performance, security, and feature advances in Windows 8 and 8.1 to get caught up. The key takeaway, however, is this: In most of the things that really matter-speed, security, interface ease, compatibility, and software tools-Windows 10 is a massive improvement over its predecessors.Ī major thrust of Windows 10's design was to be more familiar to users of pre-8 versions of Windows and more attuned to use with a mouse and keyboard than Windows 8, with the return of the Start menu (albeit in modernized form) a major part of that effort. Privacy is another issue, but you can disable usage reporting (though you lose some of the best new features), and you don't even need to sign into an account. Sure, those few souls who depend on Windows Media Center for their home entertainment will be disappointed to find it gone in Windows 10, and some may be running very ancient software that's not compatible with the updated OS. Things like Windows Hello face login, clipboard history, touch-screen support, multiple virtual desktops, Quick Access in File Explorer, Cortana voice assistant, and even the Edge browser improve my daily computing. And in my experience (and that of many I know), it's been pretty delightful to use. The Windows 7 faithful have nothing to fear, though Windows 10 isn't much of a paradigm shift from the now-decade-old OS. 14, you won't have any choice but to upgrade to Windows 10-unless you want to lose security updates and support.