Windows 10 – To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade
Since last year, we’ve been telling our clients to hold off on upgrading. We even used Group Policy and our Management Agents to disable the upgrade patch. It’s been a long and treacherous journey, but we finally believe Windows 10 is ready for Prime Time. We’ve even seen it increase performance in some older machines. We are now recommending our clients to upgrade to Windows 10 to take advantage of the free licensing and extended support for the OS. With all the major bugs fixed, we’re confident you will find it to be stable and useful. Applications are also compatible more often than not. In fact, all of NetCal’s employees are now on Windows 10. We did all the testing so our clients don’t have to worry.
Contact us so we can evaluate your environment.
Q: If I upgrade, can I use Windows 7/8/8.1 again?
A: You can always reinstall using existing media or downgrade using the built-in Windows 10 recovery process (only works for 1 month after upgrade).
Q: What if I don’t upgrade in time? How much would a Windows 10 license cost then?
A: Although Microsoft has been rather vague thus far, the general consensus would be that the license would cost $120 for Win10Home and $200 for Win10Pro.
Q: How would I upgrade after the expiration date?
A: For those that fail to upgrade in time or simply chose not to, Windows 10 can be purchased via the Microsoft Store or through Retail Partners.
Q: If I need to reinstall Windows 10, what key can I use?
A: All Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 keys will work with the latest Windows 10 installation media.
Q: If I upgrade, will I be charged a subscription service fee after that?
A: According to Microsoft, if you upgrade before July 29th, Windows 10 will continue to be free and supported for the rest of the life of the device. This is also similar to how your OEM Windows licenses work.