I guess the next question is......can I still update to Windows 10 for free? Oh, and can I set the desktop so that it looks and works like a PC desktop, rather than a tablet or mobile phone?

Edited October 12, 20196 yr by Christopher Low

11 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

I guess the next question is......can I still update to Windows 10 for free? Oh, and can I set the desktop so that it looks and works like a PC desktop, rather than a tablet or mobile phone?

I think you can...?

I'm not a huge fan of upgrading older versions of Windows to Windows 10.  I think the upgrade route ends up leaving legacy stuff that eventually causes issues with Windows 10 running smoothly.

41 minutes ago, stans said:

I'm not a huge fan of upgrading older versions of Windows to Windows 10.  I think the upgrade route ends up leaving legacy stuff that eventually causes issues with Windows 10 running smoothly.

I completely agree. I'm convinced that upgrading (rather than clean-installing) is what causes many of the issues we see with Windows 10. I always view a new build as the perfect opportunity to start with a fresh OS install and just add the software I need (or actually use) rather than dragging all the old stuff across. I started my current system with a clean install and, to date, have had no issues with Windows 10 and the OS has all of the available updates installed (minus optional drivers).

13 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

I will be upgrading my PC soon, but I will be keeping my existing hard disks and Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit. I really do not like the sound of "forced updates", particularly with respect to graphics drivers. The only person who decides when stuff is updated on my own PC is me.

Just be careful if you are doing a clean install from scratch. I made some (final) hardware changes to my old Win 7 machine earlier this year and decided the changes I had made were too significant to merely stick with the existing OS installation (over the years I had already made a fair few changes to it).

So I decided to re-install everything from scratch using my store-bought retail version of Windows 7 (which I may have installed perhaps 3 times over the last decade). I was very surprised, however, to find that it refused to activate this time around.

None of the usual re-activation methods worked and I ended up having to ring Microsoft who then gave me a "lecture" (politely) about this being the last activation I would get and that I would have to buy Windows 10 next time and that Windows 7 wouldn't be supported from January.

Of course I knew all about the situation with Windows 7 long before the phone call but I was surprised it would not activate since I have been pretty sparing with re-activations over the years. I thus reckon it was more to do with Microsoft wanting to manually intervene and make sure users knew their OS would not be activated any further times in the future.

This may just be unique to me but I thought I would mention it since I am sure there are plenty of people around who might want to build a last Windows 7 machine even as of today.

Go Windows 10, but if you do, get 10 Pro.  Check e-bay for good deals on licenses.  PRO allows you to postpone the big updates for up to a year...security updates for up to 90 days.

i do a fresh install after every major update...no issues yet and i have a multi PC 737 full cockpit simulator.

Windows X Pro is the way to go.  I have Windows X Pro 64-bit on my office laptop and it has been a solid performer.  It costs more than Windows 10 Home, but it is worth the extra expense.

On 10/12/2019 at 2:09 PM, Christopher Low said:

Oh, and can I set the desktop so that it looks and works like a PC desktop, rather than a tablet or Imobile phone?

I recently made the move (clean install).

Take a look at O&O ShutUp10 to setup more easily all the parameters of W10 (no tweak - only a clear and clever display of all the official parameters)

I use also  Open-Shell to get back a Start Menu I understand 😊

Gérard.

23 hours ago, stans said:

Windows X Pro is the way to go.  I have Windows X Pro 64-bit on my office laptop and it has been a solid performer.  It costs more than Windows 10 Home, but it is worth the extra expense.

Sorry, What is Windows X Pro? You must have left out the 'P' !!

I'm confused as to why anyone would still want to use an obsolete operating system, especially with newer software that will not be optimized with an old operating system. A couple of years ago, I updated from Windows 7, then, on another PC, from Windows 8.1, both to Windows 10. I just had to update graphic drivers on one of the laptops and all was fine.

My 2 year old laptop obviously has Windows 10, & is updated on a regular basis. I most certainly do not want to have any older updates, nor obsolete operating systems on my machines. I have Windows 10 Home, with never any issues at all. Also, as I prefer newer software, I'm using Edge Chromium Canary, that gets updated on a daily basis. So far, that's my daily browser. I do have Firefox & Chrome as backup browsers, should they be needed. So far, not.  

Edited October 14, 20196 yr by Wobbie

On 10/11/2019 at 9:17 AM, rjfry said:

LM not in it for the money Microsoft ?

Silly!

2 minutes ago, Wobbie said:

Silly!

Why are you pulling post from another thread nothing to do with W7, P3D is a tool for LM to complement the product they produce ie jet aircraft for training and will continue development if no Avsim users buy it. 

23 hours ago, Wobbie said:

Sorry, What is Windows X Pro? You must have left out the 'P' !!

I'm confused as to why anyone would still want to use an obsolete operating system, especially with newer software that will not be optimized with an old operating system. A couple of years ago, I updated from Windows 7, then, on another PC, from Windows 8.1, both to Windows 10. I just had to update graphic drivers on one of the laptops and all was fine.

My 2 year old laptop obviously has Windows 10, & is updated on a regular basis. I most certainly do not want to have any older updates, nor obsolete operating systems on my machines. I have Windows 10 Home, with never any issues at all. Also, as I prefer newer software, I'm using Edge Chromium Canary, that gets updated on a daily basis. So far, that's my daily browser. I do have Firefox & Chrome as backup browsers, should they be needed. So far, not.  

Oops!  Windows 10 Pro.  I was using a Roman numeral when I should not.

I built a new computer last year with chips and processor that doesn't compatible with win7

But I still F* manage to put my old win7 into the new platform.

It's not I refuse to move form win7 to win10, rather , I refuse to reinstall a new system, even anorther win7

Still, I made a copy on the old win7 and upgrade to win10, not work, BSOD every 10 minutes, so I made a fresh install of win10, and it has been used llike....2 or 3 times this year?

My laptop come with win10home, Just live with that, I constantly fight with the auto-update....really not fun...but now it's stable ,with it's C:disk are full for any more update.....

With new game that only support win10, I think I might use more win10 on my PC more, but still keep the win7.

Thanks for the advice folks.  It's appreciated!

I run Aivlasoft’s EFB, Radar Contact and Little Navmap on a WideFS Windows 7 PC and will continue to do so beyond the end of January. I do some browsing on it but only to trusted sites.

The only benefit in W10 for me is how it handles UHD which is far better than 7. My FS PC has 10 because the mobo BIOS wouldn’t work without it.

My weather station is connected to a netbook running XP and that’s fine although it uploads data to my website and nothing else.