Windows 10 – should you update your laptop/pc if you have an older version?
Microsoft offered to update your laptop/pc to Windows 10 for free up until Summer 2016. Some people running very old equipment took the offer and suffered badly. Others with newer machines managed better. Now, if you’d like to upgrade to Windows 10 there is a cost. However, there is a way around this where you can still upgrade for free.
Why upgrade in the first place?
If you have a Windows 8.1 machine, I would definitely upgrade as you will then get back to a user experience that is more suited to a mouse and keyboard setup. Windows 10, in many respects, looks and feels similar to the old favourite of Windows 7.
If you have a Windows 7 machine, then you might be able to upgrade if you bought the machine towards the end of its time period. However, bear in mind that even if you have machine that was bought at the end of its time period, it will be around about 8 years old already: it might be time to consider purchasing a new machine. Also, if you’re still running a Windows 7 machine, then you are working unsafely as Microsoft is no longer providing security updates for this operating system.
Once you have Windows 10 on your laptop/pc, Microsoft will continue to upgrade it twice a year, so you will no longer have Windows 11, Windows 12 version numbers appearing. The latest version of Windows 10 is Windows 10 2004 and is currently being rolled out now. The version prior to that is Windows 10 1909 and came out in November 2019. I never recommend updating to these major updates straightaway, and suggest users wait some months so that Microsoft have time to iron out any problems that they have caused.
If you have an older machine that you’d like to upgrade and you’d like some advice on what you can do with it, please get in touch with me and I can go through all the options with you. info@jennysys.co.uk 785 509 2227