Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I've had the "free upgrade" icon to Windows 10 in my system tray for a while now, and as it's getting near 29th July I've started to get invitations from Microsoft to reserve this upgrade (I'm using Windows 7 and am very happy with it). If I were to go down the line of upgrading to Win 10, would it mean that my vast number of games would suddenly not work properly? I'm still using Office 2003 and that works perfectly well with Win 7.
Game compatibility with "free" Windows 10
(5 posts) (3 voices)-
Littlemaggit
MemberPosted 8 years ago # -
Littlemaggit,
First of all, that "free" upgrade is good for a year after release. Next, not everybody will be able to get it when it's first released from what I hear. It will be phased but how they determine who get's it when is something I'm not clear about.
I have a laptop that runs Windows 8.1 that I just got this past spring. I plan on updating it first. When I ordered it, the page on Walmart.com made a comment that if software ran under Windows 7, it would under Windows 8.1. That's not strictly true but with 10, you should have no problems.
In my transition of about 1250 games (more added later), I only had 10 failures -- games that worked on 7 but not 8.1. I also had 4 "reverse failures" - games that worked on 8.1 but not on 7! The differences seem to be more the physical characteristics of your environment -- hardware, other drivers, ..., rather than the opearting system. Since that will not change, you're not likely to have a lot of problems.
I'm running Office 2007 under both 7 and 8.1 and it works fine. Your office should have no problems with the transition.
I do plan on upgrading my 8.1 but not until about Sept or later (depending on when it truly is generally available) and based on how that works, upgrading my Win7. Like you, I LIKE Win 7. I'm getting used to 8.1 but there are some things that I really don't care for. I prefer the start menu setop that 7 has and hope they really put that back. Other things in 8 like the availability (not constant presence) of the ribbon for Windows Explorer (now called File Explorer) is rather nice.
Posted 8 years ago # -
mikiem2
ModeratorIt's a Can of Worms Littlemaggit...
I've got 5 win10 installs going at the moment. Installing fresh isn't bad if it's 64 bit -- 32 bit so far is iffy. Upgrading is a PITA, & often will not work with 32 bit. Upgrading with apps installed, well, upgraded builds on the 64 bit install with software already installed to it last night -- took about 6.5 hours, & it doesn't work properly afterwards. My son's had the same experience with this latest build. Note that once you upgrade, rollback to the prior version is anything but guaranteed. This latest build is allegedly basically the RTM sent to manufacturers.
Now, Microsoft will likely eventually release ISOs for win10 -- when is unknown. The ISO can be mounted or burned & run within Windows, e.g. win7, & you'll be able to upgrade. Boot to it & you can install fresh. The advantage is that you're not downloading a file that has to be expanded [think .zip file] to basically the same files in the ISO, so it's quicker.
Otherwise you upgrade/update through Windows Update. Microsoft is staggering availability after 7/29 -- Insiders running a preview build will allegedly be 1st in line. People who reserve the upgrade [through the taskbar app] are supposed to get the download in bits & pieces, & on or after the 29th that app will show a message that you can upgrade now.
I haven't seen anything yet about entering your old key to activate win10 -- with 8.1 the process was at 1st a slight hack. It may or may not be possible to install fresh initially -- Insiders were told they had to upgrade to the RTM build, get their key from that, & use it with a fresh install if that's what they wanted. It may be the same thing with win7 -> win10 upgrades for example, & if there's a way around it it'll take a few days or a week or so for people to find it.
Now... Since win10 is still problematic with the latest build, personally I plan on waiting till it seems a bit more fixed. At that point I'll do a fresh disk/partition image backup of win7 on my wife's PC, upgrade to 10, see if that works with games etc., & if so, back it up too. Then I'll restore the win7 backup, restore the win10 backup to a different partition, use EasyBCD to fix the boot menu, & hopefully I'll have found a way to use her win8/8.1 license with 10. If not, she's never taken to 8.1, so I'll have to re-install that to get a number etc., but there's still too many unknowns to really be specific yet. The only certainty is that win7 with all her games will still be on her PC, so if one or a few, or win10 doesn't work, no problem.
With my current win10 installs the question is what happens with the key... If I wind up with 3-5 new keys [from the Insider program] I can use, I'll use them. If not, I'll wait & see if like with win 7 & 8, Microsoft offers a limited time reduced price [~$30] & buy 3 or 4 licenses. I'll also see what I have to do & get win10 keys for our win7 & 8.1 licenses. The reason for buying licenses if they're cheap is that Microsoft is probably going to be pretty strict about re-activation after *ANY* changes. If they don't have a reduced price, it'll cost no more to buy later, & that's what I'll do if/when I have to.
Now games... DX 9 will have to be installed -- performance in 10 may be iffy with many older casual games. Win10 graphics drivers will have to be installed -- how well they'll work with older DX9 games depends on the game & the driver & the hardware. Same with OpenGL, & maybe worse with games that don't rely a lot on either, as portions of win10's display tech are brand new. I would expect graphics drivers to go through at least a few versions before they get the [biggest] kinks out. I would also expect older [& cheaper] graphics hardware to receive minimal driver updates rather than the full shebang -- as always in this situation there's a certain amount of "you want decent performance, then upgrade" from the manufacturers.
I do plan on upgrading my 8.1 but not until about Sept or later
In October the next update/upgrade is supposed to be available. More than a hot fix, less than a service pack, it's supposed to include features that never were quite ready earlier this month. Once folks have had a chance to try *that* version out, & report on how common & serious problems are, would likely be a *Very* good time to take the plunge. Bear in mind that if it's anything like the win10 previews so far, that Oct. update could be a complete reinstall & take hours & hours.
I prefer the start menu setop that 7 has and hope they really put that back.
You *might* want to look at 3rd party apps, eg [http://www.neowin.net/news/startisback-rc-for-windows-10]. 10's start menu is a cross between 8.1's start screen & 7's menus. You can customize it to get it closer to 7, but I don't think it'll ever be the same exactly.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Thanks for the information. I didn't realize it was going to be this nasty! I had forgotten about drivers and such and I should have thought of them. I recently spent 4.5 hours (mostly on the phone with HP) trying to get a print driver to work with a new printer. You would think and HP computer could talk to an HP printer -- the old printer did -- WITHOUT me installing a driver (but I don't have such features as ink levels and other maintenance).
I had planned on going the ISO route and may still download that data to burn just in case. However, based on your message, I will wait until AT LEAST October before I do anything. I don't want to use 3rd party software to get the Windows 7 style menus and if I don't like the menus in the "blend", you mentioned, I may not update EITHER machine.
My husband and I seem to be a lot more flexible than many users. There were so many complaints about ME and Vista that we lost count but we never had those complaints ourselves. Other than trying to get a system restore to work under ME (now we know it was because the drive was FAT-32, not NTFS), both systems work fine for us. There are almost as many complaints about 8 and 8.1 but we've got it working for us and don't really have a problem.
If things are this nasty for us, I can imagine how bad it will be for the average user who goes for gold right off the block. I predict a nightmare -- for the users AND for Microsoft. We may just wait for the next computer and take what we get (as we have done so far).
Thanks for all the excellent info and insights to a sticky-wicket!
Posted 8 years ago # -
Littlemaggit
MemberYes, thanks very much for all this info. It looks as if it shouldn't be a problem to reserve the upgrade without actually installing it when it's available. I'd rather leave any install until the inevitable early bugs have been sorted out. If it seems that there are lots of problems, then I may happily stay with my tried and trusted Win 7 until the computer breaks (hopefully not for a long time).
I'm not particularly tech-savvy on PCs (I used to work with large mainframe computers!) but I think I've picked up enough to be reasonably comfortable with what I have at present, so there's a bit of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" in my mind.
Posted 8 years ago #
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