# The Windows 10 free upgrade thread
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 1, 2015, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329 "2015-06-01T13:02:17Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2015, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/81 "2015-06-05T11:50:54Z")
> [@Merneith](#):
>
> Learning to cope take a grand total of fifteen minutes. Fifteen seconds if you notice the big giant tile labelled, “Desktop”. Oh, there’s more to it than that, but nothing someone of your technical aptitude will ever need to notice.
>
> The reason you should learn to cope - and not just with Win 8, either - is because you’re getting old. It’s nothing personal. We’re all getting old and at an alarming rate. People’s ability to cope with new technology and new situations in general declines as they get older. This is a serious problem because as humans, learning to adapt to changing circumstances is our major evolutionary advantage. We’re not fast or strong or agile. We’re smart. That’s it. Fortunately, that’s enough.
>
> You could put your brain on a shelf and refuse to learn anything new but it will hasten the day when you’re _incapable_ of learning everything new. As human, you should be doing everything in your power to put off that point.
>
> I play new games constantly and I learn new interfaces and rule sets all the time. This is because I love games, and because UI design intrigues me, and yes, also because I’m not done using my brain, yet, and I’d like it to stay flexible for a few more years.
>
> The start menu is there in Win 8. It looks different but it works just fine. There’s actually good reasons for why it’s not just a list of nested folders any more, but it doesn’t really matter. Go watch a youtube video and figure it out.
Because the only way to keep challenging your brain is to adapt completely pointless interface changes. We should all be thanking any company that completely reinvents how you do things, because they are helping us. We can’t spend that time actually learning things that have value–it must be relearning things because they’ve arbitrarily been made different. We are at the whims at everyone else–we can’t control our own property.
Look, if you enjoy learning new ways to do old things, that’s fine. But it’s hardly an argument for Windows 8. Your logic could be used for absolutely any change, whether it’s better or worse. You can’t base an argument on “it’s good because it’s different.”
Or, to sum it up simply: he can choose to exercise his brain with new things instead of messing with the old things he already knows.
---
### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2015, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/82 "2015-06-05T12:34:24Z")
> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> Of course. That makes neither of our viewpoints inherently right or wrong, however.
It kinda does. Because his viewpoint was “I don’t want to upgrade to Windows 10 because I didn’t like what they did with Windows 8.” I never understood your viewpoint that you needed to defend Windows 8.
He didn’t like that the games and DVD stuff was missing and required you to get an outside program, use the app store, and (c) use metro versions of the games. He didn’t like the lack of the start menu. He didn’t like the Start Screen and how it didn’t have the taskbar or how the All Apps button had things laid out. He didn’t like the charms bar, which is completely useless in Desktop mode. And he didn’t like anything about Metro/ModernUI.
Nothing you say is going to make him like it, and he doesn’t need to like it since everything I mentioned is not a problem in Windows 10. Even Microsoft sees those complaints as legitimate, hence the need to fix them.
In the world of subjective opinions, you really can’t get more right than that.
---
### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2015, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/83 "2015-06-05T13:15:42Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#):
>
> hmm, I have never been able to download anything from the app store. So far that’s been a minor nuisance. I wonder if I will even be able to upgrade.
I don’t think the upgrade will go through the existing App Store, so it shouldn’t be a problem.
But I have to take something back in what I said in my previous post. Microsoft had previously said they were including a DVD player option, but they seem to have backed out of that, so you’ll still need a third party solution like VLC. And it seems they will not be including the main games by default.
So that is, unfortunately, still relevant. And, frankly, I think it’s a dumb move on their part. I realize the DVD thing can be a licensing issue and would normally give them slack on it, but they already specifically said they would provide it. And they could easily just have the new versions of Minesweeper, Hearts, and Solitaire preloaded.
They all have easy workarounds, don’t get me wrong. It won’t be a problem for me. But their goal is to get everyone to upgrade, and there are people who will refuse to upgrade over these. A large portion of computer users don’t ever tweak anything.
In a bit, I’ll post the workarounds to keep everything really easily.
---
### Author:  [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2015, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/84 "2015-06-05T13:21:11Z")
> [@BigT](#):
>
> Because the only way to keep challenging your brain is to adapt completely pointless interface changes. We should all be thanking any company that completely reinvents how you do things, because they are helping us. We can’t spend that time actually learning things that have value–it must be relearning things because they’ve arbitrarily been made different. We are at the whims at everyone else–we can’t control our own property.
>
> Look, if you enjoy learning new ways to do old things, that’s fine. But it’s hardly an argument for Windows 8. Your logic could be used for absolutely any change, whether it’s better or worse. You can’t base an argument on “it’s good because it’s different.”
>
> Or, to sum it up simply: he can choose to exercise his brain with new things instead of messing with the old things he already knows.
It’s not “pointless” just because you don’t like it.
---
### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2015, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/85 "2015-06-05T13:35:41Z")
Workarounds for Windows 10’s lost apps
For DVDs: install [VLC](http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html). Put a DVD in the drive, and you’ll be asked what to do with it. Choose to use VLC and check the “always do this” (or similar) option.
For the lost games: Install the [Windows 7 games pack](http://winaero.com/blog/get-windows-7-games-for-windows-10/)
For gadgets, if you really need them: install [8gadgetpack](http://8gadgetpack.net/).
And, while we’re at it, [the easiest way](http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/windows/how-migrate-windows-xp-mode-windows-8-3411230/) to get XPMode back. I suggest doing it before you install Windows 10, however.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2015, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/86 "2015-06-05T13:47:07Z")
> [@jz78817](#):
>
> It’s not “pointless” just because you don’t like it.
Do you have anything to actually argue with my actual point, or are you just going to nitpick my word choice? Is the desire to defend Windows 8 so strong that you have to grasp at anything?
Yes, it has a point, but that point was not to improve anything but to get users used to a new interface. An interface that is going away for Desktop.
Windows 8 is over. There’s no more debate. Microsoft themselves threw in the towel. Read what I wrote to Mangetout. This desire to defend something that isn’t well liked is insane.
---
### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/87 "2015-06-05T18:44:37Z")
> [@BigT](#):
>
> It kinda does. Because his viewpoint was “I don’t want to upgrade to Windows 10 because I didn’t like what they did with Windows 8.” I never understood your viewpoint that you needed to defend Windows 8.
I dont feel the need to defend Windows 8, I feel the need to explain what I think are errors or misunderstandings.
> [@](#):
>
> He didn’t like that the games and DVD stuff was missing and required you to get an outside program, use the app store
fine, but an enormously trivial complaint to be so near the top of a list of grievous complaints.
> [@](#):
>
> , and (c) use metro versions of the games.
Can’t argue with that. Don’t actually recall it being mentioned, but ok.
> [@](#):
>
> He didn’t like the lack of the start menu.
Which i acknowledged right from the start
> [@](#):
>
> He didn’t like the Start Screen and how it didn’t have the taskbar or how the All Apps button had things laid out.
it’s optional
> [@](#):
>
> He didn’t like the charms bar, which is completely useless in Desktop mode.
it can easily be made unobtrusive
> [@](#):
>
> And he didn’t like anything about Metro/ModernUI.
it’s optional
> [@](#):
>
> Nothing you say is going to make him like it, and he doesn’t need to like it since everything I mentioned is not a problem in Windows 10.
most of the things you have mentioned need not be problems at all in windows 8. That’s the weird thing.
> [@](#):
>
> Even Microsoft sees those complaints as legitimate, hence the need to fix them.
>
> In the world of subjective opinions, you really can’t get more right than that.
Microsoft sees the complaints as complaints. Popularity trumps legitimacy in any case.
---
### Author:  [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2015, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/88 "2015-06-05T23:19:53Z")
I haven’t gotten The Button yet. Automatic updates are turned off on my system though; would this have something to do with it? I would like to install Windows 10 before the one year upgrade period expires, but I definitely want to know about any major issues first, so I’ll wait for a while.
> [@Merneith](#):
>
> I don’t know, man. I’ve always been baffled by people who can’t cope with Windows 8. I was baffled by the Vista hate, too, and that wasn’t nearly as big a deal. Sometimes, your cheese just moves. Adapt or die.
I skipped Vista based on all the crap I heard; I ended up running my poor Windows XP machine into the ground before I bought a new Windows 7 computer. When that crashed, I had a choice between 7 and 8.1. I ended up going with 8.1…I figured I might as well give it a try, since 7 won’t be around forever. I haven’t regretted it; I didn’t lose any programs, and my printer even seems to work a bit better now. I’ve even grown to enjoy the Live Tiles. The only thing that really pissed me off about the upgrade experience was that my Windows 7 file backups couldn’t be restored on Windows 8.1; fortunately, I had up-to-date alternate backups, so I didn’t lose anything.
> [@cmkeller](#):
>
> Yes, I’ve heard that you can get these things in Windows 8 by going out of your way to visit the Microsoft App Store, and hey, if while you’re looking for the stuff you came to get, maybe you’ll see other stuff any buy it too! I hate that kind of marketing.
There’s stuff worth buying in the Microsoft App Store? 😉
---
### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/89 "2015-06-05T23:37:12Z")
I’m thinking I’d like to buy a new SSD and do a clean install on that. I wonder if that will be possible? I might go to the Microsoft Store at the mall tomorrow and ask someone.
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### Author:  [@AHarris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHarris)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/90 "2015-06-05T23:55:25Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> I’m thinking I’d like to buy a new SSD and do a clean install on that. I wonder if that will be possible? I might go to the Microsoft Store at the mall tomorrow and ask someone.
My understanding is that you can’t do a clean install through the free upgrade program. I guess you could do a fresh install of Windows 7/8 and upgrade that.
---
### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/91 "2015-06-06T00:21:12Z")
My major annoyance is that each time I log onto a Windows 8 PC for the first time it goes through that instruction crap for several minutes.
Working on them is a bitch for me.
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### Author:  [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2015, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/92 "2015-06-06T00:36:11Z")
> [@AHarris](#):
>
> My understanding is that you can’t do a clean install through the free upgrade program. I guess you could do a fresh install of Windows 7/8 and upgrade that.
[yes, you will be able to.](http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/06/yes-youll-be-able-to-do-clean-installs-of-the-free-windows-10-upgrade/)
---
### Author:  [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/93 "2015-06-06T01:36:49Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#):
>
> I haven’t gotten The Button yet. Automatic updates are turned off on my system though; would this have something to do with it?
I don’t have it either, and I DO have auto updates on. According to the FAQ I should have it, I just… don’t. :dubious:
> [@jz78817](#):
>
> [yes, you will be able to.](http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/06/yes-youll-be-able-to-do-clean-installs-of-the-free-windows-10-upgrade/)
Can someone explain how that works without having an install disk?
One of the reasons I moved to a home-built computer rather than a pre-fab from the likes of Dell is the time my OS basically collapsed and I didn’t have an install disk to rescue/reinstall it with, because it was OEM and they never sent me one. Kinda don’t want to go through that again.
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### Author:  [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/94 "2015-06-06T01:38:10Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Can someone explain how that works without having an install disk?
did you read the link?
---
### Author:  [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2015, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/95 "2015-06-06T01:49:07Z")
> [@jz78817](#):
>
> did you read the link?
Yes… it said nothing about an install disk which made me presume there wasn’t going to be one.
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### Author:  [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2015, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/96 "2015-06-06T02:02:04Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#):
>
> My major annoyance is that each time I log onto a Windows 8 PC for the first time it goes through that instruction crap for several minutes.
> Working on them is a bitch for me.
What instruction crap? I don’t see any.
---
### Author:  [@Aestivalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aestivalis)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2015, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/97 "2015-06-06T02:20:43Z")
> [@Kaio](#):
>
> Yes… it said nothing about an install disk which made me presume there wasn’t going to be one.
It does say that clean installations from ISO will be possible.
---
### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2015, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/98 "2015-06-06T02:31:00Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#):
>
> What instruction crap? I don’t see any.
The first time a user logs on, there is a tutorial.
I work on the damn things, and if I have not logged on as an admin to a networked PC, I get the damn tutorial and have to wait through it to fix my user’s computer.
---
### Author:  [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/99 "2015-06-06T02:33:49Z")
> [@Aestivalis](#):
>
> It does say that clean installations from ISO will be possible.
Right, so, back to my original question…
> [@Kaio](#):
>
> Can someone explain how that works [etc. etc.]?
---
### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2015, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-windows-10-free-upgrade-thread/721329/100 "2015-06-06T08:38:37Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#):
>
> What instruction crap? I don’t see any.
Yeah, it keeps interrupting you to tell you about each of the hot corners etc
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