I apologize if this has been asked before, or is very a obvious answer.

I am not too proficient when it comes to the PC, but in 2012 I got a really good alienware laptop. It still plays everything I want at the settings I want.

However, now with Windows 10 out and supposedly becoming a paid-for product soon, I want to know if it is a good thing if I were to switch from Windows 7 to Windows 10.

I have been getting very conflicting advice on this topic and, as aforementioned, I am not too knowledgable about this issue to begin with.

I don't pirate games, and I only play games from Steam, the Blizzard app or EA Origin. I play the games as is and NEVER mod. I don't use cheat engines or anything. I wouldn't even know where to get them or how to use them.

Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Again, I apologize if this has been asked before or has been debated to death but if you can help me out here or point me to a resource that is easy to understand, that would be wonderful!

Thank again!

Windows 10 is fine. If you don't like it you can rollback to your prior OS for the first 3 months after you upgrade. I assume they won't be changing that rollback feature once the free upgrade ends, but I haven't heard anything on the matter yet. It doesn't sound like you'll be doing anything that will conflict with it, so why not try it out. When I'm asked by one of the members I support at my job about upgrading, I usually just remind them that some 3rd party software they like to use may not work so be sure to look into that. And if you find out after the upgrade that something isn't the way you want it or isn't going to work for you, just hit that undo button. It's not like going from Windows 7 to 8. You shouldn't get confused or find things impossible to locate, so I wouldn't worry about ease of use. Especially since it sounds like you stick to pretty general use.

Two things to keep in mind are that with Microsoft's planned business model you will have to upgrade eventually, so take advantage of the free option while you can. And the second thing is that when you use the free upgrade you don't technically own it. If for whatever reason you have to reinstall the OS after a wipe or if you move to another computer you won't have a CD key to install Windows 10 unless you buy one.

I've really enjoyed Windows 10 so far. The "live tiles" from Windows 8 are dead, and they took the good parts (Control Panel/Settings) and essentially merged it with a more traditional desktop environment like Windows 7. The search feature on the start menu also seems to be improved. Some things like Cortana I have no use for, but you never have to interact with it unless you want to. Haven't had any compatibility issues as far as games go.

I'm not too sure if this is true anymore. I upgraded from 64-bit 7 Pro though Windows Update about two weeks ago, and 64-bit 10 Pro is activated with a product key under digital entitlement. I even clean installed 10 twice using their Media Creation Tool with a thumb drive. Still activated with the same product key.

It's really a moot question. Sooner or later you will be forced to upgrade. Might as well do it while it's free and on your own terms.

Also Win10 is absolutely fine.

The problem is they will probably stop doing updates for the older os's and have been pusing 10 harder than anything. If you care about Microsoft games they will likely be win10 exclusive etc. I have been using win10 since late beta and its fine, i spent money on it when i upgraded my motherboard and dony really regret it too much. Dx12 will be featured in a lot of games but you have to have a modern card to experience that anyway. It has its quirks but for gaming it is pretty good so far, old games tend to just work too.

I switched from Win 7 to 10 last week. Very Happy. Everything just works. It kept all my settings. It takes up 35GB less disk space. Bugs are fixed. Permissions are cleaner. I don't see anything that was better in Win 7. Do it!

And when you install use "Custom Installation" and say "No" to everything. By default it is all "Yes". Just say "No".

There are some people who want to do some very specific things that makes Windows 10 more inconvenient than older OSes. For everyone else, it's great.

Windows 10 is fine. That said, in the early months i had a ton of problems with the apps and ended up with multiple corrupted accounts. Also, on W10 home accounts, you don't have access to group policies. Apart from that, it's all good though.

Yeah, I don't believe this is true either. From what I know, you do need to have a valid Windows 7 key in place before the upgrade. After the free upgrade, your new copy of Windows 10 is then activated. Should you wish to re-install Windows 10 down the line, you simply use something like the Media Creation Tool and select "I don't have a key" when the appropriate prompt comes up. Once your system is up and running again, Windows 10 should be re-activate through the internet.

I just reinstalled Windows 10 on my system. I don't have a Windows 10 key written down anywhere since I upgraded from Windows 7 last July. All I did was what I described above and now I have a fully activated, up-to-date Windows 10 on my system. I didn't need to worry about keys or anything like that for my Windows 10 installation.

Note however, I don't think you can rollback to Windows 7 from Windows 10 if you format your drive and install Windows 10 via the Media Creation Tool. If you take the free upgrade in Windows 7 to Windows 10, you can rollback to 7 easily. If you format your drive some time later and install Windows 10, then decide you want 7 again, you'll need to have your Windows 7 disc and key handy because you'll basically have to start fresh. Also, if you want to install Windows 10 on another computer, that is also out. This whole upgrade thing only works for the one PC you upgrade. You can't install Windows 10 on another PC(s) using the Media Creation Tool from the ONE free upgrade.

My advice to OP is try it out. There's no harm in trying it before the free upgrade period is over. Install Windows 10 inside Windows 7 (as in that whole pop-up thing that's going on, say yes I want 10 now, start the process). Then try it out and if you don't like it, you can always roll back to Windows 7. I believe it's in Start, Settings, Update, Recovery, Roll back to Windows 7. If you do like it, I would suggest finding a time to backup your data, formatting your drive, and reinstalling Windows 10 "cleanly". In my experience, Windows 10 ran even better this way than it did "on top of" Windows 7, but even then I found it better than 7 overall. Hope this helps.

That is absolutely true - that's exactly what I did on my laptop - I upgraded from Windows 7, then immediately wiped the HDD and did a clean installation. I assume the initial upgrade install "fingerprinted" the laptop which allowed the subsequent clean installation to auto-activate.

I do however think that @mezza is correct about installing to a different computer - currently you'd need to buy a copy to do that. Still totally worth getting free on your existing PC(s) though.

Besides, I've got a feeling it'll be free (or very cheap) before long anyway - I think getting people onto Windows 10 so they can spend money in the store, subscriptions etc. is more valuable to Microsoft than charging people for Windows in the first place. At least on the consumer side - I can see them wanting to still charge on the business / volume licensing side of things.

I also have a gaming laptop and will say that Windows 10 has helped performance wise most notably in boot up time and Civ 5 (for whatever reason, I was having issues on Windows 7 and since the upgrade I have zero). The only weird thing is that with older games (Diablo II and Trails in the Sky specifically), despite all my attempts they will only run with my on board card rather than my GTX675. Luckily, I can still play the games without any issue but I don't know why my Nvidia card isn't even an option to select for those games.

Is there any way to just download the OS and save to disk?

@rebel_scum: Just use the media creation tool.

To echo what others have said, I've re-installed W10 3 times now with two different licenses and it's always activated without asking for a key.

No I want to keep Windows 7 for now. But at least have the free copy of 10 for the next PC I have.

@katygaga: Windows 10 has been totally ok in my experience and it sounds like it won't really impact the way you do things, so I'd say go for it. However, something most people don't know is that the trial version of Win10 you can download from MS's website isn't time-limited and literally the only difference is that in the trial you can't change the wallpaper, so you shouldn't worry too much about having to pay for it.

My framerate has been significantly better on windows 10 than it was on windows 8, something i hadnt expected. Plus Forza Apex is really good.

Doesn't work like that. It's only upgrades that are free (until the end of this month) - you'd have to buy it for a future PC.

Ah stink...

Using the media creation tool will allow you to create a Windows 10 ISO which will allow you to install it onto the machine it was created on at a later date. If you want to be doubly sure then you can install Windows 10, create an ISO then roll back to 7 but the first way is easier.

That being said, unless you are doing something with your PC that requires Win 7, like using it as an HTPC with Windows Media Center and HDhomerun, there is no reason not to update to Win 10. There may be a few days of adjustment while getting the UI to the way you like it but other than that Win 10 is a much better OS than Win XP, 7, 8 and 8.1.

If your computer came with an OEM license and you upgraded to win 10 it will still be an OEM license, meaning it is tied to your motherboard. Not sure if you bought a Win7 with a key, what the upgrade path is. Ideally you could move that license to a new motherboard, but I have no experience with that personally.

I am not upgrading because currently it is not clear if user data collection is still active even with paid version. The same thing goes for in-OS ads. If XBOX one users experience this, I would like to know how you put up with this. It just seems like a bad strategy just because they decided that Win10 is the last version they will continuously update. I get the monetary reason, but PCs and PC gaming to a degree is about control and choice and that is not a factor right now. They trimmed some of the fat and modernized other aspects of the OS, but a lot is also being shuffled around and hidden and who knows the extent of how much users are being farmed without their knowledge.