Buy or Sell: Windows 10
On July 29th 2015, Microsoft released Windows 10 to the world.
It came with brand new features, such as a redesigned Start menu, Continuum (for detachables that support it), Cortana, a new Universal Windows application platform and a lot more features which are beneficial to both the average consumer and enterprise users.
However, as with many other releases of any operating system. Windows 10 didn't go swiftly with many reviewers.
The upgrade process was one which people called "adware" when Microsoft started notifying Windows 7 and WIndows 8.1 users about the free upgrade to Windows 10.
This consisted of a popup box in the lower right part of the screen, saying "Windows 10 is here".
People wanted to know how to stop the notifications, and there really wasn't a way to remove the notification, except editing the internal system registry.
Personally for me, I like Windows 10 as a whole. I've been a Windows user almost all of my life, since the days of Windows 98.
I recently even upgraded my MacBook Pro (Late 2011) from its Windows 7 Boot Camp partition to a Windows 10 one (even though Apple say it's unsupported!) and it works just fine.
Let's go through my top three reasons why I would recommend Windows 10.
1. Cortana
If you're not aware of Cortana or if you haven't used a Windows Phone device before, Cortana is a personal assistant which can help you do web searches, tell jokes and much more, such as personal reminders such as "the next time I talk to John, remind me to tell him about the engagement".
I don't use Cortana much, but when it's there, I just press the Windows key + C and ask my question, sometimes I even get it to sing a song, tell me a joke or just that I need to send a text message.
The best part of Cortana though it the Microsoft account linkup. As it is powered by your account, if you have a Windows 10 Mobile device, you can use your PC/tablet to send text messages from your PC without having to be near your phone, and you also get missed call notifications, pretty sweet, eh?
2. Speed and Performance
Windows 10 comes with a whole load of improvements regarding speed and performance.
Like I stated earlier, I installed a copy of Windows 10 Home on my Late 2011 MacBook Pro with no difficulty, with 4GB RAM and Intel Core i5 Dual Core, it runs like clockwork, it's superbly fast.
Say if you are a gamer, and you're considering the upgrade to Windows 10, I would definitely say go for it. I play many games on Steam, such as Train Simulator 2016 and Grand Theft Auto V and they all work amazingly well, so gamers will not have issues running their games as far as I know.
3. Low cost machines run it well
You see that old computer, sitting in the corner of your room that you never use anymore?
It'll probably run Windows 10 just fine!
It's not just the old compatibility of machines that work with Windows 10, it's also brand new, low cost machines.
You can pick up a brand new WIndows 10 tablet, such as the HP Stream 7 for only £79.99 or you could pick up a brand new Windows 10 laptop for under £199, most of which include Intel Atom or Intel Celeron processors with 32GB or 64GB eMMC storage.
The final verdict
So, Windows 10 has been out in the wild for us almost a year on, so should you take advantage of the free upgrade?
Yes, I certainly do.
Just a quick reminder though, you only have until July 29th 2016 to claim your free upgrade!