[Windows 10 question] To upgrade, or not to upgrade...

get ubuntu :)

stick with http://www.windows93.net/

https://www.grc.com/never10.htm

Install it, then go back to W7. That way you can take advantage of the free license if you choose to use W10 in the future.

Windows 7 is by far my favorite, but windows 10 hasn't been too terrible to me overall. It's mostly preference and what you're looking for I think. If you don't need the features, I don't see a reason why you'd need an upgrade. 10 is good and isn't as bad as I thought 8 was, but as I said, 7 is my favorite.

i got almost the same pecs and i'm using windows 10 pro 64 almost 1 year and never had a problems with it , the only thing i didnt like was the auto updates but i fixed that XD

win7 won't be supported anymore.
you will have to upgrade soon anyway....

if you are not sure, they are releasing a new build in the summer. wait for it
it should contain a lot of options for changing the privacy settings (if i remember correctly)

(Haven't read all responses, so I hope I'm not retreading familiar ground.)

My advice is, upgrade to 10, see how well it works, then revert if you feel like it (it's a Windows 10 option which you can take advantage of within a month). Far as I know that will keep your PC eligible to upgrade in the future.

Personally I don't have a lot of practical issues with Windows 10, except for the mandatory updates, which can be a little annoying. That said, not updating Windows for months after release of an update is a real security issue, so I understand this stance. I know I've been guilty of simply not installing any updates for many months.

If the new start menu bothers you, Classic Shell could help. I've only used it with Windows 8.1 (where it was a must), but it should work with 10.

I don't like win10, that' why I stay with win7 just for gaming and Linux Mint (17.3) for my personal data.
That could be a good deal. Using win "x" as a gaming system and a linux distribution of your choice to keep your personal data safe. Now you have the best of both worlds.

Win 10 is pretty good but it does have its flaws, in the transition you might have issues with some drivers and will need to check for Win 10 or 8.1 drivers or you might just be fine (it's kinda a Russian roulette in my personal experience).

There are good free software that helps you stop most of MS spyware too, but the mandatory updates are still a problem... if you are willing you could install a Windows 8.1 Pro (legit or not) and then get the free upgrade to Win 10 Pro to avoid that.

Definitely

I like both, Win7 & Win10...

...but gaming related I would rate Win10 over Win7. Many games run more smooth and most get a small performance-boost from it.
@ARK: Survival there are reports of up to 20% performance-boost through switching to Win10!!

And the Start-Menu is nicely done, too ;)

I liked windows 7 but hated windows 8, however I really like windows 10. I think it's probably what windows 8 should have been.
The only way I would suggest that someone not upgrade to 10 from 7 is if they use programs that aren't compatible with 10.

[...] it's the mandatory updates that worry me the most about Windows 10 Home.

And for your security and update concerns: [there are 1000s of tools outside, just two of them, that are working fine :)]

Spy Disabler & Updates Disabler

I'm having windows 10 for over a year now. It runs very smooth and it's faster than 7 both on SSD. Also at installing I unchecked everything that could give Microsoft permission to access my browser History, search History ... even that Voice Search or whatever. There are also some tricks on the internet about how to stop any other app that is using your info.
Also if you are a gamer windows 10 might actually prove to be useful in the near future.
I would say go for Windows 10

I can't honestly say which option is better. I have until July 29th to decide if I want to "upgrade" to Windows 10 from 8.1, so I am going to wait until the last possible moment. I really don't want to have to plunk money down on 10 when they decide to end support for 8.1.

Google "Classic Shell"

It is an addon to Windows 8/Windows 10 which brings the classic start bar to Windows 10 so you never have to deal with the Metro hub in Windows. Classic Shell offers Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 (this is the type I use) start bar, and it also allows you to design the picture of the start bar to what you want.

I've spent a year with Windows 10 and I've never dealt with the windows metro because of this wonderful addon. If I didn't know about it, I would have stayed on Windows 7.

Also on Windows 10 I disabled Cortana and mostly everything extra that Windows 10 brings to Windows 7. I highly recommend you upgrade and follow what I did.

I decided not to upgrade on this computer. I want to play older games while I still can, and this computer probably couldn't run DirectX 12 games or games that require Windows 10 anyway.

In the long run, I think it'll be worth it for the new directx.

I haven't noticed anything negative in it yet.

Windows 10 upgrade permanently bricked my computer. It had to do something with uefi or something like that. Anyway the guys at a computer repair shop gave me back my dead motherboard and told me to buy a new one. I'm using my gf computer atm, will upgrade soon and buy a whole new computer.

edit for clarification: will upgrade the computer, not the windows

I installed Windows 10 on a separate HD and I'm torn.
Disregarding the privacy issues, the operating system appears to be designed as a mobile OS first and foremost, at least that's what all of the in-built design decisions suggest. Then there is the fact you cannot opt to pause windows updates for instance if you're trying to stream something, or if you have a monthly data cap, and you can't even select which updates to download and install. While W10 is pretty good about getting itself up to speed while connected to the internet (I didn't need to install any crucial drivers manually, not even the motherboard stuff), it also decided to download the full nvidia driver package when I already had it downloaded and waiting. If and when an update fails to install, it may reattempt to download the whole update again. This caused GB of wasted bandwidth from my 150gb on-peak monthly cap, and I couldn't pause it to wait for my uncapped period from midnight onwards. Oh, sure, you CAN alter the update policies and such... just not in the home edition. That's right, you need one of the more expensive (non-free) versions for that.

The in-built mail client, image viewer and the like are all awful, as they are optimised for mobile devices and touchscreens. While not a big issue if you have a good replacement you're familiar with, it's just another unnecessary step in the transition. You know how you can pick a colour from the palette wheel doodad for your visual customisation? Yeah, you just get a selection in W10, no specific shades. Again, that's a dumb little niggle but it just makes things clunky and awkward. Why would you knowingly remove such considerations, when they were perfectly functional as they were before? ESPECIALLY the update thing.

Windows 10 does seem to function a little faster than 7, but I honestly can't give you an honest and accurate scope of this given I installed it on an SSD (my very first SSD at that, so it's most likely just my hardware). Windows 10 also allows you to use DirectX 12, which is pretty damn tasty if you have a DX12 enabled graphics card, but also allows other cards to use DX11.2 which still has improvements (Windows 8 also gets it).

I find Windows 10 to be tolerable as an alternate on my SSD for when I want to play more taxing games, but if I had to use it as my primary OS I would probably do a fair bit of loud grumbling. Pretty funny how I still get "UPGRADE TO WINDOWS 10" pop-ups on my main HDD even though I have it installed as my alt boot. If in doubt, backup your free copy of W10 to a DVD and use it later.

You can expect them to hinder Windows 7 health and compatibilities to force people into moving for Windows 10 anyway, so upgrade right now.

This is like that brexit poll