Topic Title

Anyone else receiving this notification on your taskbar asking to reserve your copy which becomes available this July?
Just wondering how this new version might act with DataCad.

Yeah got one last night. I ran the tech preview w/ Datacad 17 without any issues.

It will be available July 29th, apparently. I for one, will wait a while to find out about drivers, and bugs etc.

It's been stable driver wise on my two systems since the first tech preview. It still needs a bit more polish in my opinion, but it's miles ahead of Windows 8.1 FWIW. And thank the maker the icons are back to normal!

My son will be trying it at home, as soon as it is available.

Anyone getting feedback on how stable Windows 10 will be for Datacad 16 and earlier users?

I don't have the time as a one-man/one-PC office to learn all the intimate and gruesome details of Windows arcana, I don't even use the Windows 8.1 interface...that damned blue start screen and mysterious icons.

And I certainly find disquieting the rumors that Microsoft is going to a subscription system, and will demand money every few months just to use the Windows OS. I'm already nervous that I'll sit-down at the PC one morning and getting a screen message, "Congratulations on being automatically upgraded to Windows 10, send us money within 7 days or your PC goes blank and all your files will be gone FOREVER". In the old days that was considered extortion...

Anyone getting feedback on how stable Windows 10 will be for Datacad 16 and earlier users?

See my post above.

I don't have the time as a one-man/one-PC office to learn all the intimate and gruesome details of Windows arcana, I don't even use the Windows 8.1 interface...that damned blue start screen and mysterious icons.

It's pretty much back to a windows 7 type start menu that can, but doesn't have to, be expanded a bit like the Windows 8 Start menu. I couldn't stand the Windows 8/8.1 Start menus either and installed Start 8 on all the systems for our users to get a normal start menu in Windows again. I stuck with Windows 7 on all my systems. Windows 10 is a return to the normal style windows and start menu. The newer style Windows universal apps (App store apps) run in windows again instead of the weird full screen mode like in Windows 8. All in all it's a great upgrade over 7 and a HUGE upgrade over 8/8.1.

And I certainly find disquieting the rumors that Microsoft is going to a subscription system, and will demand money every few months just to use the Windows OS.

This will not be the case with Windows 10. Can't say that the following versions going forward won't have subscription options but I would bet that when a subscription option is available, that you will still be able to get a standalone version at that point too, just like with Office and Office 365 (and Datacad )

The biggest change that I see that might be an issue is that Windows 10 will force Critical Windows updates to the Home versions. Pro will have the option to delay updates for a bit, but unless your system is part of a domain with policies in place to override the update settings, the critical updates will be pushed out there also. These forced updates do not include recommended updates or program updates. I have Windows 7 setup to install critical updates (as should most everyone for security reasons) and there have been critical updates in Windows 7 that break functionality for example with Remote Desktop as recently as 2015. I have had to uninstall those updates and disable them. There has been I think 2-3 cases on about 30+ systems over the 6 year life of Windows 7 so I'm not to worried about it but it's in the back of my mind to watch. I don't know if keeping a trouble maker update will be possible in Windows 10. I haven't tested this out myself yet so I am a little hesitant so say one way or an other but that is my primary concern going forward to 10 as the RDP issue that the update in question caused has still not been fixed to the best of my knowledge.

There are a lot of little bells and whistles that have been changed, upgraded or added since Windows 7. Most There are some I love, some that are just o.k. and some I don't care for, but nothing that's a real deal breaker like the Start Menu was for me. As a system junkie, there are several features that I really wanted and loved in Windows 8 but was not enough to get me to hassle with Start menu workarounds, and the mix matched interface styles for things like the control panel and the system settings. With Windows 10 things are much closer to a seemless experience.

For Windows 10, you can upgrade for free for the first year from Windows 7 or newer. After that the cost will be $119 US for the Home version, $199 for Pro, and $99 to inplace upgrade from Home to Pro. Or stick with Windows 7 if your happy there. Nobody can force you to upgrade It will have support for a long time from Microsoft.

Following this thread with interest as the new machine I just ordered will have W7 Pro on it with a free upgrade to 10.
I found work arounds for W8 but it was still a PITA especially when I hit the windoze button with my fat fingers by mistake

Nobody can force you to upgrade. It will have support for a long time from Microsoft.

I read on the Forbes.com website several articles referencing that if you decline to install even one Windows 10 update, MS is going to cut you loose and you don't get ANY of the following updates or security patches, ever.
And that there's strong suspicion that within two years MS will start requiring a pay-subscription for updates. And the next generation after Window 10 will definitely be an annual subscription OS. MS is of-course denying this, in a tepid and weaselly-way.

I read on the Forbes.com website several articles referencing that if you decline to install even one Windows 10 update, MS is going to cut you loose and you don't get ANY of the following updates or security patches, ever.

Part of that is correct. If you are really interested in following people who actually follow Microsoft day in and day out follow Mary Jo Foley and Paul Thurott. Forbes' freelance writers time and time again have been getting this stuff wrong or flat out making stuff up. I would personally find another source on the topic.

At this point, if you are on Windows 10 Home or Pro without being signed up for Windows Update for Business, you will be getting all updates, period.

The only people who can even defer Windows 10 updates at all are installs of Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise which are part of the Windows Update for Business (which is free to sign up for) and/or Enterprise/Educational volume license services (not free). They will be able to defer updates for a set amount of time which to my knowledge has not been determined or released to the public yet. When someone on one of these plans defers an update, that will stop them from receiving all future updates until the update which is deferred is installed. So lets say from updates A, B, C, D & E-Z you want to defer update C, if you are part of an approved deferral program, you can defer update C for a set amount of time for Windows Update for Business, or indefinitely for Enterprise program services, but will not receive updates D-Z until update C is installed or if update C is really buggie for some reason, Microsoft can remove it from the update program and design it as a standalone update for those who need it right away to address some pressing issue. In this case, update C would be null, and updates D-Z would then be allowed to come thru and your systems would continue to update as normal. They are doing this to try to keep the masses at the same point in the software updates to keep things more straight forward for overall stability. It's similar to how smart phone OS's and even Datacad works. You can't install Datacad 17 update 17.02 without getting all of the improvements and bug fixes that came before it. This lets Datacad focus on a 'single' moving target rather than many different main & update versions.

For our office, I will be running our Win 10 Pro builds on the Windows Update for Business services so I can monitor updates and keep a buffer between the updates release and roll outs on our systems just in case some update has an issue. We can at least roll back for a short time if needed and that will give me time to find a work around or wait for an adjustment to the update to be made.

Here is an episode of Paul Thurott's & Mary Jo's podcast where they discuss the new Windows 10 update policy in a bit more depth. Jump to about 39 mins in.

And that there's strong suspicion that within two years MS will start requiring a pay-subscription for updates. And the next generation after Window 10 will definitely be an annual subscription OS. MS is of-course denying this, in a tepid and weaselly-way.

Suspicion is all there has been on this, so feel free to be suspicious if you want to. I can guarantee Windows 10 updates will not be charged for for the life of the Windows 10 product. Can't say for future versions of Windows, but not worried about it at this point.

Josh,
Thanks for the cogent analysis. Wood post-and-beam construction I understand thoroughly, gaff-sail boat-rigging I understand, computers just-enough to do basic tasks. The rest just scares me at-times. Even attempting back-ups makes me nervous that I'll screw-it-up. And yet I use mine everyday for hours....

I still use a manual typewriter, index cards, and snail mail.

When it comes to computer-tech I have to rely on the kindness of strangers . . . and friends.

Yet another disturbing article at Forbes.com by Gordon Kelly. (7/19/2015)
http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/07/10/free-windows-10-charges/

Windows 10 is famously ‘free’, but Microsoft has been worryingly silent about just how free it really is. Now, only 17 days before release, leaks suggest ‘free’ Windows 10 might not be a good deal at all…
The news comes from ComputerWorld which attained Microsoft internal slides that strongly suggest many Windows 10 owners will have to start paying to receive updates within two years.
[...]
This sucks. It sucks because there could be a perfectly good explanation but Microsoft is not being open about it.
It sucks because upgrading Windows versions is not an easy task for many users and even more of a hassle to downgrade if users find they’ve been shortchanged. And it really sucks for those who buy a new Windows 10 PC and are locked into the unknown. But most tragically it sucks because Windows 10 is actually a great OS. Throughout my participation in the Windows Insider testers program it has been the fastest, most stable series of Windows betas I’ve used, but Microsoft may be about to hamstring the whole thing.
Promising ‘Free Windows 10′ then delivering ’Freemium-Windows-10-Get-Your-Credit-Cards-Out-In-Two-Years’ would be a disaster and right now Microsoft’s ongoing silence about how everything works feels ever more suspicious. Ultimately at this stage the company is either playing us or its naivety is now bordering on idiotic. It’s a crazy situation to be in where we all have to hope and pray it is the latter…

I was thinking about getting an upgraded new workstation since a client FINALLY has paid me on some overdue invoices. I think I'll hold off.

Just received delivery of a custom built rig with W7 Pro installed and I could not be happier.
The option for "free W8" is their but no one is forcing me to go that route. Like all new software issues I play it safe and let others do the
Beta testing before I jump on board.

Robert