So, today I got a new computer with Win. 8.1 Pro already installed and I'm sure I will get the 'Install Windows 10 for free' as soon as I will run the updates. I didn't had the time to play with it yet so I have some concerns: It doesn't bother me the privacy settings of Windows 10, I just want to know if Windows 10 is stable enough for daily 'productivity' activities, such as Photoshop running together with a 10 tabs opened web browser and so on. Right now on Windows 7 I have some important projects running for important clients and I don't want to get some ugly BSOD someday and loose my work because Windows 10 is not 'ready'. So in your opinion, is Windows 10 ready for me? Thanks.
At least with pro you can postpone reboots on updates. What I would do Paul is image your system with win 8.1 and then do a test upgrade and see how it works. If you don't like it you can restore 8.1 But I would make sure one way or another you can get your work done. I am staying on 7, but I do load an image of 10 to play with and see how things work. Unfortunately you are going to get answers all over the board.
I think 10 is stable enough for daily use, i.e. I have never yet seen a BSOD in 10 even after 6 months of using it off and on. However, it is still a bit buggy and glitch prone both in the OS UI and apps. I'd say the same as Peter above, do a good image of your 8.1 system to an external drive (using Macrium or similar), and then give the upgrade a try. It will probably be some work getting your apps installed and data etc, but if it does work out, then there you go. If not, your image will have you back up and running in short order. So either way, all you can really lose is some of your time.
Paul, Save yourself some time. You don't need to install the updates. Download a Win10 Pro 1511 ISO from... http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/techbench ...make a UFD with Rufus. In Windows, run setup.exe on the UFD.
From any version of Windows 8.x I would not hesitate to upgrade to Windows 10. We had a couple of machines that were getting a regular BSOD with Windows 7 that now run fine on 10.
@Brian K. So if I do a clean install without upgrading first using Rufus and Win10 Pro 1511 ISO from MSTechBench, will my Windows 10 activate? Should I upgrade first to Windows 10, than do a clean install of Windows 10? It's a Dell desktop and there's no sticker with a Windows serial number anywhere.
Paul, your Win8.1 will already be Activated. Check this is true. You don't need a serial number. If Win8.1 is Activated, Win10 will be Activated. Your computer will be a UEFI system so do an Entire Drive backup image as there will be at least 4 partitions on HD0. (one doesn't show in Disk Management) Download Win10 and create a UFD Run setup.exe It really is that simple. And it will be a fast install. Out of interest, one can install the initial stock standard Win8, released in late 2012, do no updates at all and upgrade to Win10 using the above method. Win8 doesn't have to be upgraded to Win8.1 You mentioned doing a clean install of Win10 after an upgrade to Win10. You don't need a serial number for this. But I wouldn't do it as I feel it's a waste of time. The upgrade from Win8.1 to Win10 will be fine.
The differences between Windows 8.1 and 10 are not nearly as great as between 7 and 10. If you can live with Windows 10's privacy and forced update issues, it will probably work as well as 8.1 on your system. The biggest issue I've had on systems I've upgraded from 7 has been the forced updates and app compatibility. Since this is a new computer with 8.1 that might so much of an issue. The app compatibility has been much worse with the 1511 upgrade but that has been really specific to the test system I tried it on. I haven't had any blue screen issues with Windows 10 or Windows 7. Those are usually caused by driver problems. Both are equally stable on the Lenovo laptops I've tested Windows 10 on. I do recommend imaging the Windows 8.1 system so you can restore it or, even better, multiboot both systems and compare them to see which one works best for you. I would do some extensive testing before I moved any productivity work onto a new system. The computers I make money with get treated differently from those I just play around and experiment with. The Windows 8 product key is embedded in the BIOS and there is no sticker with a Windows key on it so you can just take a 1511 ISO and do a clean install. The product key will be read from the BIOS.
"Should I install Windows 10?" - Does it have a feature you depend on? For what I could see, Windows 10 has improved quite a lot on the performance ground, but it's possible that one or another program doesn't work on it yet.
