Windows 10 Upgrade

With Microsoft's generous offer of a free upgrade to Windows 10 ending on July 29, I cast my lot with those tempting the fate of their computer's health and well being.  Having received countless dunning messages from Microsoft's self-planted Windows 10 Upgrade icon over that last several months and jeers from my wife for having successfully installed WIN10 on her new work machine, I clinched my teeth and dug in.

Having a laptop of 2009 vintage, I wondered if the old machine would even be compatible to the new OS.  Microsoft's preliminary assessment suggested all would be well and I was ready to proceed.  Before proceeding with the task at hand, I pondered the rationale for Microsoft's so generous gift of providing the latest OS for free.  Very good question.  My conclusion?  Microsoft is much behind the curve in the quest to harvest ALL data in existence.  Offering a free upgrade allows the embedding of the tools necessary for such ventures.

Major upgrades rarely proceed flawlessly and the WIN10 upgrade was no exception.  First attempt at upgrade launched from the desktop icon provided by Microsoft (did I mention this upgrade icon was downloaded in a WIN7 update unbeknownst to me?) failed as the upgrade screen sat inert for hours without any indication of progress.  Scratch Attempt #1.  Second attempt relied on a link provided by Microsoft Support.  Launched Attempt #2 and it progressed to 99% and then remained at that state overnight.  Next morning, the screen still showed 99% complete.  Scratch Attempt #2.  I hard booted the laptop and tried again.

On the third attempt, I unplugged the external HD and the Garmin.  After reaching the 99% completed screen and lingering at that state for two more hours, my confidence was low.  However, after several hours, processing kicked off and the installation began.  Finally, Windows 10 came up on my screen.  Success! 

After rummaging around, almost all of the old applications still functioned but performance was sluggish.  A quick search identified remedies to try.  Turning off much of the data harvesting, Cortana, indexing features, and other annoyances, the laptop seems to be running smoothly.  Becoming at ease with the new OS will take time.  Time will tell.  For now, all looks well.

My thoughts on Microsoft's generosity?  An anniversary update of WIN10 is due August 2.  One rumored feature of the upgrade is that Cortana and some of the data harvest programs will be more difficult (if not impossible) to disable.  To get user commitment, WIN10 is offered for free until July 29 only days before the anniversary upgrade.  Of course, this is all speculation on my part.

Those are two days I will never get back...