Should I upgrade to Windows 10? How I made up my mind

Over the past few months in Computeractive I’ve read lots of opinions on Windows 10, but they’ve all seemed to contain a hidden agenda. It’s been hard to get an impartial view. That’s why I was so thankful to read your ‘Should you upgrade?’ guide (Issue 454). It answered a lot of my questions, and helped me make up my mind. I thought I would share my decisionmaking process.

I use Windows 7 on a PC, and Windows 8 on a laptop. I love the former, and have a love-hate relationship with the latter. However, I am increasingly using my laptop over my PC, but that means using an operating system that makes me want to tear out what little hair I have left.

An obvious solution would be to upgrade my laptop to Windows 10. But as you rightly pointed out in your feature, anyone who has spent ages customising their Windows 8 Start screen (as I have) won’t want to lose all that hard work. And odd though it sounds, it’s precisely because I’ve struggled so much with Windows 8 that I now feel inclined to stick with it. I’m a stubborn type. But as you can tell, I’m also indecisive, so it’s not an easy choice. However, ultimately something has to give – and that something is Windows 8. But not just yet. Before I give it up I’m determined to master it (it will help to develop my computing skills). That should take a few months, by which time the first Windows 10 update should be ready, fixing all the early problems. And if I hate Windows 10, I’ve still got my Windows 7 PC. What could possibly go wrong? Actually, don’t answer that!

Michael Brownlow CA says Our ‘Windows 10: Should you upgrade?’ feature prompted the biggest response from readers so far this year. It seems that many readers plan to upgrade soon, but will first wait for any problems to be fixed. See the opposite page for more reactions.