Reserving Windows 10 Upgrade

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Our friends at Microsoft have developed a new version of their Windows operating system, Windows 10, which will be available for download on July 29. The upgrade will be available free to users who have Windows 7 Service Pack 1 or Windows 8.1 installed on their machines. Microsoft is encouraging Windows users who are going to take advantage of this free update to “reserve” their copy of the system before the release date to ensure a smooth transition.

Although some copies of Windows 10 will be available for purchase, most of the work done to distribute the software will be done online. In order to prepare the way for this release, Microsoft sent out updates to both the Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 operating systems that will make it easier for you to successfully download the new software. Those updates contain something called the “Get Windows 10” app, which is why you started seeing the Windows logo icon in your task bar a couple weeks ago. Your task bar with the Get Windows 10 app looks like this:

We recommend clients reserve a copy of Windows 10 ahead of time to make sure they get the update as soon as possible. It appears Microsoft is using the reservation model so they can trigger downloads from their side rather than withstanding the onslaught of traffic at their servers from users trying to download the software when it first becomes available. Traditionally, early-adopters tend to overwhelm servers when an important or popular product first becomes available. Late nights trying to download the latest version of Grand Theft Auto has shown me the advantage of letting the download be triggered when the source can actually complete the activity.

Windows 10 will have a new, expanded Start menu (similar to the one that was part of the pre-Windows 8 system), a more effective way of allowing users to work on more than one application at a time, a new browser, and will feature Cortana, Microsoft’s personal digital assistant. For more on what’s new in the new system, go to the Windows 10 page on the Microsoft website.

The people leading the rollout say that it could take a couple of weeks before the download becomes available to every person who reserved a copy. People with newer computers should be able to complete the download process in twenty minutes or so. If your machine is an older model, downloading and installing Windows 10 could take more than an hour. Be sure you leave yourself enough time so you can handle the blips in the download or restart the process if necessary.

And, as always, we strongly recommend you back up the data on your computer before you update your operating system. For advice on the best way to get this done, visit the “Tips for Backing Up Your Data” page on our website.

On the Windows 10 release date, July 29, we will be posting some additional information on installing and optimizing the new system on our website. Visit the home page for the latest and greatest.

We are having Windows 10 Open Houses at the Precincts in all Best Buy stores on August 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29. Agents will be available to help clients understand how to update their computers with the new Windows 10, do demos and answer questions about to use the new system.

Good luck with the download and remember, Agents are standing by to help if you run into any problems.