As a home user can I say NO to Windows 10 and stay using Windows 8.1? How could I do it practically?

[timppa_k]

We had a "big" coffee break discussion about taking or not the Windows 10. Now I'm speaking about home users not about company policy. What happens if I say NO?

 

[Rasetech]

Then you stay with 8.1 and after one year the free upgrade period is over. For future updates that you might want to use you are screwed and need to buy a licence.

 

[colinkiama]

We had a "big" coffee break discussion about taking or not the Windows 10. Now I'm speaking about home users not about company policy. What happens if I say NO?

Then you stay on 8.1 but still have 1 whole year to upgrade for free in case you change your mind. After you will have to pay to upgrade.

 

[Japser]

I suggest saying yes to the upgrade though. There really are hardly any reasons to stay on 8.1, and 10 is looking really good.

 

[theefman]

Windows 8.1's support lifecycle ends in 2023, so if YOU decided to stay on Windows 8.1 you will get security updates for a long while yet. Despite all the ****** hype Windows 10 has a long way to go before its a complete OS with lots of reported crashes in Edge and store apps, not to mention missing sync features, no onedrive placeholders and missing addons in Edge. (Prime example, do you really want to deal with this? http://forums.windowscentral.com/wi...s-10-store-isnt-working-proparly-anymore.html). This time next year would be a good time to properly reassess what state Windows 10 is in and if its worth upgrading to.

As for how to do it, just decline the update when its presented in Windows Update and continue with your current OS.

 

[AndyCalling]

You can always image your HDD and upgrade to W10 within the year. You may want to make a second image of the W10 install too. Then restore the 8.1 image. Once your foot is in the door you can then upgrade properly once the touch mode has been completed and W10 can compete with W8 on modern touch devices. You could even update your legacy wimp devices now and just update then image back on the modern touch devices until MS get W10 sorted out. Best of both worlds.

W8.1 is still in the feature support phase for the next few years anyway, according to the MS support timescale pages, so it won't just get security fixes but support with new features as well. Here's hoping for access to the new app store, the new core apps and DX12.

 

[Scott Bradley]

True, but the universal app design template for Windows 10 is different then for Windows 8.1.

The addition of the hamburger menu with integration of the functionality contained in the charms into the app itself is going to be problematic. Today, I find using Windows 8 modern apps a pain in my Windows 10 environment - that is just going to continue to get worse.

And if Windows really does get 1 billion instances of Windows 10 installed, you should see the app store respond correspondingly.

Windows 8 tried something dramatically different, Windows 10 is closer to Windows 7 in its design language then it is to Windows 8. I suggest you will find backward compatibility issues causing you some serious problems in the future.... Issues that Windows 7 users will not experience in the same way.

I would not stay on Windows 8.1 - either downgrade to Windows 7 or upgrade to Windows 10.

 

[winboy]

Why would you not want to upgrade???

 

[AndyCalling]

No-one much will stick with W10 on touch devices for long, so anyone wanting to develop a touch app will want a W8 version out there. W10 apps are more at home on the desktop. Hopefully that means we won't get fragmentation issues but if we do MS will need to address such with their current OSs (those still in feature support timeframe like W8.1).

You can set up a dual boot system. I am thinking that way for my desktop but it won't help for low storage touch devices.

Clearly, W10 is the desktop strand of the Windows ecosystem and W8 is the touch strand currently. The only sensible approach is to run both in the same ecosystem until MS provide a viable touch strand upgrade. I don't advise you downgrade any touch device to W7 as that's even worse on touch than W10 (if you can believe it).

Winboy, many people do want to upgrade but want to wait until W10 is as functional as W8. Looking at the current state, a year may well not be enough time for MS to climb that mountain.

 

[Japser]

Winboy, many people do want to upgrade but want to wait until W10 is as functional as W8. Looking at the current state, a year may well not be enough time for MS to climb that mountain.

I agree that it might be a good idea for some people to wait a little while. But I do believe that W10 will be as functional, and probably even more functional, than W8.1 before the free upgrade offer expires. It's already pretty close as it is.

 

[AndyCalling]

Hopefully, but 'pretty close' is a bit of a stretch on touch devices. Depends on your usage. I hope we won't have to wait over a year but I think it best to plan for the need to wait longer. It's hardly an unlikely scenario.

 

[Harrie-S]

Other reasons;
You loose Windows Media Centre
In the home version updates are automatically (you can not switch this off) and some people do not like it,.
It's something "new" and "complicated".
You are satisfied with the current version.

 

[Scott Bradley]

No-one much will stick with W10 on touch devices for long, so anyone wanting to develop a touch app will want a W8 version out there. W10 apps are more at home on the desktop. Hopefully that means we won't get fragmentation issues but if we do MS will need to address such with their current OSs (those still in feature support timeframe like W8.1).

You can set up a dual boot system. I am thinking that way for my desktop but it won't help for low storage touch devices.

Clearly, W10 is the desktop strand of the Windows ecosystem and W8 is the touch strand currently. The only sensible approach is to run both in the same ecosystem until MS provide a viable touch strand upgrade. I don't advise you downgrade any touch device to W7 as that's even worse on touch than W10 (if you can believe it).

Winboy, many people do want to upgrade but want to wait until W10 is as functional as W8. Looking at the current state, a year may well not be enough time for MS to climb that mountain.

I do not understand your point? You do not think that W10 works as well on tablet / touch first devices as W8.1? I am running both and I disagree with you quite a bit. Are you testing Windows 10? Have you used it in tablet mode?

I have a Surface Pro running 8.1 and a desktop computer running W10, To get a real good feel for tablet mode, I RDP into my desktop using an iPad (I am sure everyone will find that funny)! And I love it. It is far more intuitive to use then Windows 8.1... The only thing that took a little getting used to was the new gestures for pinning apps side by side.

On the Surface, I never use the "Tablet Mode"... I, like just about everyone else on Windows 8, installed a third party start screen (Start8) to get me out of that nightmare.

I will predict very few will stay on any flavor of Windows 8... That population will migrate very quickly to Windows 10. Windows 7 will take a little more time, if ever, on their existing hardware. Microsoft may say that it will support Windows 8 until 2023, but backward compatibility will be a very low consideration for developers moving forward - making Windows 8 a very difficult platform to stay with.

 

[AndyCalling]

Scott, this thread is a practical thread about the how rather than the why. If you would like to read one of the (huge) number of threads here, in the MS feedback forums and across the internet comprehensively listing and debating the numerous issues with touch on W10 you would not be so puzzled. Better to post your questions in those rather than to try to derail this one.

 

[Scott Bradley]

Well Andy, you took it off line in the first place when you indicated very matter-of-factly that "No-one much will stick with W10 on touch devices for long".

I would say that statement is just as much an opinion as mine. My point, and I stick with it - if you try to stay with Windows 8.1 for very long you are going to experience backward compatibility issues that will not impact Windows 7 users. Most of those issues will come from migration to the Universal App store.

Windows 8.1 won't get the Universal App store and none of the existing apps will be updated and no new apps will be added / maintained in 8.1.

I do find it interesting that you think that a product such as W8, that has so little market share that it cannot attract developers, and will have a micro share after the W10 release - that any developers will want to continue to support the Windows 8 app store. I won't...

So good luck staying with 8.1

 

[AndyCalling]

My post was directly relevant to the practical application and effect so on topic. I never stated it was other than opinion. I will discuss this no further with you here as it is inappropriate. Please PM me if you want a response or be put on the ignore list.

 

[timppa_k]

I thank you all for the opinions. I got some important points to think about. I'm using W10 in two laptop and two phones and I like W10. I wanted only to hear some professional opinions for the coffee break "board".

Thanks a lot. Let stop this topic here.

 

[Mr Lebowski]

Other reasons;
You loose Windows Media Centre
In the home version updates are automatically (you can not switch this off) and some people do not like it,.
It's something "new" and "complicated".
You are satisfied with the current version.

You loose most of WMC with 8.1 unless you have 8.1 Pro and even then you have to download a patch. I miss using WMP for movies all the installed ones suck

 

[Krystianpants]

You loose most of WMC with 8.1 unless you have 8.1 Pro and even then you have to download a patch. I miss using WMP for movies all the installed ones suck

Doesn't xbox dvr replace it anyways?

 

[pureview_lvr]

We had a "big" coffee break discussion about taking or not the Windows 10. Now I'm speaking about home users not about company policy. What happens if I say NO?

I would say you should upgrade to windows 10
No any big reason to stick with windows 8.1 as windows 10 looking more polished and much improved.
Decide, you have a year to free upgrade.
But I will definitely upgrade.