Having trouble deciding whether to upgrade or not upgrade to Windows 10? In this blog I am going to help you decide. 

First, let's start off with a comparison of Windows 8.1, Windows 7, and Windows 10 

                        Windows 10 | Windows 8.1 | Windows 7 
Start Menu          Yes                   No                  Yes 

Cortana               Yes                   No                  No 

Continuum          Yes                   No                  No 

Windows Hello    Yes                  No                  No 

Virtual Desktops Yes                  No                  No 

Free upgrade      N/A                 Yes                 Yes 

DirectX               v12                  v11                 v10 
(Good for gaming) 

Microsoft Edge  Yes                  No                   No 

Now we will be going over some of the new features in Windows 10 


Start Menu: Mix of the Windows 8 Start Screen and the WIndows 7 Start Menu so it's familiar for both of the users but also has new features that are easy to learn. 

Cortana: If you have a Windows Phone, Cortana will be very familiar to you. It's the world's most personl digital assistant. Cortana can remind you about anything at a certain time or when you get to a certain place. Cortana can also tell you about your favorite news subjects or the local weather etc. You can get her attention anytime by saying "Hey, Cortana". She can also be programmed to only listen when you say it. One example command is this: "Hey Cortana, remind me to water the plants when I get home". And as soon as you get home, she will remind you. On the PC, she can also search for files and programs. 

Continuum: Continuum is a feature where if you have a 2in1 laptop such as the Microsoft Surface or the Lenovo Yoga, when you put it into it's tablet form, the device will automatically switch into a tablet mode that is good for touch. When you switch it back to laptop form, it automatically switches back to a mode that is good for mouse and keyboard. 

Windows Hello: Windows Hello is a new type of biometric hardware that can recognize, your face, iris, or fingerprint. This technology cannot be fooled by a twin or picture of someone else as it uses new infrared sensors that will be shipping on new PCs after WIndows 10 launches. Some laptops already have fingerprint readers which can also be used for fingerprint login. 

Virtual Desktops: Virtual Desktops allow you to have different desktops each with different programs. For example if you were at work, you can play games on one desktop and when your boss comes around you can switch to your work desktop that has all your work stuff so it appears that you're working. There is a keyboard shortcut to switch desktops which is Ctrl+Windows+Left or Right arrow depending on which way you want to go. 

Free upgrade: You can upgrade to WIndows 10 for free if you upgrade within the first year it launches and you are running Windows 8.1 or Windows 7. You may see a Windows Flag at the very right of your taskbar. If you click it you can reserve Windows 10 and on July 29th (The launch date), you will see a popup to install the upgrade. And yes, pirated copies of Windows also get the free upgrade but their copy will still stay pirated. 

Microsoft Edge: Microsoft Edge is a new browser that will come with WIndows 10. It uses a new rendering engine that makes things look much better. And you can also take notes in two ways. All PCs can type notes onto a webpage, and PCs that come with a stylus can draw on it. This can also be shared with other people by pressing the share button. 


Hopefully some of this will help you decide whether to upgrade to Windows 10 or not. Stay tuned because I will be updating this with more things that will help you decide as we go.