Why you'll have to wait for your Windows 10 upgrade By Justin Ferris

If you've read any of the recent stories about Windows 10 on Komando.com, you know that it's free for existing users of Windows 7 and 8.1 (Windows 8 users will need to take the free upgrade to 8.1 first), and it's arriving July 29.

There's already been a little confusion from Microsoft about that whole "free upgrade" promise, and now it looks like the release date isn't as clear-cut as we thought either. While Windows 10 is arriving July 29, you're probably not going to get it right away.

According to Microsoft, "Starting on July 29, we will start rolling out Windows 10 to our Windows Insiders. From there, we will start notifying reserved systems in waves, slowly scaling up after July 29th."

In other words, if you signed up to be an Insider and downloaded the Windows 10 preview, then you get the final version of Windows 10 on July 29. For people who reserved a copy of Windows 10, you'll get it next, although Microsoft isn't saying exactly when. After that, everyone else will get the opportunity to upgrade.


The theory behind the staggered launch is that Windows 10 isn't totally ready yet. July 29 always seemed a little optimistic for the launch. In fact, Microsoft is also a little behind getting the final version of Windows 10 to retail shelves.

That isn't to say Windows 10 is in shambles. I'm using the preview version of Windows 10 at home as my main operating system, and it works great 99% of the time. If you buy a new computer with Windows 10 it should also be problem free.

However, I do know other people are still running into compatibility problems with older hardware and software. By rolling Windows out this way, Microsoft lets its most tech-savvy customers encounter any last-minute problems first. Then it has time to fix those before Windows 10 rolls out to the general population.


In other words, you might not be getting Windows 10 on July 29, but when you do get it, it should be a smoother upgrade than it might have been otherwise. While the delay doesn't look as good for Microsoft, I think it made the right call.

HTHC Comment: I have been "testing" Windows 10 from the beginning.  I have had problems with each new release and find the performance pretty bad. My perception so far is that it is a step down from Windows 8.1. I do not see upgrading any of my computers to Windows 10 in the near future. If you reserved a copy, make sure that Microsoft does not automatically upgrade your computer.