WIndows 10

NOT a totally free upgrade, but... ONLY offered as a free upgrade for a limited time period - one year. Who knows what happens at the end of that one year?

But in getting that upgrade... It will be interesting to view the minimum configuration specs. Add to that (even worse) that most people will not be able to "bring along" most of their older copies of software. Might work fine on W7, but it will be interesting to see how much works well with W10.

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/132453-windows-10-will-be-free-spells-the-death-...

'Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 10 will be offered as a free download to customers using Windows 8.1, Windows 7 and Windows Phone 8.1.'

I suppose it will be a download onto machines with registered copies of win7 & 8/8.1. I guess purchasers of new computers will be paying a license fee included?

They have to give it away for two reasons.
1. To prevent further drift towards other offerings as a result of the abortion that is W8x
2. Most if not all other OS's are now free. OK to get Mac OS you have to buy a Mac but all subsequent upgrades are free.

I wish they'd release XP Pro IIS XP is still the 2nd most popular OS after W7 so I'm not surprised that they are giving away 10.

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well im not supprised at the free upgrade as most people i know that as 8 and 8.1 wish they had never seen it and that gose the same for me even some of the boffins in pcworld currys say windows 8 and 8.1 is rubbish but they put it a little stronger

I'll probably hang on for several months after it is introduced and get some feedback before deciding whether to upgrade or not. My main concern will be whether or not it is more secure against hacking and the like than previous versions which all seem to come with 'backdoors' direct to the NSA and GCHQ.

8/8.1 are a total nightmare for me!! I'm hoping 10 is a vast improvement!! Just a pity that, since Vista, I'm unable to use my Sony Minidisc player on the pc, as I archived some photos onto a Hi-MD, and I cannot make music MD's to listen to when out and about. If I can save the pennies up, I'll get one of Sony's MP4 players. As for Win 10, I'll be upgrading, rather than spending a few hundred quid on a new rig.

Without derailing this thread, have Pentax ever released a firmware that supplies new developments to older hardware? On my K-30 they released 5 updates, which fixed bugs and provided support for newer equipment, such as lenses and the 1.4 teleconverter, but they have never added additional functionality over what was originally provided.

Full list here:

I'm thinking Apple who release upgraded iOS versions each year, or other camera manufacturers that I'm not allowed to mention who release upgrades for older versions. That's one area that I don't see Pentax/Ricoh etc supporting existing customers in presently.

I suppose it's a matter of degree, but the recent firmware update allowed the use of AF with the AF converter for models going back to the K-7. Isn't that providing a new development to older hardware?

Agree it's not always possible either between hardware generations. Looking at the firmware hacking discussions going on elsewhere on the net, it's clear that there have been some quite significant and fundamental processor/coding changes between the models; so it's not always possible to slip new code back into older models without dedicating major resources to achieve this.

Support for new devices is good, and are needed to ensure the widest possible market for anything new. I guess the fact that they can/did do this all the way back to the K-7 actually illustrates my point, in that they can filter new features down if they want to.

Examples could be the likes of focus peaking, (which as mentioned above is maybe not a good example if it's hardware dependant), but is one which has been filtered down to previous models by other manufacturers. Yes it's about degrees, but I'm primarily talking about features vs compatibility with products.

I believe my K7 gained the LCD horizon indicator display (the one a bit like an aircraft AI) following the firmware update.

Then you are not understanding people ! Just like Microsoft clearly did not understand a great many of its customers . And that situation is a problem for any business.

I've no problems with Windows 8 , I just set it to start up in desktop mode.