but before upgrading you need to check your existing hardware for compatibility
Raj Kumar Maurya
Windows 10 upgrade is available for all
existing windows 7 and Windows 8
machines as Microsoft announced that
Windows 10 upgrade is a full version and
the size of the upgrade is 3 GB. To get all the advantages of
this free offer, you must upgrade your PC within one year
of availability. The upgrade offer is valid only for qualified
Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 devices you own. But there
are some hardware or software requirements which
differ from device to device. If you are running Windows
8 on your device then Windows 10 is being delivered as
recommended update and it should run smoothly but for
Windows 7 devices it is optional. So, here’s a checklist:
Is Windows 10 upgrade beneficial to you?
The Windows 10 Operating system is definitely beneficial
for your existing Windows system as it features the return
of the start menu for Win 8 particularly for regular desktop
and non-touch screen users. The full-screen Windows 8
start screen never made sense when used with mouse
and keyboard. The Windows 10 start menu incorporated
Live tiles which make it more intuitive and simple to use. It
allows virtual desktops that pretend you are using multiple
monitors. It’s immensely useful if you work with many
applications at once but have limited screen space. You
also get Cortana,
Bing search on
the desktop,
new browser,
all Windows 8
features and
also some other
features which
you only get in
Windows 10.
Hardware
Requirements for
Windows 10
For the final version
of Windows 10
hardware requirements have yet to be confirmed, but
the preview version will have exactly the same hardware
requirements as Windows 8. However, Windows 10
installer will also automatically check whether your system
is suitable for the new OS or not.
Here are the hardware requirements for Windows 10
Technical Preview (TP):
• Processor: 1 GHz or faster
• RAM: 1 GB (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
• Free hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
• Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device
with WDDM driver
If you are still not sure about your hardware specs
you can use Microsoft’s Windows Compatibility Center
which help you find out whether you can upgrade your
system or not. Basically, it is a tool which provides
information on whether your current system is suitable
for Win 10 or not. Presently, this tool is intended only for
those who are interested in an upgrade to Windows 8.1,
but if your computer can run Windows 8.1 then it should
also run Windows 10.
Please note that efore running this tool be sure that
all hardware peripherals like printer, scanner, gaming
consoles etc are also connected to your computer as
Win10 compatibility with all these devices will also be
verified. However, if your hardware is not connected
with your PC then you should check the website of the
device manufacturer to confirm whether your devices
are compatible with Windows 10 or not.
Is Windows 10 compatible with your
existing software?
Before upgrading it is important to check your software
compatibility because that can avoid an expensive
mistake. Even if Windows 10 is made available to you
as a free upgrade, you wouldn’t want to waste time
downloading and creating backups. If your hardware is
compatible but the software which is most important for
your work is not then it worthless for you.
Windows 10 is a big leap for Windows 7 users
but if you depend on traditional Windows desktop
application, you shouldn’t have to worry. Don’t think
the big leap would not let you run you applications
on Windows 10. If an application ran on Windows
7, it should also run on windows 10. Yes, it can run
traditional Window desktop application as it is very
similar to Windows 8 and Windows 7.There is no
big application security model or driver architecture
changes which were huge, if you move from Win XP t
o Vista or Win XP to Win 7. Yes, Windows 10 includes a
whole new application model, but traditional Windows
desktop applications run side-by-side with those new
applications.
Compatibility Modes
Compatibility mode options in Windows 7 that trick
applications into thinking that they are running the
older versions of Windows. Many older applications will
run fine in Windows 10 using this mode but still there
is an uncertainty. Windows 10 will automatically enable
this option if it detects an app needs them but you
can manually select it by right-clicking an application’s
.exe file or shortcut and in properties select the
compatibility tab.
There are few things which work properly in your
previous Windows may not work on Windows 10. It might
be a problem for you if your application requires an old
driver or hardware to run. If an application interfaces with
Windows XP-era hardware devices or the manufacturer
has never provided a driver that works on Windows
7 then you are likely in trouble. If you depend on 16-
bit applications, be sure you install a 32-bit version of
Windows 10. This is similar to Windows 7, which wouldn’t
run on a 64-bit version of Win 7.
How to find out application compatibility
Any applications or hardware devices that won’t work
properly on Windows 10 can’t be found out by Upgrade
Advisor application “Get Windows 10” which is offered
by Microsoft that scans your system and informs you if
it finds any application or hardware incompatibility. This
application has been rolled out to Windows 7 and windows
8.1 users via Windows Update. When your system gets this
update an icon will show the icon in your system tray. If
you are using some special application for some business
purposes or anything else irreplaceable, you should contact
the developer or software company that produces them
and ask them whether the application is compatible with
Windows 10 or not.
Windows Media center built into
Windows 7 and available as a paid
download for Windows 8 is no longer
available in Windows 10 as it removes
these built-in features. Some traditional
games which are available in previous
Windows version like Hearts, Solitaire,
and Minesweeper are no longer
available. Desktop gadgets and DVD
playback are also gone but this increases
your Windows security
