Should You Upgrade To Windows 10 (Or 8)? A Pictorial Walkthrough

Technology columnist Jeff Bennion explains everything you need to know about the various versions of Windows.

I had been planning to write an article on whether law firms should upgrade to Windows 8. That is, until last week, when Microsoft previewed their next operating system, Windows 10.

Not only did they announce it, they opened it up for a free preview version download. So I downloaded it, tested it, and took screenshots for you so I can walk through the pros and cons of upgrading to a new operating system.

The Windows 10 preview makes you go through a series of warnings where you acknowledge that you are going to be using an unstable, incomplete, buggy operating system. They do not recommend it for your main computer, just if you have an old laptop lying around.

So, Here’s Windows 10:

Not only is the start menu back, but Windows store apps can be run in Windows. In Windows 8, they could be run only in full-screen mode. Here, I’ve got the maps app and the news app running at the same time and in separate windows that I can see at the same time. The Windows 8 start menu tiles that you frequently use can be added to the right side of the start menu.

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If you click on the picture below to enlarge it, you’ll see that there is an option now to use the Windows 7 start button interface or the Windows 8 start menu for tablets.

Windows 10 lets you add multiple desktops. Here I’ve got three apps open on one desktop:

Here, I’ve got three desktops with a program running in each desktop. If you have a cluttered desktop, just create a new one. You can go back to your cluttered desktop. Or say you are working on one client matter and you have discovery responses that you are drafting in Word with another window open with medical records, and another client calls. Instead of minimizing everything, you can just open up another desktop and go back to your first desktop when you are done.

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Should You Upgrade to Windows 7 or 8 Now?

First off, if you are using Windows XP, you should upgrade because, as of April 8 of this year, Microsoft is no longer issuing security updates, so your files are more vulnerable to hacking. All the hackers who had figured out ways into XP systems were waiting until after April 8 to launch their attacks because they knew there would be no one to patch the loopholes they found. The first reported attacks were just a few weeks after April 8. Likewise, hackers can deconstruct security patches issued for later operating systems and see if those patches apply to problems in XP. Since XP doesn’t get those patches, it’s as if Microsoft is advertising to hackers loopholes in XP software. Also, your operating systems are not meant to outlive your pets.

What if you are on Windows 7 and you’ve got a computer in your office that takes 10 minutes to boot and makes weird noises from the hard drive? Should you fix it, or bite the bullet and upgrade to Windows 8?

If you have never used Windows 8, surely you have heard bad things about it. There’s a reason that 24% of you are using Windows XP and only 12% are using Windows 8. It replaced the start button with a weird page of tiles. Figuring out how to turn your computer off is hard. It’s designed for touchscreen tablets, yet most people are running desktops, etc.

The truth is that Windows 8 is not that bad. I installed when it first came out and within 30 minutes, I chose to erase all of my files and reinstall Windows 7. Six months later, I tried it again on a touchscreen tablet and, again, after 30 minutes, did the same thing – chose to lose all my user files and reinstall Windows 7.

Earlier this year, I bought two new computers, a Windows 8 tablet and a touchscreen laptop. Most of my problems with Windows 8 stemmed from having a computer that was not designed for Windows 8. That meant that certain parts of my computers would not work – sound cards, display drivers, software, or peripherals like printers – whatever did not have Windows 8 drivers available. Needless to say, that was pretty annoying. Now, two years after the release of Windows 8, every program and piece of hardware I use is compatible. So, I dove in and started learning Windows 8.

I found most of the complaints to be exaggerated. For example, the biggest complaint, about the start button being replaced with a start page, is something that historians will ponder for ages to come. Yes, the start button was familiar, and the Windows 8 start menu was designed with tablets in mind, but getting from the start menu to the desktop is done by clicking once on the large Desktop icon. It’s not some vortex that takes over the computer every time you’re not looking. It takes one click to get out of it and then you only go into it when you need to, which for me is only every couple of days.

Every operating system has its learning curve. While the learning curve for Windows 8 is a little steeper, it’s nothing that about 10 minutes of Google searches can’t fix. In general, I like using my Windows 8 computers with newer hardware more than using my older Windows 7 computers.

Drivers

Whenever you upgrade to a new operating system, you are going to have to update your drivers. Some software and hardware won’t be compatible immediately and some older things will never be compatible. The Windows 10 forums have a list of software that is currently not compatible, but chances are that list will be much shorter closer to the official Windows 10 release date. I just used my Windows 10 computer to print to my 7-year-old Canon laser printer and it worked just fine.

Do This As Soon as You Upgrade to Windows 8

One of the weirdest things about Windows 8 is that you can no longer play DVDs in Windows Media Player. It’s a quick fix — you just download something like VLC media player — but when I was in trial trying to play a DVD of footage shot by a private investigator, that quick fix offered little solace. Do this quick fix as soon as possible.

Should You Upgrade Now or Wait for Windows 10?

If you need a new computer, you should upgrade to Windows 8 right now. It will be about a year before Windows 10 rolls out and another 6 months for all of the kinks to be worked out, like getting drivers for all of your printers and hardware components. Buying a $300 Windows 8 laptop or desktop now will last you a long time. If you wait until your computer dies, you are going to spend a lot more in wasted productivity trying to get your files off your old system and reconstructing your new system from your broken computer than if you just bought one right now.


Jeff Bennion is a solo practitioner from San Diego. When not handling his own cases, he’s consulting lawyers on how to use technology to not be boring in trial or managing e-discovery projects in mass torts/complex litigation cases. If you want to be disappointed in a lack of posts, you can follow him on Twitter or on Facebook. If you have any ideas of things you want him to cover, email Jeff at jeff@trial.technology.

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