Will the free upgrade to Windows 10 break my games?

[shiznitz]

I never went to Windows 8 (from 7 Home Premium), but I did get my son a Win 8 laptop and it was awful for any game not released after 2010.

I am worried that the few games I play - which are reasonably dated - will fail.

[Malakili]

I was just wondering this myself.

[Engels]

That question is impossible to answer in any assured way. Each game is coded differently and one can't make generalizations. Its probably only fair to say that something that's broken in Windows 8 will probably also be broken in Windows 10, since I doubt the underlying architecture has been changed that much.

[shiznitz]

I thank you for an artful answer that actually provides me the information I need.

At Microsoft, 8 = 10.

[taleril]

Also, 9 = 10.  It makes perfect sense.

[Chimpy]

Windows 7 is nearly the same age now as XP was when 7 was released and most of the stuff that broke on 8 is stuff that was written on XP (or older).

Expecting absolutely everything that worked on 7 to work on the third major OS release since is a bit crazy.

Also, windows 8 compatibility with applications has been pretty good from what I have seen, it was the interface that caused people to freak out more than anything under the hood. Very little of the core of the operating system changed between 7 and 8.

[Viin]

Windows 7 is nearly the same age now as XP was when 7 was released ....

Thanks for making me feel *really* old, jerk.

[eldaec]

Deus Ex is fine. You might need an ini file edit or something.
UFO has a port available.
Vampire Bloodlines has a third party patch.

The 20 year old games that must be saved for humanity have better protection from cultural vandalism than the Valley of the Kings.

I wouldn't worry.

[Strazos]

Haven't had any issues whatsoever on 8.1.

[SurfD]

What's this about a free upgrade? And how do i find out if i qualify?

[Tebonas]

They will tell you if you are not a dirty pirate. It must have been one of the Windows Updates that was installed recently, I got the popup yesterday on my Windows 7 machine.

[Pennilenko]

Just a heads up, if you rely on windows media center to record and play copy protected content using a cable tuner card do not upgrade to windows 10. It will no longer work.

[Sophismata]

Just a heads up, if you rely on windows media center to record and play copy protected content using a cable tuner card do not upgrade to windows 10. It will no longer work.

It should appear to work, but the resulting recording is always "You Are a Pirate".

That way it would be amusing instead of sad.

[Fordel]

They will tell you if you are not a dirty pirate. It must have been one of the Windows Updates that was installed recently, I got the popup yesterday on my Windows 7 machine.

They will actually let you upgrade even if you are a dirty pirate apparently, you'll just get an annoying watermark or something till you buy a legit license.

[Lantyssa]

What I want are details.  I don't want to do an upgrade like it's a windows patch.  I want to be able to burn the media since it's not unknown for Windows to need a reinstall.

[Pennilenko]

Just a heads up, if you rely on windows media center to record and play copy protected content using a cable tuner card do not upgrade to windows 10. It will no longer work.

It should appear to work, but the resulting recording is always "You Are a Pirate".

That way it would be amusing instead of sad.

Nothing about what I posted involves piracy of any kind. It is a completely legitimate way to use media center as a dvr.

[Trippy]

Just a heads up, if you rely on windows media center to record and play copy protected content using a cable tuner card do not upgrade to windows 10. It will no longer work.

It should appear to work, but the resulting recording is always "You Are a Pirate".

That way it would be amusing instead of sad.

Nothing about what I posted involves piracy of any kind. It is a completely legitimate way to use media center as a dvr.

The issue is they are removing Media Center not that the DRM is changing. And using a CableCard to record protected shows through MediaCenter is totally legit and here in the US cable companies are required to provide CableCards if requested by law.

[Quinton]

What's this about a free upgrade? And how do i find out if i qualify?

As I understand it, for (at least) the first year after it ships, Microsoft is making Windows 10 available as a free upgrade to any Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 installation. 

Apparently Windows 10 Home will make automatic updates mandatory.  Some features (Cortana, Xbox streaming, etc) will be region-limited):
http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/1/8696949/windows-10-feature-loss

Details still not all there, but it is claimed that once you upgrade a device you will have the ability to do clean installs of Windows 10 on to that device:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9334/microsoft-confirms-you-can-clean-install-windows-10-after-upgrading

My Linux workstation dual-boots Win7, so I'll probably give Win10 a look on there first and then the gaming box can pick up the upgrade if it seems like a good idea.

[SurfD]

Any idea if you  get to keep your "upgrade" status?

I caved and purchased a retail copy of Win 7 Professional when 7 launched because it was the best version of windows they had released in years and i was tired of dealing with getting shady copies to work.  Any idea if the free upgrade will get me the "professional" version of Win 10, or whatever is equivilent, or do i just get the vanilla version?

[Torinak]

Any idea if you  get to keep your "upgrade" status?

I caved and purchased a retail copy of Win 7 Professional when 7 launched because it was the best version of windows they had released in years and i was tired of dealing with getting shady copies to work.  Any idea if the free upgrade will get me the "professional" version of Win 10, or whatever is equivilent, or do i just get the vanilla version?

Windows 7 Professional w/ SP1 gets Windows 10 Pro. See the Windows 10 FAQ for the table showing what versions of Windows 7 and 8/8.1 map to which versions of Windows 10.

[schild]

Maybe this was answered but I'm tired and it's late. I just did the Reserve thing on uhhh a lot of boxes.

When I get a new PC and I will within a year, typically I can just deactivate Windows 7 on an old box and shove it into a new box. How do with Windows 10?

[SurfD]

Maybe this was answered but I'm tired and it's late. I just did the Reserve thing on uhhh a lot of boxes.

When I get a new PC and I will within a year, typically I can just deactivate Windows 7 on an old box and shove it into a new box. How do with Windows 10?

According to the link Torinak posted above, you have untill july 29 2016 to take advantage of the free upgrade offer, so if you get your new box within the next year, you could throw win 7 on it, and then upgrade to 10 for free i guess.

Not 100% sure on how they are planning on dealing with acctivating / deactivating licencces for the free upgrade copies.  Could become something of an issue if it lets you create an install disk / image,  as i have no real clue how you would get it to validate your win 7 or 8 licence after you have upgraded and then needed to do a full system re-install.

[Mandella]

Apparently Windows 10 Home will make automatic updates mandatory.  Some features (Cortana, Xbox streaming, etc) will be region-limited):
http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/1/8696949/windows-10-feature-loss

That's actually a game killer for me. I'm on mostly limited bandwidth with an unlimited time window, and if I can't schedule updates to that window then I'm just not going to upgrade.

Any third party software out there that might be able to force Win10 to schedule updates?

[Chimpy]

There are options built in for slow/metered connections. I am pretty sure you also can set it to check/download during your specific window.

I don't know the specifics but I know that the engineers talked about slow/metered connections and updates when they gave us the presentation.

[Mandella]

There are options built in for slow/metered connections. I am pretty sure you also can set it to check/download during your specific window.

I don't know the specifics but I know that the engineers talked about slow/metered connections and updates when they gave us the presentation.

Is that for the Enterprise release? The Pro version is also listed as allowing scheduling; alas the Home version is implied to give no user control...

[Merusk]

Who uses the Home version of a Window release besides people who don't know how to computer?

[Torinak]

Who uses the Home version of a Window release besides people who don't know how to computer?

People who don't want to throw away $100-150 to replace the OS already installed on their new laptop? Bumping up the net price of a new computer by 15-20% is a pretty big deal for a lot of people.

Not to mention that without one or more extra computers and a lot of spare time and expertise, replacing the OS on a laptop (or even some prebuilt desktop systems) can be a giant pain.

[Chimpy]

There are options built in for slow/metered connections. I am pretty sure you also can set it to check/download during your specific window.

I don't know the specifics but I know that the engineers talked about slow/metered connections and updates when they gave us the presentation.

Is that for the Enterprise release? The Pro version is also listed as allowing scheduling; alas the Home version is implied to give no user control...

I am not talking about "scheduling" where you approve/deny if/when particular updates are installed, which is a Pro/Enterprise feature. I am talking about scheduling when they are downloaded and installed (time of day, download and then install when I say so, etc). Even Microsoft is not so tone deaf to assume that everyone will have the ability to download hundreds of megabytes of updates the instant they are released. They realize that a lot of people around the world are on sporadic network connections and may need flexibility.

[Mandella]

There are options built in for slow/metered connections. I am pretty sure you also can set it to check/download during your specific window.

I don't know the specifics but I know that the engineers talked about slow/metered connections and updates when they gave us the presentation.

Is that for the Enterprise release? The Pro version is also listed as allowing scheduling; alas the Home version is implied to give no user control...

I am not talking about "scheduling" where you approve/deny if/when particular updates are installed, which is a Pro/Enterprise feature. I am talking about scheduling when they are downloaded and installed (time of day, download and then install when I say so, etc). Even Microsoft is not so tone deaf to assume that everyone will have the ability to download hundreds of megabytes of updates the instant they are released. They realize that a lot of people around the world are on sporadic network connections and may need flexibility.

I honestly would have thought you were correct, and I hope you still are, but this quote from the Verge's site says:

More annoyingly, perhaps, Microsoft has also changed how updates will work with Windows 10. Although the Pro and Enterprise editions will both be able to defer updates, Windows 10 Home users will not have the option. Updates will instead be downloaded and installed automatically as soon as they're available.

Which appears to be based on/supported by this quote from the Official Windows 10 site:

Windows 10 Home users will have updates from Windows Update automatically available. Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise users will have the ability to defer updates.

Now on rereading I can see where "automatically available" does not necessarily mean "instantly downloaded," but you have to agree there is some ambiguous phrasing here, especially considering the second sentence.

As for the "Home" vs "Pro" derail, well, my Home Premium does most everything I want it to do, and what it doesn't is covered by third party software, so I really don't get the issue. For a home gaming rig, it's fine. Or at least it was until they decided to class "control over updates" as a Pro feature.

[Lantyssa]

Home is for the plebes.  If it matters to you that much, Microsoft wants you to spend the money to upgrade.

If you think they're concerned about people not having the bandwidth, I'll point out the Xbox One initial requirements and Diablo 3's always online stance.  They live in a world where not having high-speed internet is unthinkable.

[Chimpy]

Home is for the plebes.  If it matters to you that much, Microsoft wants you to spend the money to upgrade.

If you think they're concerned about people not having the bandwidth, I'll point out the Xbox One initial requirements and Diablo 3's always online stance.  They live in a world where not having high-speed internet is unthinkable.

"Always online" and "unmetered high-speed connections" are two different things though.

Granted, I could be wrong, but I got a serious impression that Microsoft has put a lot of thought into how to get their installed base onto Windows 10 as quickly as possible and they have been trying to remove as many excuses/reasons as possible that might be barriers.

[Fabricated]

I'm skipping like most of the posts here to answer: Generally no going 7->10 won't break your games. I'd recommend a clean install anyway but anything that ran natively in Win7 will work in 10. Ancient games from GoG should work fine since they target win7/8.

If you've got stuff like original copies of System Shock 2 which require a rain dance to make work in Win7 you might have issues.

[Kageru]

Who uses the Home version of a Window release besides people who don't know how to computer?

Home shipped with a lot of the low power netbook type computers... I think that's what I had on there before I zapped it so linux could have the whole drive. Still for the people using the most basic version I could see an argument for making upgrades automated and invisible.

I'm not seeing any reason to jump on this early so I'll be waiting for the fine print to eventuate.

[apocrypha]

I've been running a Minecraft server on a Windows 10 box for a few months now with no issues at all, other than the occasional unannounced restart to install updates, but hey, techincal preview.

So if you want to play games that run in a Java console I can confirm that they'll probably work fine! 

[Cadaverine]

I was able to run Ultima I from GoG without issue.  So far everything's been fine under Windows 10, but there's still plenty of time for them to screw that up.