Thinking of upgrading to Windows 10? It won't take long, but existing software may not work

Microsoft provides more information about upgrading to Windows 10 - but not why they're giving it away

A formal upgrade to Windows 10 will require less than 3GB of RAM and take up less disk space than Windows 8. Installing it will take "about an hour", according to Microsoft, while newer devices ought to be much quicker - no longer than 20 minutes.

The software giant was responding to a slew of questions posed by Computing to find out how ready Windows 10 will be for the average PC user, keen to upgrade when version 1.0 of the new operating system becomes available on 29 July this year.

Existing PC users running Windows 7, Windows 8.0 and Windows 8.1 will already have been contacted by Microsoft via Windows Update.

"For details on specific devices and apps, use the Get Windows 10 app to do a compatibility check. Click the menu in the upper left of the app, and select 'Check your PC' or 'Your PC is good to go'. This displays any compatibility issues we find and recommends a resolution; while we don't have info on every app or device in existence, it provides a comprehensive list of all known potential compatibility issues," Microsoft said.

While Cortana, Microsoft's voice-controlled "intelligent personal assistant" will be available in the UK, it won't (yet) work in all markets. Furthermore, Microsoft has indicated that compatibility testing with third-party software has only just begun.

In response to our question, "What kind of assistance has Microsoft given software makers to test their software for compatibility with Windows 10?" it responded:

"Today we begin the conversation with developers... Microsoft has a long history of commitment to developers, with Windows as a core driver of platform innovation. We are on a path to unifying the ecosystem and we're starting to see universal apps and great hardware at all price points."

Dual-boot system?

Given that a Windows Update at the end of last year, KB 3004394, borked thousands of machines dual-booting Windows and Linux, we also wanted assurance that Windows 10 would support such configurations.

Microsoft responded: "In general, Windows 10 supports multi-boot configurations as have past Windows releases. If a user upgrades a Windows instance in a multi-boot system, the boot manager of that prior version will be upgraded to Windows 10 boot manager, and boot configurations will be unchanged."

The Windows 10 install ought to mimic your current set-up, so that if you have an SSD running the operating system and a hard-disk drive holding your applications and data, that's how Windows 10 will run, too. "Windows 10 can easily handle whichever combination of drive types and configurations you select for your system," promised Microsoft.

The way that the Windows 10 Updater runs means that people who have already chosen to update will download Windows 10 in the background and can upgrade at their leisure. The process of "inviting" people to update is still ongoing, with Microsoft having started with people running machines that were likely to be "most compatible" - but the company advises to check carefully before updating.

But why the giveaway? Microsoft's answer to this question is predictably PR: "Nothing fundamental has changed in our business model. We want an engaged customer base on the latest version of Windows 10. We expect the free upgrade to drive innovation and scale across our partners and desire among consumers. Our business model for Windows is not changing and we will continue to charge licence fees for our Windows software through our OEM partners."

What that translates as, to us, is the belief at Microsoft that people generally don't buy operating systems as a separate retail item any more - most PCs today are so cheap people simply wait until their new machine needs upgrading and make the move then.