To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade – That is the Question
Many of you are on the fence about updating from Windows 10 to Windows 11. We’re getting more and more questions about upgrading and many asking if they can make Windows 11 look more like Windows 10.
First, let us point out that Windows 10 will not only be safe to use until October 14, 2025, Microsoft says it will continue to update Windows 10 and that includes adding new features.
We know for some of you there’s a feeling that you’re missing out on something if you’re still using Windows 10. That’s not necessarily true. If you can do the things you want and need to do with Windows 10, and you’re not the kind of person who loves to be on the cutting edge, then stick with Windows 10. You’ve got plenty of time to use it – and it will continue to get updates and security patches.
We have Windows 11 because we have to have Windows 11. It’s our job to know as much as we can about all currently supported versions of Windows so we can help you whenever you ask for help.
I can honestly say, if it were my job to know Windows 11 inside and out, I’d still be using Windows 10 and I’d continue to use it. I probably would never see Windows 11 until I purchased a new computer – or my old Windows 10 computer was still working on October 1, 2025 – then I would upgrade for safety and security reasons.
If you’re the kind of person who loves to learn new things and likes to stay on top of all things Windows, then you’ve probably already updated to Windows 11 or are seriously considering it. With all its hardware restrictions aside, Windows 11 is as fine a version of Windows as we’ve seen. It seems faster and more responsive than Windows 10.
But if you’re happy with Windows 10 and Windows 10 does everything you need it to do, we can there is no compelling reason you need to update your Windows 10 PC to Windows 11 even if its hardware meets all Windows 11 requirements. Windows 10 will continue to be updated and safe to use until October 14, 2025 – that’s 1314 days from today – March 10, 2022. That’s a lot of days and a lot of time technologically speaking.
And if you like to be on top of things and your computer’s hardware supports Windows 11 – take the plunge. You’ll probably be glad you did. If your Windows 10 PC meets all the Windows 11 hardware requirements (to find out, run the PC Health Check already installed on your PC via Windows update or, if not, see this page), you can upgrade to Windows 11 by visiting this page. Windows 11 is free for everyone using licensed versions of Windows 10.
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I’d like to share my horrific experience with attempting to upgrade to Windows 11, although it’s not to say this would necessarily happen to others. My Windows 10 laptop is just over a year old and showed that it can easily handle the upgrade to 11. However, after I downloaded it, I changed my mind about installing it after reading a few horror stories from people who tried to upgrade. I wasn’t sure how to get rid of it–you cannot just “uninstall” the downloaded Windows 11 file. I followed your instructions on delaying installation to buy time so I could find out how to get rid of it. But I didn’t find out in time. It began to install itself. I was OK with this as I normally like being at the forefront of the latest technology. However, during installation, my screen went blank. Everything seemed to be dead. I tried for hours to get it to turn on, including trying to boot up in safe mode, but nothing worked, not even unplugging and plugging the laptop back in. I thought my laptop was toast. I was exhausted and went to bed. I was shocked the next morning when (for the heck of it) I tried turning it on and it lit up! My desktop was there–with Windows 10!!! I don’t know what happened or how it happened but I felt SO relieved. But now I just wanted every trace of Windows 11 gone. I ended up on the phone with Microsoft for over 3 hours helping me to get rid of it. It’s now gone for good. I will wait until I buy my next laptop with Windows 11 pre-installed. I just wanted to give everyone some information before they decide to make the jump. If something does go wrong, as it had for me, it is not easy to get rid of the Windows 11 download (that’s if you’re lucky and your PC does boot up again). I was fortunate that, for some strange reason that I can’t explain, my laptop did turn on the next day, back with Windows 10. So I just want people to know that if something goes wrong during the upgrade installation, be prepared to spend hours on the phone with Microsoft!
This is not atypical when an upgrade is not successful. Windows will always restore the previous version of Windows if the upgrade fails. The biggest cause of upgrade failures is leaving USB devices (other than keyboards & mice attached.) Your experience was not typical. The Windows 11 upgrade is not mixed in with the monthly updates…so I’m not sure how this automatically happened on your computer – I’m glad everything worked out OK.
This is not atypical when an upgrade is not successful. Windows will always restore the previous version of Windows if the upgrade fails. The biggest cause of upgrade failures is leaving USB devices (other than keyboards & mice attached.) Your experience was not typical. The Windows 11 upgrade is not mixed in with the monthly updates…so I’m not sure how this automatically happened on your computer – I’m glad everything worked out OK.
Thanks for the info. I did upload Win 11 and wasn’t too happy at all. But I persevered and managed to get my screens back to normal as they were cut off. Did this by searching the internet for help and of course Cloud Eight. And some other tweaking here and there. I think I am good now and was thinking of uninstalling but have changed my mind! It will work out eventually. I will keep fixing the little things that don’t work right. I have had a computer since they came to life, reading all the boards! Lol. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks!!! And so far now I am liking it.
When you upgrade to Windows 11, you can use it for 10 days and still go back to Windows 10 without losing any data or programs. It’s very easy to do – we covered it many times. It works the same for Windows 11 as it did for Widnows 10. I put that her for others who may upgrade to Windows 11 and find they don’t like it. And we said in the article- with over 1300 days to go before Windows 10 is no longer supported, there is no reason at all to upgrade to Windows 11 unless you want to.
It seems that Microsoft is subtly forcing users to upgrade. I went to Update and Security and found a message that wanted me to upgrade. There, I couldn’t find a way out until, at the lower rt. of the message in fine print, I saw a link that said “stay with windows 10” or something to that effect.
I clicked on it and the widows 11 message disappeared.
Uwe Adric