I’ve been asked by various people if they should upgrade to Windows 10. The simple answer is No. At least as of Aug 31, 2015.
If you’ve already upgraded, for whatever reason, that’s a different story altogether. You’re now in a position where you can judge for yourself whether it was worth it, and either live with 10 or roll back.
As for the average user, there appears to be no compelling reason to upgrade now (or possible ever). While there will certainly be a plethora of under the hood improvements, there will also be many flaws that need time to iron out. On top of that, there is an increasing amount of evidence pointing towards spying on the user (ie you) by Microsoft.
With time, I expect both of these issues to be dealt with, one way or another. Today, if you’ve got a system that is working for you, stay with what you have. “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”
This appears contrary to the general advice of always updating. Updating fixes problems in existing programs, upgrading replaces existing programs. Updates should (almost) always be done, upgrades should be considered first. Reconsider Windows 10 after Christmas, until then just say no.
The only downside to not upgrading is the constant notification to upgrade. That can be turned off (through various methods I won’t be going into here/now). Which raises the question, why would Microsoft be putting so much effort into encouraging a ‘free’ upgrade? Someone’s paying for it, and if it’s not you, then who? Whoever is paying is the customer, and what does that customer want? Is what they want consistent with what you want? Something to ponder when ‘buying’ a product.
For future reference, end of extended support dates:
Windows Vista April 11, 2017
Windows 7 January 14, 2020
Windows 8.1 January 10, 2023
Windows 10 October 14, 2025
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle
Mentioned because you could consider a version of Windows ‘broken’ when it’s date has past.