Is there any compelling reason to upgrade to Win 10?

[Marc_G 95]

Hi folks,

 

I'm building a new Emby server. All it will do is serve Emby streams, record HDHomeRun OTA TV (via Emby), and occasionally rip discs into the library. It will also host a few low-use linux VMs that I will connect to from time to time, but they won't be running often.

 

I have a Windows 7 license that I believe I can apply to this new machine (i5-6600k, Asus B150M-A/M.2 board, 16 GB RAM, internal SSD on M.2, a few hard drives for storage).  If that doesn't work out, my plan is to buy a new Win7 pro license (available on line for ~$35).

 

Is there any compelling reason to pop for a more expensive Win 10 license? Or, do is the free upgrade still available?  I'm only interested in legal / above board options here, nothing shady.

 

I've got until Tuesday/Wednesday to sort this out, as the build will likely happen Wednesday.

 

Appreciate your thoughts.

 

PS: At this point I'm not up for doing this in Linux, so anyone thinking to respond suggesting that, thanks but that's probably a year or two down the road for me.

 

Marc

[FrostByte 5392]

Is there any compelling reason to pop for a more expensive Win 10 license? Or, do is the free upgrade still available?  I'm only interested in legal / above board options here, nothing shady.

I believe the free upgrades to Windows 10 ended in July 2016

[the1legend 45]

As @@FrostByte mentioned, upgrading for free is not an option any longer. I would just say that there is no compelling reason not to buy a Windows 10 license. Main-stream support for Windows 7 ended last year. I would not spend any money on something that is no longer supported.

[speechles 2055]

You can get a free windows 10 upgrade with the windows 7 license.

 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/windows10upgrade

 

This lets anyone still update windows 10 for free if they arent using an enterprise edition. There are no restrictions.

[Marc_G 95]

Thanks for all input so far!

 

Support in terms of security for Win 7 goes until 2020 I think, so the "mainstream support" thing is no big deal to me.

 

I have a historical bias against Win 10 simply because of the way MS pushed it out and essentially forced it on people unless they took special measures. I also don't like some of the basic tenets of how they handle information, updates, and the like.  This all said, I now have three Win 10 devices in the house and they work fine, more or less, so I can't hold a grudge forever.

 

I see that the Win 10 upgrade is still available "if I used assistive technologies" and that they aren't limiting what is considered assistive, so that route is open to me if I want, with some reservations on me wondering if I'm taking advantage of something inappropriately. Oddly I do struggle with stuff like this.

 

In large part if I have to purchase a license, cost plays a big factor; I broke the bank buying hardware :-). 

 

I know I can get a Win7pro license for something less than $20 from here:

https://softwarelicense4u.com/windows-7-professional-32-64bit?gclid=CMOcysmyjdECFc63wAodUtALBQ

I've used this online store before; no problem.

 

Actually to my surprise they and others have Win 10 pro licenses for <$30, or full retail for under $40:

https://softwarelicense4u.com/operatingsystems?windowsversion=23 (check the Win 10 box on side)

 

I always wonder where these resellers get their licenses... I don't want anything unethical. But this store and a few similar ones have been in business for years so probably no worries there. And I've bought from them before.

 

But, from a functional perspective solely for an Emby server, is there any reason to use 10 over 7?

 

Marc

[the1legend 45]

Functionally I don't believe that there is a difference currently. While Emby server seems to run on everything, is does have a good amount of dependencies, like .net for Windows. This may become an issue in the next couple of years if Microsoft/Emby move to a version that is not compatible with Windows 7 but I think you're safe for now.

Edited December 24, 2016 by the1legend

[Koleckai Silvestri 1154]

 

 

But, from a functional perspective solely for an Emby server, is there any reason to use 10 over 7?

 

Other than the idea that a properly configured Windows 10 system is more efficient, performant, and stable than a Windows 7 system?

[Marc_G 95]

Fair point.  And, since licenses seem to be available cheaply, it might make sense to go this route if my existing W7 license either doesn't authenticate on new machine, or maybe it actually is a W7 Home license. I'd rather pro.

[PenkethBoy 2068]

you can pick up win 10 pro licences for £5-8 on ebay - no brainer - better OS - more stable - getting used to the interface and where everything is can take a bit of time though

[Abobader 3464]

Good day,

 

As the others said, if you have a choice between win 10 and win 7, go with win 10.

 

My best

[Tur0k 148]

I believe I remember M$ and Intel saying that the 6th gen and further will have limited to no code support for Windows 7.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Marc_G 95]

Hi all,

 

This was great discussion, exactly what I needed. Thank you all.

 

I started with a strong bias towards sticking with Windows 7, but very compelling points made here prompted me to choose Windows 10 pro instead.

 

The skids were greased when I discovered that the old Win 7 license I had was just "Home" and I wanted to use a "pro" license for this server, but also the "new news" that Win 10 Pro licenses can be had legally and cheaply on Ebay etc. was news to me. I hadn't done my research previously, and figured it would cost around $100. Today I bought a key for about $9 US, and it arrived within a couple minutes via email / ebay message. Presuming the key works (won't know until the parts get here and I can build the thing over the next few days) I will be in good shape.

 

Again my thanks to the community.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

 

Marc

[Marc_G 95]

Well, the server is built (sort of) and the Windows 10 Pro el cheapo license from eBay did the trick. Clearly this was a good way to go.

 

No problems activating, and I will admit the installation was the smoothest and most painless I've done in a long while. I didn't even have to install any of the motherboard drivers... everything just worked. I installed the OS, ran the Windows Update process, it downloaded everything it needed, and was just done very quickly. Actually what took the longest was that when I created my Win10 installation flash drive, the Windows Media Creation Tool wouldn't find any of my flash drives.. eventually needed to use RUFUS to do it.

 

I remember my last build on Win 7 took forever due to problems with needing to update the windows updater... had to do manual something or other then it stalled, then had to run overnight to get up to date.

 

So, anyone who is facing the same decision as I was, just pop for a W10Pro key from ebay, from someone with a good reputation, and call it done.

 

Woo hoo.

 

Tomorrow I finish the build... taking apart my old server, harvesting the BluRay and content hard drives.

[PenkethBoy 2068]

Has it updated to the anniversary edition yet - can take a few days on a new install 

[Marc_G 95]

Yup. It updated as soon as I got the installation done and did a check for updates. Quite smooth actually!

[Heckler 147]

Loads of replies... but here's my 2 penneth worth.

 

MS and Win 10 can go suck eggs.... Support for W7 will continue until 2020 and after their attempts to trick, con and bully people into upgrading, and after more than a decade of using pirated versions of windows (MS finally got me to purchase them with Vista 64 and W7) I have been firmly convinced that the new MS model of software that isn't owned by the person who purchased it... but simply allowed to be used by the purchaser whilst MS gobbles up all your data to sell on at a profit... is one that cannot be allowed to continue. I am therefore dedicated to moving to Linux by the time support for W7 ends, as well as moving my emby server over to linux... I will retain a copy of windows in some form simply to play games on, and that will be blocked and locked down to render their data mining efforts as fruitless as possible... oh and I certainly won't be paying them for the privilege of stealing my personal and private information for profit.

 

MS are simply turning themselves back into the cartoon villans they've tried so hard to convince everyone they weren't... frack em.

 

By the time support for W7 ends, there will be better options available... perhaps MS may have even learned their lessons by then.... that's just a joke... we all know it'll never happen.

[barat 27]

I bought Win 10 Pro (in shop - key, sticker etc) since IMO it's better then Win 7 ... there will be more, and more tools which can be useful like Docker For Win. I also feel, that this Win 10 is working and look better than W7, and hase better windows backup (incremental copies). Besides that I believe that it has newest Hyper-V (if You want to virtualize a little).

I'm just not sure, if those cheap licenses from ebay are legal ...

[Marc_G 95]

 

I'm just not sure, if those cheap licenses from ebay are legal ...

 

Well, it came from an established seller, with good ratings, and was advertised as a genuine usable license for sale to a system builder. I bought it given those conditions and MS allowed it to activate, so I believe I followed reasonable ethics. If anything ever comes of it, I have a record of the listing (I took a PDF of it) and if he sold it under false pretenses either eBay or AMerican Express (my credit card) will reimburse me.

[drf1972 1]

I dont see the reason not to upgrade plus you can still upgrade for free!

 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/windows10upgrade?tduid=(14c348e893a91089cb2980533c6ee123)(256380)(2459594)(TnL5HPStwNw-0FBZfNm6YPFXNhiu3o52rA)()

[Happy2Play 9780]

YOU WILL GET A BROKEN MOTHERBOARD THAT COMES WITH THE OEM KEY AS REQUIRED TO COMPLY WITH eBAY POLICY OF OEM SOFTWARE.

If they are OEM keys then they are non-transferable.

[Marc_G 95]

Once activated, OEM keys are non-transferable. Unactivated keys can be done with as the OEM vendor chooses. This is actually per Microsoft... there was a lawsuit about this some time ago, some computer manufacturer wanted to be able to get refunds from MS for keys they bought from MS but never used... guess what, MS won!    No refunds from MS, but the upshot was that the manufacturer was free to reassign the keys, or do with them what they will. These cheap ebay keys appear to be just that, unused keys sold off.  Good for only one computer, but valid nonetheless. 

 

MS activated it for my PC, so they don't seem to mind. At worst it would be a TOS violation, not a legal issue, but I think MS is more interested in propagating their OS to mine data than anything else.

 

[Happy2Play 9780]

In a command prompt type "slmgr -dli" to show your license type.

 

Edited December 29, 2016 by Happy2Play

[Marc_G 95]

Neat! I never knew about that screen. As anticipated, it reports a Win Pro edition OEM_DM channel. Licensed.

[Tur0k 148]

Loads of replies... but here's my 2 penneth worth.

 

MS and Win 10 can go suck eggs.... Support for W7 will continue until 2020 and after their attempts to trick, con and bully people into upgrading, and after more than a decade of using pirated versions of windows (MS finally got me to purchase them with Vista 64 and W7) I have been firmly convinced that the new MS model of software that isn't owned by the person who purchased it... but simply allowed to be used by the purchaser whilst MS gobbles up all your data to sell on at a profit... is one that cannot be allowed to continue. I am therefore dedicated to moving to Linux by the time support for W7 ends, as well as moving my emby server over to linux... I will retain a copy of windows in some form simply to play games on, and that will be blocked and locked down to render their data mining efforts as fruitless as possible... oh and I certainly won't be paying them for the privilege of stealing my personal and private information for profit.

 

MS are simply turning themselves back into the cartoon villans they've tried so hard to convince everyone they weren't... frack em.

 

By the time support for W7 ends, there will be better options available... perhaps MS may have even learned their lessons by then.... that's just a joke... we all know it'll never happen.

I agree with you on the topics of the M$ licensing cost, versus what a consumer actually gets, as well as the topic of the data mining a consumer's activities. It is pretty clear that M$ is trying to push marketing to a user's desktop the same way they did with the Xbox interface.

On my machines that have Windows installed on them, I have mapped out the methodologies to disable the telemetry functions that M$ bakes into their systems. Oddly enough there is no complete way to disable the telemetry settings in IOS, Mac OSX, or android.

I also agree that the optimum solution is to migrate to Linux. In my house everything has been slowly moving in that direction. My home router was replaced by a Linux distribution. My wireless access point and controller were also moved over. Even my home automation server has been built on Linux.

That said Linux is not perfect for novice users. Most of the problems I see people do with Linux is linked to not understanding the system, or not understanding file/folder permission security.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited January 1, 2017 by Tur0k

[Rumbaar 13]

Is there any compelling reason to pop for a more expensive Win 10 license? Or, do is the free upgrade still available?  I'm only interested in legal / above board options here, nothing shady.

As other have said, you can still get the Win10 upgrade for free and legal.

 

Two real questions you need to answer.

 

1. Do you prefer using Windows Media Center and EMBY WMC version over stand alone version you have to use in Win10.  As Win10 doesn't have Windows Media Center.  I personally found WMC version a lot more user friendly, but have come to live with Win10.

 

2.  Do you not mind loosing update control of your OS and having your Media PC automatically restarting without your control.  This is a major annoyance for me, but can't do much about it now, as the free Win10 version you have no control on updates and forced restarts.

 

Those are the only real reason not to go with Win10, over Win7 these days.