Windows 10 release date is closing in. Microsoft has already announced the golden date for Windows lovers and that is July 29. The most beautiful thing about this Windows 10 is you can upgrade your earlier version of Windows to Windows 10 at free of cost. If you have original product key of Windows 7 or 8.1, you will be able to upgrade your PC on that day itself.

However, before upgrading to Windows 10, you need to know some important things so that you can decide whether Windows 10 is right for you or not. As Microsoft has made loads of changes in Windows 10, you must know these following things.

System Requirements for Windows 10

Your system must comply with the requirements. Otherwise, machine will get hanged.

OS: If you want to upgrade your PC from earlier version, you have Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 Update. If you do not know the OS version of your PC, head over to this page.

Processor: Minimum 1 GHz or faster.

RAM: 1GB for 32 bit and 2GB for 64 bit. (Minimum)

HDD: 16GB for 32 bit and 20 GB for 64 bit

GPU: DirectX 9

Display Resolution: 800×600

Important Things to Keep in Mind

Microsoft has changed almost every single thing in Windows 10 and therefore, you may encounter different problems in terms of program compatibility. You are requested to check your program compatibility before upgrading to Windows 10. You can check out the software documentation, contain with developer to get the exact info.

All the files, settings and program will be migrated to Windows 10 after upgradation. However, according to Microsoft, not all the apps will be make this migration automatically. This simply implies that you may lose some data. Therefore, you must create a system restore point before upgrading to Windows 10. You can also create backup of your files in case anything goes wrong.

During Windows 10 upgradation, it will disable your Anti-Virus and reinstall it after completing. If your Anti-Virus is out of date or you are using older version, Windows 10 will download and install the latest version of that same Anti-Virus. In addition, you need active product key. Otherwise, Windows Defender will be turned ON instead of your anti-virus or anti-malware.

Some OEM apps will be removed.

List Of Features Removed in Windows 10

If you have decided to upgrade your PC to Windows 10, you should know that Microsoft has removed couple of essential features of Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. That means, you are getting so many new features and at the same time, you are going to lose some old features as well.

• Windows Media Center: The upcoming version of Windows will not contain Windows Media Center, which is readily available on Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate with Media Center, Windows 8 with Media Center and Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center.
• DVD Playback Support: To play DVD on Windows 10, you must have a third party software. Windows 10 will no longer support DVD playback.
• Windows 7 Desktop Gadgets: Windows 7 has a great feature, which is called Desktop Gadgets. You can add a clock, calendar, Windows Media Center etc. on the desktop using Gadgets. However, just like Windows 8 and 8.1, Windows 10 will not contain Desktop Gadgets.
• Windows 7 Games: Windows 7 has couple of games those comes with Windows installation. Nevertheless, Windows 10 has no such games.
• OneDrive: If you have Windows Live Essentials and OneDrive in your Windows 7/8/8.1 PC, the OneDrive app will be removed after upgrading to Windows 10. But, you will get in-built OneDrive app in Windows 10.

Additional Requirements to Use Different Windows 10 Features

Although, Microsoft will release Windows 10 on July 29, 2015, yet, some features will not be available worldwide. You can face religion-restriction, hardware restriction and some other barriers. Do check out the list here.

• Cortana: Just like Cortana for Windows Phone, the PC version will be available for US, UK, China, France, Italy, Germany and Spain.
• Speech Recognition: A good microphone is required to give voice command or enable Speech Recognition in Windows 10.
• Windows Hello: Windows 10 will contain face recognition for security purpose. Therefore, you must have a good integrated webcam or external webcam to utilize this feature.
• Xbox Music: Xbox Music has a religion-restriction. That means, not all the people having Windows 10 can stream music and video through Xbox Music or Xbox video app.
• BitLocker: BitLocker To Go will be available for Windows 10 Pro only.
• To install 64-bit OS, you must have CMPXCHG16b, PrefetchW, and LAHF/SAHF supported processor.
• To encrypt PC, you need PC with InstantGo and TPM 2.0.

Which Edition of Windows 10 Will You Get?

Now, here is a tricky thing what you must keep in mind. This is possible to upgrade your OS version but the edition is preset by Microsoft. Here is a list, what will let you know the edition.

• If you have Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic or Home Premium, you will get Windows 10 Home.
• If you have Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate, you will get Windows 10 Pro.
• If you have Windows 8.1, you will get Windows 10 Home.
• If you have Windows 8.1 Pro or Pro for Students, you will get Windows 10 Pro.

How to Reserve Free Copy of Windows 10?

Microsoft will roll out Windows 10 on July 29 at free of cost. That is not any trial edition or introductory version. You will get it for free for lifetime. Therefore, you can follow this guide to reserve your free copy of Windows 10.

If you have Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1, just install this update, which will help you to get things done. The Update 3035583 will bring a new button in your system tray. Just click on that and follow the options to reserve your free copy of Windows 10.

After reserving, just sit back and relax. You will get the upgrade notification just after July 29.

Here a detailed guide to reserve and cancel your free copy of Windows 10.

What Happens If you Reserve Your Copy? 

Microsoft will provide the upgrade notification to the reserved users quicker than non-reserved users.

Final Word

Obviously, Windows 10 comes with loads of new features. This is worth trying out on your primary PC. If you are willing to upgrade your earlier version of Windows to Windows 10, this article will surely help you. If you still have any question, do let us know.