Before the launch of a new operating system, a common concern the average consumer has is whether to invest in new hardware now or wait until new devices have been specifically designed for it. In a post on the 367 Addison Avenue Blog, HP community manager, Mike Nash discusses these concerns and confirms that all current HP produced hardware is being made with Windows 10 compatibility in mind, “Working closely with Microsoft on Windows 10, we designed our 2015 portfolio of products to be ready for Windows 10. Given the normal planning and release cycles for our products, we didn’t know exactly when Windows 10 would ship, so we planned our entire 2015 portfolio to be Windows 10 ready even though some of these products would initially ship with Windows 8.1, and in some cases Windows 7.”
He continues, “Whenever a new OS is announced, we know that some customers struggle with the question of whether to buy a new PC now, or wait for PCs designed for the new OS to ship with it pre-installed. Because we designed our 2015 portfolio with Windows 10 in mind, the need to wait for the new OS to be pre-installed is a non-issue because the upgrade experience will automatically grab the right drivers from Windows Update. And Microsoft has made this an easy decision for consumers and businesses using Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 by making the upgrade to Windows 10 free on consumer systems when the customer upgrades in the first year after Windows 10 is available.”
Windows 10 being a free upgrade from Windows 7 and 8.1 is hardly new news but it is worth repeating as the average person probably doesn’t follow all the latest tech news (though ironically probably wouldn’t be reading that blog post either). Windows 10 is being designed to work on a variety of PCs and those after a computer for everyday use shouldn’t be too worried about Microsoft’s new version of Windows affecting PC manufacturing too much.
In fact, one of the biggest questions new PC buyers should be asking when investing in new Windows-based hardware is one that’s been around since Windows 8, “Does it have touch capability?” Even with the reduced focus on the Start Screen in Windows 10, the operating system still has a big focus on touch integration when it comes to navigation and using new features such as notation and snapping and is very much part of the complete experience and isn’t going away anytime soon. At the end of the day though, consumers need to look at their own personal needs. Windows 10, for the most part, is a non-issue when it comes to buying a computer right now and people need to be careful not to be distracted so much by its launch that they forget to look for a device that will suit their personal needs.
While most existing hardware will be easily upgradable to Windows 10, Mike Nash makes it clear that HP isn’t resting on its laurels by hinting that two new HP devices will be revealed during the Microsoft keynote at Computex on June 3rd, “a new ultra-portable ‘tablet first’ detachable and a revolutionary note-taking tablet” which will show off two of Windows 10’s most promoted features, Cortana and Continuum.
Are you waiting until the launch of Windows 10 to buy new hardware? Let us know in the comments.
