It might seem like it just launched, but Windows 10 has been available for over a year. While Microsoft offered a year-long free upgrade to consumers running Windows 7 or 8.1, most businesses haven’t upgraded yet. This is understandable, since rolling out an operating system (OS) to an entire organization is a lot more involved than updating it on a single PC.
However, now that Windows 10 is out of its infancy, it’s time for businesses to take a closer look at the OS and why it’s a good idea to think about upgrading soon. Here are the reasons why you should make upgrading your assets to Windows 10 a short-term goal.
You’ll Be Using the Latest OS
While Microsoft has released several Windows versions in the past decade, they’re changing the course with Windows 10. According to Microsoft, Windows 10 is the last version of Windows that they’ll ever release — instead of Windows 11 and further, they plan to instead add major features on to Windows 10 and evolve it over time. Thus, upgrading to Windows 10 now ensures that your business will have the latest OS offered by Microsoft and won’t be left behind on old versions.
Windows 7, the most popular choice for businesses today, will continue to receive security updates until January of 2020. This sounds like a long time away, but business rollouts can take several months to complete, especially if you have specialized software that needs to be rigorously tested on the new OS.
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Upgrading to Windows 10 soon means that in a few years, Windows 7 won’t turn into another Windows XP scenario for you. Despite support for Windows XP ending in 2014, over 10% of the OS market share still belongs to XP. Of course, Windows XP is not a safe option for your business to use, and Windows 7 won’t be after 2020, either. Don’t box yourself into a corner by staying on Windows 7 for too long.
The User Experience is Better than Windows 8
From a user experience and design standpoint, Windows 10 is a happy medium between Windows 7 and Windows 8.x. Windows 8 made a lot of users unhappy due to its touch-centric interface and unintuitive Start menu and controls.
If your users are still being frustrated by Windows 8, an upgrade to Windows 10 might help them to be more productive, since they won’t have to fight against the OS to get work done. If your employees are on Windows 7, Windows 10 feels like a natural progression, as it doesn’t push the annoying features that Windows 8 tried to implement.
Windows 10 also includes new features that can enhance productivity. One of the biggest is Cortana, the voice assistant that can help employees set reminders and schedule appointments. Windows 10 also features virtual desktops, which allows users to manage multiple sets of windows on one machine.
It Features Powerful Controls for Business
Windows 10 allows businesses to control many aspects of the OS. For example, in Windows 10 updates are automatically installed by default, but the enterprise edition allows you to fine-tune whether you want all updates as they become available or if you want only critical updates — good for sensitive systems.
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Windows 10 also includes enhanced security features, like support for biometric authentication so users can log in with their fingerprint instead of a password. Windows 10 also supports new single-sign on options (using Azure Active Directory) for Microsoft services, reducing the amount of passwords that users need to remember. By singing into their PC with their domain account, they would log right into Office 365 and the Windows Store, for example.
Ready to Upgrade?
Of course, there are lots of considerations to make when moving to Windows 10. If your business uses legacy hardware or software, it’s important to check to make sure those tools are compatible with Windows 10. Unless you have a business-critical function that isn’t compatible with the new OS, though, it’s a great idea to start updating now and future-proof your systems.
Not sure if the Windows 10 upgrade is a good choice for your business right now? Let us help. Contact us for a completely free IT assessment and we’ll see what needs done to get you migrated to Windows 10.