Windows OS questions

[Charlie McDonald]

Looking at a new used Sony laptop, I'm wondering if there is any problem getting Win 10 to replace Vista Home Premium.

One unit has a dual-boot, Win 7 and Linux Ubuntu. I don't think there's a problem getting 10 to replace 7.
I know Jack has a dual boot; I don't know if that's something I need, but perhaps I don't need Win 10 if there's Ubuntu.

Any thoughts?

[Howard Parker]

I think that's a very old laptop if running Vista and drivers may not be available in Win 10. Also, the laptop may not have required memory or resources to effectively run the newer OS.

hp

[Jack Stoner]

I agree, its old hardware and most likely is not fully Win 10 compatible (not all drivers or devices will be fully functionable), if at all.

[Charlie McDonald]

Thank you, good caveats. Maybe not the solution.

[Mitch Drumm]

........dual boot; I don't know if that's something I need, but perhaps I don't need Win 10 if there's Ubuntu.

Any thoughts?

Charlie:

I have no idea if you have any Linux or dual boot experience.

If you have little or none, don't underestimate the learning curve involved in doing useful stuff with Linux or any other non-Windows OS.

If you do only 2 or 3 things on a PC--browse forums, buying a doodad or two from Amazon, then maybe the Linux learning curve would be inconsequential.

But the curve can quickly get much steeper if you use a variety of software and you get involved with stuff like backups, virus scans, photography, audio recording and playback, significant file management and manipulation, periodic hardware upgrades, or any of dozens of other things that many people do on a computer.

That can quickly lead to frustration.

And dual booting brings an additional layer of complexity, particularly if you must put 2 operating systems on separate partitions on a single hard drive, rather than on 2 discrete hard drives.

It's your call of course, but I generally think you should bite the bullet and confirm that any new machine will support Windows 10.

[Charlie McDonald]

Thanks, Mitch, for clarifying that I probably don't need a dual boot.