Still confused about Win-10

I am still using Win-7 on 4 machines and two XPs

For over 3 hours I have searched for info about Win-10
- all search results, so far are dated 2015 to 2016 or undated.

Read Brinks tute Compare Windows 7 Editions a lot of claims and counter claims as on other Microsoft articles, blogs, opinions. So many official MS webpages are undated.

I have several questions.

Is Win 10 PRO a one off purchase for ever. ?
- in one place Win-10 EOL is stated as 2025 (8 years time)

In early days of Win-10 fever it was suggested that Win-10 will be by subscription
- in one blog the answer was yes, then no, now maybe. ?

It looks like there are only two editions (for us peasants) Home and PRO
- obviously there must be an Enterprise edition, but E is irrelevant to me.

So I assume Starter, Home Basic, and Ultimate no longer exist in Win-10 ?

Price websites do not clarify Retail or OEM, unless there are secret codes in the product numbers.

I would appreciate any help
- please no trite "just get Win-10"

Thank you

As of the last Information, Microsoft were still accepting valid legal Win7 Keys for the Free upgrade - though this is not advertised and the offer is officially closed, but could save you some money, if you install whilst this is still the case.

The stated licensing for windows 10 is that it is "the Last Windows you will own" as it is intended that there will be a major Free upgrade once or twice a year - Eventually I can see the 10 being dropped and the Windows Brand being pushed.

There has been nothing about a subscription model for Windows from anyone who actually matters (ie Microsoft), but it does "sell" Blogs, so it does get trotted out occasionally. Of course in the future things could change, but Microsoft does not make a lot of money from the OS selling to individuals, but does the other products such as office which are going to a subscription model already - Office 365

There are several versions of Windows 10 - Windows 10 and Windows 10 Pro are the main ones you'll see. The divide between OEM and Retail is a little blurred - The large OEM versions (Dell, HP Etc), are still supposedly tied to the original hardware as are the system builder OEMs - but there is a big "But" - if you log on with a microsoft account and this is tied to your Copy of the OS then you have a "reasonable" number of occasions where you can re-install legally even if you hare on new Hardware or have changed the Motherboard

Thanks Barman88 :)

I am not looking to move to Win-10, but just want to understand where MS are gong with all the Win-10 "excitement".
My first Windows OS was 3.x and I have heard all the "hype" before from MS.

My immediate problem is ... see my new thread ...
Can I use an OEM ISO to install Win7 PRO x64 onto Lenovo e540

I briefly considered Win-10 ... but thanks, no thanks, maybe in 1 or 2 years time

It clearly states at Newegg whether it`s the OEM version or the Full version (what we`d call Retail) although they don`t offer it for Australia

The difference is in the price.

Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more - Newegg.com

I thought the rest of this planet was tucked up in bed.
It's 3:30pm here ... :)

Thank you for the link, I can buy it here as a download ISO OEM, for au$85 ... but you have piqued my concerns ?
I must find out if what I can buy includes SP1

Still using Win7 PRO on 2 machines ...
Win-10 appears to still be causing a lot of anxiety ... even on the eve of 2019

And just purchased (outright) Softmaker Office 2018, which includes automatic free updates during the first year.
(by using free Softmaker, for about a year, Softmaker send a monthly promotional email ... )
... Softmaker office for $28 AUD discounted from <$100 ... a lot cheaper than MS Office

Softmaker Suite does everything I want it to do... and it has optional Toolbars for ribbon haters

bawldiggle said:

Still using Win7 PRO on 2 machines ...
Win-10 appears to still be causing a lot of anxiety ... even on the eve of 2019

And just purchased (outright) Softmaker Office 2018, which includes automatic free updates during the first year.
(by using free Softmaker, for about a year, Softmaker send a monthly promotional email ... )
... Softmaker office for $28 AUD discounted from <$100 ... a lot cheaper than MS Office

Softmaker Suite does everything I want it to do... and it has optional Toolbars for ribbon haters

Yeah it still, it's not even stable yet.. I really want to upgrade, just too much update that windows 10 do will rip apart my SSD. M$ have so bad way to handle update now, and also without experienced tester, they just cut off many cost for testing and just let the windows users. That's the bad experience.

Also mention about Education or Enterprise edition, this one have more long EOL that it should do I don't know why. Maybe because it's for Enterprise, but for education seems soooo questionable

source : Access Denied
Windows 10 - release information | Microsoft Docs