Windows 10 Back to Windows 7 Via Image

Question for anyone up on Windows 10. Are there any legalities surrounding testing Windows 10 for a week or two and then restoring to Windows 7 via an image? I haven't yet tested 10 (or 8 although I did do quite a bit of reading and research of reviews), and I can't really think of a reason to change from 7, but I would like to get a look at 10 if possible. At any rate, I think a week or two would be probably enough and then I plan to use an image to go back to 7...UNLESS this is not legal, etc. In that case, I will just take a look around at reviews and let that be good enough.

If there is another or better way to test Windows 10 for free I am all ears. I have heard mention of testing in a VM, but I am not sure about the legalities involved with this. Also, I don't have any VM software presently, and I would really like to keep the test PC very minimalisitic with as few programs as possible installed. Actually, I purchased this PC with the idea of really getting to the bottom of what it's like to rely on Windows as much as possible over third party programs and freeware.

Thanks for any help on this issue. I don't want to lose my 7 rights as I think it's as advanced as I will ever require...

 

I can't claim any special knowledge on this but seeing as the Technical Preview is freely available at present to anyone that wants it I can't see that there would be any reason at all why you shouldn't try it and then discard it if that's what you want. Trying the TP does not invalidate any existing licence you have.

As to how, you can legally install it in any machine, including a virtual machine, though to appreciate it properly in a VM the host system has to have sufficient memory and CPU power as not to hold it back unduly. I have it installed in VMware Player on an i5 Win 7 system with 8GB memory and it runs just fine, though I too am finding it difficult to come up with any reason to upgrade from Win 7. We have a spare, unused Win 7 laptop and I'm thinking of upgrading that when 10 is finally released in order to satisfy myself it meets our needs as regards running a few bits of older hardware and software. If we find it unsatisfactory in any way I would re-image it back to 7 and not lose any sleep over it. If we don't have any issues I would probably then upgrade the other systems here, though I'm sure I'll keep 7 on at least one of them but not 8.1.

 

Earthling...

Thanks, mate. You're always the one with the latest.

I kind of feel like I am 90% dinosaur and 10% carmudgeon rejecting the latest from MS. Heck, I was on XP until 2 years ago. I actually did like Windows 7, but I was so into experimenting with the bare bones OS XP that I was sort of addicted to seeing if it was possible to tame it.

The difference for me with Windows 8/10 is more to do with all the new UI elements more than anything. MS seems to have taken a big risk that they could get everyone to like the new GUI elements, but that seems to me like a stretch, considering the broad array of freeware available and the popularity of so many different ways of arranging things. Not so much that people are so individualistic about the GUI...it's just that MS is claiming to know how best to use "hot corners" and "side screen" and all the rest. Overall, the newer OSes (8/10) seem like more work to me to use on a regular basis, while the actual guts of Windows 7 seem perfectly adequate and far better than XP or Vista in this way. Fast boots and a more sensible Windows Explorer setup to go along with all of the modern configurations in 7.

Thanks for the tips. I might just take a spin with Windows 10, but I will really have to muster some courage to do it.

 

The 8/10 GUI is being led by the needs of Windows Phone and, to a lesser extent I think, Windows tablets and touchscreen PCs. On a regular PC or laptop I find the 8/10 GUI more a hindrance than a benefit and you have to believe that the other advances in 10, such as Refresh and Cortana are worth putting up with the rest of it, which contains many changes which to my mind are simply change for change' sake. I'm still on the fence.

 

Earthling...

Yeah, and thanks again for the input.

It's a really interesting topic to me now that I feel like I really know my way around Windows 7's GUI and generally the functionality of the OS. For me, it does seem like the maxxed out version of the evolution of Windows. Actually (not that it matters), I think XP and Vista are real workable OSes, although beastly in some/many ways, with Windows 7 finishing off the triage from MS.

I am with you on the rest. In trying to add pleasing elements that some may individually like on some level, I am curiously watching to see if MS are losing everyone...and that leaves me wondering what could possibly happen as a result...