Hello 

Apologies for maybe not taking the time to read through previous posts - I have come off a substanitial project - viewable here - and now - between projects -  I am going to take the plunge and upgrade to Windows 10. 

Before I do this I would be very grateful if those of you who have done this could comment on some of my concerns: 

1. Should one do this?  - I.e. is Windows 10 a better place for MediaComposer and has the upgrade it caused anyone unnecessary pain / tears / anguish / gnashing of teeth and general wailing and weeping?
2. Do plugin effects still work - particularly BCC 8? I have been resisting upgrading Boris becuase of the unfailr pricing structure adopted by Boris for MC  - but if I upgrade to Windows 10 will BCC8 still work? - Cos I have to admit I like BCC  and I dont want to run MC without it. 
3. Does Boris Red 5.5.3 work with WIndows 10 - I will check this with Boris as well but if anyone knows then please do tell!
4. The same but to a lesser extent for New Blue stuff - I use some of their Essentials Packs - are these compatible with Win 10 
5. Is the Intensity Pro compatible with Windows 10?
6. Does one upgrade to MC 8.5 first and then upgrade to Windows 10? - this seems to be the logical route but to be sure - is 8.5 compatible with Windows 7?
7. I am assuming that like previous upgrades all previous projects are compatible with 8.5 and Win10?
8. Any other gotchas that I need to be aware of?

i'd hold off for another year.

win 10 is a risk without clear-cut benefits.

if you really wanna do it, install on a fresh ssd, keep the current system in a drawer.

or at least make an image of your working system.

The free upgrade expires this summer, so stir that in to the mix...

Yeah, that's what's driving my decision now. After July, the upgrade will no longer be "free". Now what that means as far as cost after July is anyone's guess. Microsoft isn't saying, but it sure doesn't make sense to let that pass if the functionality of MC and associated components and programs is up a reasonable standard.

However, if I'm reading the information correctly, after you upgrade, you have a 30 day window in which to roll back to your previous version--you'll lose any applications you installed while under windows 10 but everything else will remain intact. Of course, you'll want to DOUBLE CHECK TO MAKE SURE I'M CORRECT ABOUT THIS, but it appears to be the case.

So, install and take your stuff for a test ride to see what is or isn't working. If it's too much, roll it back.

I've been using Windows 10 for awhile (even before it was approved) I've had no problems and the system is stable. I'm using an Intensity card as well. I can't comment on BCC8 but Red works. New Blue also works for me. If you are between projects, now is the time. 

You'll want to read more about turning off Windows 10 "features" that are not needed. Set your Internet to limited data so Windows 10 doesn't just download updates (it will at some point though)

All in all, after doing tweaks, it's been reliable, fast and stable for me.

the price for a win10 installation disc is about the same as for win 7. about 140.-

win 10 disc is the better option imho, win 10 via fresh install, not locked to specific machine.

also I wouldn't be suprised if if the free upgrade was "magically" extended by microsoft.

they want you on windows 10, gives them more control over your computer.

don't go win10 without the option of reverting. microsoft's  rollback is not reliable, an (eg acronis) image is.

Hello,

Looking good on the Web you can find official licensing W10 PRO less than 50 euros. I speak of course offcial versions.

A +

I've built a new system and have installed Win10, it made no sense to buy a Win7 license, so far so good. It needs some tweaks, mostly to avoid that automatic updates changes the nVidia driver, if You're on a certified Quadro card; at install time make sure to unplug the network and tweak the system first, search google for "windows updates hide" (or similiar), it's an MS utility that will scan for available updates and will let You choose updates to be hidden to the updater, so that they won't be automatically installed. Since Win10 seems to be reliable enough, I went for the free upgrade on a couple of systems, and rolled back in one of those to deactivate MacDrive, which I forgot to do before upgrading, the process worked smooth, YMMV. There's a lot of bells and whistles in Win10 that You can disable or uninstall, if You wanto to save resources and keep a skinny editing workstation, or simply do not like a cluttered start menu, or whatever it is called now. I also disabled phone/tablet like features, since I'm on a desktop, and the push financial/sports/weather/news forced on me; also removed several menu buttons to install trial software or purchase commerial programs. After all this tweaking I seem to be running a computer, it was closer to a shopping centre before. Except for the automatic updates tweak, the other stuff is up to You and to Your likings.

I am in the same boat as to OP; with a similar set of questions. I haven't taken the plunge yet, but I intend to in the next couple of weeks. From what I have read on this and other forums all should be OK including BCC8 and my Matrox MX02 mini. The one tip I have picked up is that you are better with a clean install of Windows 10, not the in-place upgrade. This means performing the 'in-place' upgrade, as this is the only way to get it for free, then downloading the windows10 image file from MS and re-installing a clean version.

MattB:

The one tip I have picked up is that you are better with a clean install of Windows 10, not the in-place upgrade. This means performing the 'in-place' upgrade, as this is the only way to get it for free, then downloading the windows10 image file from MS and re-installing a clean version.

I don't believe this is completely correct.  You can certainly download the image file and burn it to a DVD. As long as you have your Win7 license # you should be able to do a clean install from the get-go.  (I think that's what I did -- I do remember it not being a big hassle.)

Hi,

We can do a clean install after and only after the upgrade of W7 SP1 or W8.1 to W10. Once the update done a fingerprint system is made within MS servers. After you can do a clean install because the fingerprint is made. It remains valid as long as no changes the contents of the PC (motherboard or other vital component) but if this is the case: 2 solutions:
1) re install W7 / W8 and over again why not go back to W10 the time W10 is free
2) purchase a license. This is what I have done less than 50 €.

At least that is what I have read on the Web.

You can actually perform a clean installation of Windows 10 using the serial number of your current operating system.  No need to do an in-place upgrade.

It might pay to be cautious if you're running a Window 7 OEM licence, in which case the only way to update free to Win 10 is via Windows Update and then you can do a clean install.

See:

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/78af9306-2165-4cc5-9266-158e55b7feeb/installing-windows-10-from-iso-within-windows-7?forum=win10itprosetup

Regards,

Richard

If your computer came pre-loaded with Windows 7, you can perform a clean install by first uncovering the product key.  Various programs can do that, but my favorite is Magical Jelly Bean:

https://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

On my home-built system the installation went smoothly, with the OS automatically installing most of the required drivers.  The only drivers I had to manually install were the chipset and the Marvell SATA drivers, which I downloaded from the ASUS website.  The system appears to run fine, except for two minor issues:

1) My internal RAID 0 data drive, configured on two Marvell SATA ports, shows up as a removable device.

2) None of the rear USB 3.0 ports will connect with my external RAID 5 hardware.

I expect there will be some improvement in the drivers as Windows 10 matures.  The interface is a little funky, though, and parts of it look unfinished.  My biggest issue relates to Windows Search, which appears to be seriously broken.  It fails to turn up documents I know are there, and the documents which do turn up don't have the search phrase in them.  That's not much a concern, though, when it comes to editing on Avid.

I installed Win10 in the beginning of Feb. I was unable to open projects with MC. When I opened a project, Avid just froze. I didn't have too much time to troubleshoot back then, so I just had to roll back to Win7. Would be nice to hear if somebody faced the same symptoms.