But... Win 10 for free is an interesting offer that will not last forever. So, you could consider to download an image of it to prepare a USB stick or a DVD and keep it in a closet till the day you decide to upgrade/install/reinstall. At that point you will have the Win 10 installation media and you should be able to activate it with your current win 7/8 Product Key (This is how I understood the topic, at least).
I thought the limited time free upgrade is about when we *activate* the serial number, and not when we upgrade Windows. To be on the safe side, I would assume it's when we activate, and not when we upgrade. Saving an ISO might not help if Microsoft will no longer accept free upgrades somewhere in the future. The original offer was 12 months after the official Win10 release, and that's running short by now.
Some of the reasons I took the free upgrade offer were:
1. Microsoft has never done this before, and it's only valid for 12 months after the official release - it's not forever. A retail copy costs $100+.
2. The sooner I upgrade, the sooner I can locate and update the device drivers, which can make or break a computer.
3. Win10 has been the easiest Windows version to upgrade. More on this one below.
When I first upgraded from WinXP to Win7, there were a lot of devices it wouldn't find drivers for - especially for manufacturer-specific laptop parts like video cameras, network adapters, touch pads, Blu-Ray adapters, and video adapters. I had to hunt the web for manufacturer drivers, and many didn't have anything for Win7 for almost a year. Even when I reinstalled Win7 before, I would have to install each device driver separately - if I could find them.
When I upgraded my laptop (old Toshiba Satellite) to Win10, I thought it would be more of the same, but it wasn't. It has recognized everything in the laptop - even things Win7 couldn't detect or recognize on its own. I didn't have to use the Toshiba drivers CD at all. Then I did the same for my Acer laptop, and it was the same - everything recognized on the first try. The only glitch was the Synapsis touchpad driver was buggy, but this can be fixed with later updates. The important thing was that every little device was working as it should, and in some cases, better than they did with Win7, which is surprising since they were designed for it. In my older Toshiba Satellite, it was booting faster, and appears to use less memory than it did with Win7.
Win10 is not perfect, but my experience with it has been better than with my beloved Win7. Mind you, I am a computer hardware and software expert. I build my own computers part by part, and I am very picky. For many years it was always a challenge to make custom computers to run stable with WinXP, but it has becomes a lot less traumatic with Win7, and even less with Win10. Sorry if I skip Vista and Win8 altogether, but those are not worth mentioning. From a computer expert perspective, I am happy with Win10 and have been using it since the beta releases. The interface is generally still the same, while retaining some of the best parts of Win8, which weren't many anyway.
From a regular use perspective, I can tell Win10 has been the way less problematic than it was when I upgraded from XP to 7. My tablet already came with Win8 installed, so I was already familiar with some of the interface changes. When Microsoft asked if I wanted to upgrade to Win10 for free on the tablet, I said yes, and there were a couple of driver problems in the beginning, but everything is fine now. All problems have fixed themselves with automatic updates. A major problem was that Win10 didn't accept my anti-virus and firewall working together, but now they do. The problem was not with Windows, but with the AV and firewall programs that needed some updates.
Perhaps this would be a good time to do the upgrade, since drivers and most programs have already resolved most issues. But if you have only 1 or 2GB RAM, you might be better with whatever OS you already have. I would recommend at least 4GB RAM for Win10. I have the impression Win10 uses and manages memory better than Win7 and 8, but you don't have enough to start with, Windows cannot fix that. Remember ANY 3D application will always ask for a lot of RAM. They have along history of being memory hogs.
Hope it helps.
