_How do you make a slow computer fast?
_Don't feed it for several days!

Get it? "fast". hahahahaha haha ha... ha... haha... ha?

Some people swore to the death to stick with Windows XP, he's probably one of them.

...though those people are now running happily with Windows 7, and sooner or later Windows 10....

After living with Windows 7, then Windows 8.1, then Windows 10 now, I can't even think of downgrading or sticking to Windows 7 or lower. I still don't get why are they stuck on really old versions of Windows, over upgrading to superior versions of Windows. The only plausible reason to me would be the price, but most aren't stuck to old Windows OSes because of the price...

You should clean the list of startup programs on your PC. Not all programs on your PC need to be started immediately after starting your PC.
Open the start menu and write "msconfig.exe" in the search box (without "), Press enter. Go to the startup tab and disable the programs which shouldn't start with your PC. You can also use a program like "Autoruns" for this.
If you are unsure about this don't do it.Then perhaps a clean install of Windows is the better option for you.

There are a few benefits. Win 7 tends to be pretty good compaitibility wise, and it isn't overloaded by the metro interface that Win 8.x has. As for Win10, well there have been numerous posts on this. Its a bit like before, a lot of people were on XP (and still to this day I have an XP machine), and did not go to Vista. Whilst there are those out there who have to be at the bleeding edge of everything, there are those of us who are quite happy with one version we like, and only upgrade later on down the road. Currently as I say I am stuck on 8.1, but will be getting a Win 7 key soon, and I dual boot Linux Mint.

The Metro interface is no nuisance, if you're going to talk about 8.x instead of jumping to 10. In fact, I see it as an actual upgrade to the original, small and tiny Start Menu, and also an opportunity to craft a clean 'desktop' that isn't overridden with the files cluttered on the desktop. That might be me, but it makes life easier. That's why with Windows 10, I didn't keep the Start Menu. I switched it to Start Screen immediately. Its easy to use and learn, and that's after hearing all the negatives about it by the way. As for compatibility, its quite good, leaving behind only a few old and obscure games, and with GOG, any game you get there is already working on Windows 8.

I think you should be more specific about Windows 10's issues. I haven't been looking into that topic here. Anyways, besides compatibility and Metro, both aren't stated as an advantage to the OP's cause, there isn't really a reason to stick to Windows 7 as you told him so.

Here are my reasons why he should consider Windows 10 (or 8, but there's no reason to stick to 8 now with 10):
*Windows 10/8 is soft on the RAM when compared to Windows 7
*Windows 10/8 has a faster boot time
*Windows 10/8 supports hibernation, a better, more energy efficient form of Sleep.
*Windows 10/8 has a better task manager, allowing you to inspect even further aspects of the system, such as the performance of the system and disk usage and disabling or enabling startup apps without writing msconfig, etc.

There are other aspects to Windows 8 and 10, but I decided to just mention the ones relevant to the context.

Wait, what? How can a Windows key expire?

One thing you could try is disk compression. Windows 10 can have the entire OS compressed (see here), which not only saves space, but also means less reading from the hard disk. That comes at the expense of some CPU overhead, but it should still be a net gain. I haven't been able to find benchmarks for this, so this is just in theory.

Backwards compatibility is better on 7, which may be kind of a big deal to many people on this forum, me included (like the fact that yes I own quite a lot of retail PC games with SecuROM and SafeDisc copy protection). Also the Start menu item limit bug in Windows 10 is quite stupid, have they yet fixed it?

Windows 8 and 8.1 were a disgrace, pretty much everyone, including MS itself, agreed its schizophrenic mobile/desktop user-interface was a major cock-up from MS. Windows 10 is better in that regard, it feels like a proper desktop OS once again as those stupid WinRT apps that MS is forcing down our collective throat (see MS Edge) can be run on smaller windows now, not just full-screen.

I don't find it surprising at all that e.g. my employer never jumped from Windows 7 to 8/8.1 (and I have a feeling that is quite common in many other companies as well, ie. they are skipping Windows 8.x altogether on their PCs). I mean, what would have been the point? Does it somehow increase productivity with its much poorer user interface?

My question to you: what have you gained by upgrading to Windows 10 so far? What are you currently doing that you couldn't do on Windows 7?

I've upgraded one Windows 8.1 laptop to Windows 10 (and left it there as Windows 10 has a better user interface than that 8.1 crap), and two Windows 7 PCs I've upgraded to Windows 10 in order to reserve a free copy of Win10 just in case, and then downgrade back to Windows 7, mainly due to backwards compatibility. If there later comes some real reason to upgrade those back to Windows 10, then I will do so.

Any future PCs I'll buy will most probably be running Windows 10 by default anyway.

A hybrid-hibernate hack that can cause problems in some cases. For example for me it corrupted the Windows 7 filesystem which was on a separate partition (this was a known bug recognized also by MS already when Windows 8 was still in beta, they just didn't seem keen to fix it, not sure if they ever did), and makes it trickier to get to the BIOS/UEFI setup, or select a temporary boot device, when turning on the PC.

Fortunately it ("fast startup") could be switched off from the power options, possible also on Windows 10.

If you want "fast startup" on Windows 7, then don't shut it down, but run it into hibernate mode.

Not sure what you mean by that, as there certainly was a hibernate mode also on Windows 7, heck probably even in Windows XP.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/819-hibernate-enable-disable.html

http://www.giannistsakiris.com/2009/04/08/how-to-enable-hibernate-in-windows-xp/

I don't know about that yet. Yes, its a bug that needs to be fixed, however I'm being patient by giving it the thought that it was just released. Tell me, why was it a disgrace then? To me, I was hesitant of it after reading much of it (8.1), so I installed it as a dual boot with Windows 7. Do you know what happened later down the route? I deleted Windows 7. I decided all this hocus bogus about how its a major cock-up and failure were just that, hocus bogus. Oh, WinRT apps were forced down your throat? As a Windows 8.1 (formerly) myself, they were never forced down your throat, what you're saying is bogus. They were there when you wanted it, and they were out of your way when you didn't want it. Plus, they used to be called Modern Apps, and with Windows 10, are now called Universal Apps. Windows 8.1 was and always will be a proper desktop OS, as, despite the interface change, still had the desktop and the traditional Win32 apps with proper keyboard and mouse support. You don't want MS Edge, which never was in Windows 8? You're not prohibited from installing Chrome, Opera, Firefox, whatever. Guess what, this 'much poorer user interface' has increased my productivity a bit ;)
By relying on the poor user interface, I had a clean screen of all the apps I frequently use (instead of just a small bar of things), with the most frequently used apps being the biggest tiles and the least used being the smallest tiles. By relying on the live tiles in the poor user interface, I didn't need to go to a website to check the weather or see a new headline. It was all there, in the user interface you're calling 'poor'. If you state Windows 7 to Windows 10, you're also counting Windows 8 here. I'll begin with Windows 8's highlights then move on to Windows 10:
+A new and fresh interface that is better than the Start Menu miles. Just because you think its poor, doesn't mean it was actually poor. It was right there. If you otherwise want to ditch the superior Start Screen for the Menu, 10 lets you choose between both.
+Faster boot times. Instead of waiting years for 7 to boot, 8/10 boots in a snap after shutdowns, due to the Fast Boot technology.
+Windows 8 and above use less RAM
+Optional Windows Store apps provide a new world of apps, even if you're not going to use them or call them useless.
+Microsoft accounts were added to Windows 8 and above, and they provide the same functionality as adding a Google account to an Android phone. They help provide Microsoft services such as Search, OneNote, OneDrive, Windows Store, Xbox community, etc
+Both 8 and 10 has a better task manager that allows for seeing much farther than just the processes. It details the performance, allows me to get to the startup section faster, and has a mini section on services.
+8 and 10 include a vastly improved Windows Explorer. In 8, the Ribbon UI was added, and it can be made visible permanently, temporarily, or hidden. In the ribbon, there are faster shortcuts to all the explorer tasks done frequently. One that I like is faster access to hiding and unhiding the extensions of files. In 10, you could also add specialized buttons to your window's title bar, such as new folder and hide extensions, etc.
+In Windows 10, Cortana is a new and welcome addition. Cortana's a personal assistant that can help in reminders, events and search and the likes, doing what Google Now and Siri does but better. With my voice, I was able to remind myself to go to bed at a designated time by talking to her with my voice. On the subject, she can also take place in the search bar so you don't need to enter Start in order to search.
+In Windows 10, multi-desktops have arrived, so I could now move apart windows across the desktops without having to switch to a Linux distro.
+There is also the action center, which expands on the Microsoft accounts thingy. This is like the notification center in Android, full of toggles and notifications.
+Tablet mode is a boon for hybird devices such as the Surface Pro 3, but I won't expand on it due to lack of said devices.
+The Xbox app has expanded over its 8 counterpart, now including built-in recording and screenshot capturing for games (both Universal Apps and Win32 apps) and can even be enabled on some non-game applications. It also includes PC <-> X1 streaming.
+Also as I tested, Windows 10 supports MKV video formats out of the box.
+As you said, Universal apps can now be switched between full screen or windowed.

That's all I can say without eating my sandwiches. Now if you excuse me.
Never knew hibernate even existed in XP. I saw it first in 8.1, but never on 7 and XP (both were on the same computer). Better change my points of interest then, thanks for the note.
Fast startup on Windows 8 and beyond work with just a shutdown fine, if you don't need your previous session running the next time.

Sorry, posts do not seem to be appearing.

Ah, your on that side of the fence then. As I said, there are many posts out there about Win10 so am not going to turn this topic into another discussion between those who want to go with 10 and those who are happy with 7. Make your own mind up, its free currently. Me I will stick to 7 for the time being, and possibly look at moving more to Linux.

No problem.

I made up my mind already. Windows 10 stands to be the first OS I bought legally (as a key), and apart from a few bugs, it didn't fail me yet. As for Linux, stay away from Ubuntu while you're at it. And SteamOS. I haven't even made up my mind on what's the best Linux distro that is both easy and lovable.