XP users will be able to deploy Windows 10 on their PCs

Dec 27, 2014 15:05 GMT  ·  By

With Windows 10, Microsoft is trying to upgrade as many old computers as possible and make sure that operating systems such as Windows XP go dark at a much faster pace, and it appears that the company already has a plan in place for this objective.

A few days ago, Microsoft rolled out a dedicated tool that allows Windows 7 and 8 computers to upgrade to Windows 10 Technical Preview when the next build becomes available, and a similar solution is very likely to be offered once the stable version of the new OS comes out.

Windows XP computers, on the other hand, aren't getting a standalone tool to rapidly switch to Windows 10 Technical Preview, but according to Gabe Aul, head of the Windows Insider Program, that should be possible with the help of an ISO.

Upgrading from XP to Windows 10

Basically, upgrades from previous OS versions to Windows 10 should be made as easily as possible in order to boot early adoption of the new operating system and Microsoft definitely wants to do this.

While deploying the Technical Preview is only possible via Windows Update for Windows Insider Program members, a similar solution is expected to be offered once Windows 10 hits the shelves, obviously in an attempt to bring more users from older OSes to the new product.

Windows XP customers are also expected to be provided with one quick way to deploy Windows 10, and a dedicated ISO that would make things faster and easier for everyone is clearly the best choice.

Windows 10 on a Windows XP PC

The big question for most of those running Windows XP on a computer with really old hardware is obviously related to the performance of Windows 10 on such an ancient configuration.

At first glance, there's no doubt that hardware upgrades would be needed, but since Microsoft hasn't said anything about this until now, there might be a chance for you to deploy Windows 10 on a Windows XP PC, and with some tweaks, get decent performance on old systems too.

Here are the Windows 10 system requirements:

Processor: 1 GHz or faster RAM: 1 GB (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit) Free hard disk space: 16 GB Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver

And here are the official Windows XP requirements:

Pentium 233-megahertz (MHz) processor or faster (300 MHz is recommended) At least 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM (128 MB is recommended) At least 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available space on the hard disk

Windows 10 is expected to launch in later summer or early fall 2015, so more details on upgrades from older operating systems should be provided by that moment.  

Windows Update feature (6 Images)

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