Like you, Hil, I worked with networks and desktop computing as a professional. I was a Novell CNE (Certified Netware Engineer) and an MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional).  I did contract work for major corporations in San Francisco in the 1990's, but left the field in 2001. 

I like Windows 7,and I am quite familiar and comfortable with it.  However, after nearly one year of observing the Windows 10 world from a distance, I am now confident that it is ready for prime-time, and I will perform the upgrade right after I post this comment. 

Some worry about "telemetry" or the automatic sending data back to Microsoft, and indeed, until I disabled it on my Windows 7 laptop, performance monitoring showed that it often added a lot to my boot time.  Supposedly, the data that is "mined" and sent to Microsoft is for technical purposes and not spying on personal information.  Either way, as a semi-paranoid techie, I know how to disable automatic updates and telemetry in Windows 10. 

The Windows 10 free upgrade period ends on July 29, and no one knows if Microsoft will renew the offer.  Even though I have disabled the Windows 10 Upgrade notifications on my laptop, I will simply follow the instructions at this LINK, and report back after the update is completed,and I have checked out that everything is working o.k.

I will also chime in here as well.   With regards to any operating system upgrade the first question should always be: What am I gaining that I do not have now and what will I lose.

As business that provides support for all versions of Microsoft's operating systems, I have used Windows 10 since its release.  With that experience my advice has remained the same.  If you currently have Windows 8 or 8.1, the upgrade is very benficial.  It fixes and enhances many features.  If you currently have Windows 7 then my question becomes why do you want to upgrade?  

If the answer to that question is because it is free, then I go back to the original question of what will you gain that you do not have now.   I find very few people can give a good reason.

Given the average life of a laptop is 3-4 years, most people will get the latest operating system when they replace their current computer.

The fear generated by telling the public they will need to pay for Windows 10 in the future assumes there will be no future versions and your current equipment will last a lifetime.  Neither is likely to be true.

For the curious, for the techies, for those that feel they need to have the absolute latest - Windows 10 works well.  For the general public at large... keep Win 7, upgrade Win 8 and know your current laptop will probably last 4 years on average.   Maybe just in time for Windows 11.  Just my advice based on the wide range of users and businesses I support.

Thanks to Hil for bringing this timely topic up.
 

Since I had blocked Windows 10 installation notifications and download, I had to initiate the upgrade from my Windows 7 machine manually.

It took almost 12 hours to download the upgrade, and then I let the upgrade process itself run overnight.  This morning, I followed the prompts to finish up the details.  I told Windows that I didn't want to share anything, and deleted all of the tiles from the start menu to give it a clean, uncluttered Windows 7 look. I then removed the Cortana personal assistant - a new personal assistant app that is very intrusive and downloads scads of personal information to better allow it to help you.  I also made sure Firefox was my default browser and removed (right-click and unpin) the MS Edge browser from the taskbar, verified my default programs. 

The entire process was extraordinarily straightforward, and I had absolutely no problems at all.  This was the easiest and cleanest upgrade I have ever done - going all the back to upgrading from DOS 2.1 to DOS 3.1 in 1985. Every app, including my anti-virus software, seems to be working fine. Google searches quickly found solutions and step-by-step instructions for everything I wanted to do to customize windows 10.

I have no regrets - Windows 10 works fine, and seems to be even easier to configure and customize than any Microsoft operating system product in the past.   I'm glad I did it before the free upgrade period ends on July 31.

I now have the pleasure of challenging my 74 y/o brain with three operating systems - Windows 10 on my laptop, Linux Mint on my Intel NUC HTCP (Home Theater PC) media system, and Android on my tablet and smart phone. But don't ask me for help - there is a big step from being able to muddle through managing one's own "intelligent devices" - and being competent and comfortable enough to assist others with anything except the simplest tasks.  Twin Wolf, Marilyn Jenkins, Juan Arauz (Overclockers) and other true experts are available if you need help.

Some of my clients have upgraded to Windows 10 and still long for the old familiar start menu layout.  An excellent free download called Classic Shell is available at http://www.classicshell.net

The program works well for those with Windows 8, 8.1 and Windows 10.   It is ad-free and gives the user the ability to completely customize the look and feel to match various older versions of Windows.