When Microsoft ended support for Windows XP in April of 2014, roughly 95 percent of all ATMs globally were still driven by the now-dead operating system. The lesson here: financial technology providers often take the “if it ain't broke, don't fix approach” and shy away from operating system upgrades longer than perhaps they should. And that brings us to Windows 10.

With the recent introduction of Windows 10, Windows 7 is now two generations back. What's more, Windows 8 may be the most despised version of Windows ever. With so many positive reviews of Windows 10 floating around the Internet, maybe you're wondering whether your credit union should upgrade to Windows 10. The more important question at the moment is: Can your credit union upgrade to Windows 10.

As we've already realized, financial technology providers can be notoriously slow when it comes to operating system upgrades. Sure, mainstream applications like those from Microsoft and Adobe are ready for Windows 10, but can the same be said about the specialized programs that your credit union uses day in and day out to keeping the operation running smoothly?

For example, does the client software for your core data processing platform rely on any features that are built into Internet Explorer? If the answer is yes, you may have problems with Windows 10. Internet Explorer doesn't get uninstalled when you upgrade to Windows 10 and technically you can still run it under Windows 10, but the official default browser for Windows 10 is Microsoft's new Edge browser. Will having two different Microsoft browsers on the same PC cause issues with your core platform? It's a question worth asking. And of course the same holds true for any other specialized programs you're running.

In addition to software incompatibility, you also need to consider hardware incompatibility. For example, many people have reported issues with their video cards when upgrading to Windows 10. The fix may be cheap and simple or expensive and complicated. If a Windows 10-compatible device driver is available for download from the hardware manufacturer, the problem can be resolved in a matter of minutes. On the other hand, if the device is so old that the manufacturer has no plans for a Windows 10 software update, you're looking at hardware replacement. If your credit union's PCs have a standard hardware configuration, this can get very expensive, depending on the number of PCs that need to be upgraded.

Finally, if you're considering a direct upgrade from Windows 7, you may not be able to upgrade at all. According to Microsoft, it's possible to tweak the settings in Windows 7 such that the Windows 10 upgrade will simply fail to execute. Apparently, there are a number of different setting combinations that can result in upgrade failure; no comprehensive list is available. If you run into this problem, you're only option is to do a “clean install,” meaning not an upgrade, of Windows 10.

Overall, Windows 10 has been received positively by the IT community. However, due to all the specialized software it takes to run a successful credit union, you need to apply a little extra due diligence when considering the upgrade.

Instant Insights /

Windows 10: Should Credit Unions Upgrade or Not?

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