By now you’ve surely seen the Microsoft TV ads showing 10 reasons to upgrade to Windows 10: It’s familiar, Cortana, Microsoft Edge, Xbox, Multi-doing (is there a pedant in the house?), Security, Windows Hello, Music and more, Continuum, and Windows Store.

[ Everything you need to know about Windows 10, in a handy PDF. Download it today! | See InfoWorld's "Windows 10 review: Hold off if you use Windows 7." | Stay up on key Microsoft technologies with the Windows newsletter. ]

The ads aren’t targeted at you and me -- they’re designed for your Great Aunt Mabel, who undoubtedly will get hooked searching through YouTube. If you’re more than mildly conversant with either Win7 or Win8, it’ll be hard to stifle a guffaw.

Don’t let the ads lead you astray. It’s easy to dismiss Windows 10 as a misguided mashup of Win7 and Win8, but there’s much more to the story. Let me step you through the 10 real reasons why diehard Windows users should upgrade to Windows 10. (But before you blow out your current OS in favor of Win10, stay tuned for my forthcoming companion piece pointing out 10 reasons for avoiding Windows 10.)