It does make it easier to fret a string, and yes, a truss rod adjustment may be necessary after. A lighter string doesn’t pull on the neck as much as a heavier one, so the neck MAY end up being flatter or even convex. You always want the slightest of concave curve to the neck. You’ll know if it needs it if, after you change strings, you get buzzing, especially in the upper frets. It’s no big deal to adjust if that happens.
Quite so.
No, did it myself but I’m a curious person, so I like learning trying and learning, getting out of my comfort zone. I find it rewarding and it could save a few ££ (provided and upfront investment on tools).
Day and night!
No. But that’s my philosophy. In fact I find that the 10s were difficult at first but once my fingers got stronger and more insensitive, I started enjoying them. And I can go down to 9s. I think, had I started with 9s, it would be harder to go up to 10s.
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Just to share my recent experience. Purchased my first acoustic; came with good strings - Elixir 12-52. Guitar came with a good set up and intonation was spot on. Instructor recommended lighter gauge strings. I was concerned about all the comments regarding string tension impacting the neck and creating fret buzz, etc. I went ahead pulled the new strings and replaced with Elixir 10-47. It does make a significant difference in comfort and playability. Seems to require much less effort to fret the notes. If the volume is lower, I can’t tell. Maybe a little brighter sounding, but I like that. No fret buzz or neck adjustment necessary. Intonation is unchanged up the neck. If you’re on the fence about doing this, just go ahead and do it. Much improved comfort for me.
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@dblinden Thanks for sharing Dennis. I just ordered a set of Elixir 10-47 to give it a try on my acoustic. They will arrive in a few days and I am curious to see the difference with my barre chords.
I started with a really high action and it greatly improved with a luthier setup. But, the action still remains a bit higher than normal since he found out that my guitar had a small design problem from the factory. And to correct that, he would have to reset the neck which is a repair that was more expensive than the actual guitar.
So lighter strings might give me the last small milestone for optimal results. Like they say, work smarter, not harder 
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What gauge are your current strings?
I’m currently using 12-53 (light).
In that case, I think you’ll be amazed at how much easier barre chords are with 10s.
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Yeah ! It’s encouraging 
Expect your guitar to sound a bit “thin” when you first play it. Don’t worry, your ear will soon adjust to the new tone.
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It may actually help me because I find my acoustic a little bit too noisy when I am playing at night at home. 
I use Elixir phosphor bronze 10s. I couldn’t hear any difference when I changed from 12s to 10s, but I’m functionally deaf in my right ear (the one closest to the body of the guitar) and the sound of an acoustic guitar mainly projects outward to the front, so someone in front of me might have been able to hear the difference.
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That’s another bonus of moving to lighter gauge strings.
You don’t even need to go to 10s. The difference between 12s and 11s on an acoustic is huge - that’s what I did back in the day.
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Really interesting to know Mark and JK.
Update : I’m not disappointed. It feels like a new guitar to me. It improves the overall playability and not only for barre chords.
I actually enjoy the new sound, a little bit less volume and bass, which is a plus for me at home. And also, it has more clarity since there are less accidental dead notes.
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I like he feel of thicker strings, but did struggle with the tension for a while.
Fist, I think you can benefit from thin strings early on, but may prefer thicker ones again, eventually. The tone is better and at about the three year mark I found it didn’t seem to make such a difference anymore.
Second, I discovered low tension strings. There are many types, but in a gross generalization, low tension strings may be roughly the same tension as a standard set one gauge lower. Brands include Straight Up Strings, Santa Cruze parabolic, Newtone Heritage, Thomastik, and others. I currently play Curt Mangan round core Monels ( custom, “12” size basses and 13s treble with a 13.5 e) with a tension that should be in the 160 lb range.
Third, shorter scale guitars are lower tension by 3-8% depending on scale length.