Free Upgrade to Windows 10?

[Joe A.TT]

The latest hype at Microsoft's Windows 10 event which took place today is that Windows 7 and 8.1 users will be able to upgrade for free to Windows 10. This offer will only last for the first year after it launches. For those who are interested you can read about it in these articles...

• http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/21/78...-and-8-1-users
• http://winsupersite.com/windows-10/w...ws-8x-upgrades

...and there was also some passing mention in this Ghack's article...

It is early days yet and there is still some uncertainty. For instance, the Winsupersite article includes Windows 8 in the brew whereas the other two don't. Who knows, the whole thing could even be one big mistake. I suppose we'll find out more as time goes by.

What would you do if you could really upgrade to Windows 10 for free?

... and I'll be the first to answer my own question: I'll grab it with both hands!

[Edit]
I managed to locate a video of the conference here. Okay, I got it from the horse's mouth. The specific announcement of the free upgrade starts from around 13 1/2 minutes into the presentation.

[Anupam]

Thanks for posting this Joe ... you bought great news. I had been waiting for this, and it's really good to know that even if it's during the first year, Windows 10 will be a free upgrade. I too will be grabbing it.

From what I read, and make of it, it will be available for Windows 7 and up, and so, it will include Windows 8, and 8.1 both. This is some good move from MS, to bring users to use their latest operating system. It's quite good, considering that Windows 7 mainstream support has ended this January.

It's not revealed though, how the upgrade will be offered. I guess the details will come out only later at the time of the release. I do hope that some way will be there to download Windows 10, so that it can be installed later on, if required, or as a fresh install. Have to wait for that.

Still, overall, the free upgrade is quite a good news. Looking forward to the release of Windows 10.

Thanks for the video link too, Joe... will check it out tomorrow. By then, more details of the event will be appearing on all sites.

[Joe A.TT]

Well, I listened carefully to Terry Myerson. He specifically said that the free upgrade will be for Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 7. There was no mention of Windows 8. I suppose since 8.1 is a free upgrade for Windows 8 users that is the route they must take if they want Windows 10.

P.S. It's quite a long video (2+ hours). If you don't want to view the whole thing just jump to about 13 1/2 minutes from the start.

[MidnightCowboy]

I think this extract from a BBC article pretty much sums up Microsoft's reasoning behind this change in strategy.

"One analyst suggested the firm had needed to renew interest in its ecosystem.

Overall, we know that about only about 10% of computers are running Windows 8 and the adoption rate among companies is similar or lower, said Frank Gillett, an analyst at the Forrester consultancy.

Developers are not paying much attention to Windows for mass market consumer apps, and you could even argue that for enterprise software most of the energy is going into mobile apps for iPad and Android tablets.

Windows 10 is in effect a huge invitation to software developers to write exciting, powerful applications that will draw consumers."

Source:
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30924022

[Concerned User]

This should hopefully make all those XP users switch over to Windows 7/8 finally and then to Windows 10.

Edit: Looks like it will be free for one year and then you have to pay for the future upgrade(s)/Service pack(s) etc,,,:

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/...or-first-year/

Let's wait and watch. Interesting.....

[Pierre2]

Originally Posted by Concerned User

This should hopefully make all those XP users switch over to Windows 7/8 finally and then to Windows 10.

Let's wait and watch. Interesting.....

But: that means that they will have to buy a new PC. ..
- their hardware won't run win_8 or win_10.

there is an amazing amount of people who are holding onto win_xp
in order to use some software, that won't run on a higher version of windows.

Win_10 will be used to lead the consumer in a whole new direction,
and backwards compatibility is *not* on that agenda. .. ..

in just a few years - there will be a niche market for people who want to use some
software for a particular purpose, and will *not* be able to get that software anymore.

[Anupam]

Originally Posted by Concerned User

Edit: Looks like it will be free for one year and then you have to pay for the future upgrade(s)/Service pack(s) etc,,,:

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/...or-first-year/

Articles like these are misleading people. I think it's quite clear about the upgrade from Windows Blog post:

We announced that a free upgrade for Windows 10 will be made available to customers running Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows Phone 8.1 who upgrade in the first year after launch.*

This is more than a one-time upgrade: once a Windows device is upgraded to Windows 10, we will continue to keep it current for the supported lifetime of the device - at no cost. With Windows 10, the experience will evolve and get even better over time.

*Hardware and software requirements apply. No additional charge. Feature availability may vary by device. Some editions excluded. More details at http://www.windows.com.

It's clear that during the first year, upgrade to Windows 10 will be free, and once the upgrade has been done, all future upgrades, patches, service packs, etc will be free, without any charge.

Now, if anyone decided to take some other meaning out of it, it's their point of view.

They have put a "*" for this upgrade however. I had to follow links in order to get to the actual statement behind this, and I got it here:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/w...ows-10_Null_01

Please note that the above page didn't work properly for me on Firefox. You have to click on the "qualified" link under Free Upgrade Offer, to see what I post below. The link didn't work in Firefox, maybe because of ABP. Opened in IE, and then it worked.

It says on the above page:

*It is our intent that most of these devices will qualify, but some hardware/software requirements apply and feature availability may vary by device. Devices must be connected to the internet and have Windows Update enabled. ISP fees may apply. Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 Update required. Some editions are excluded: Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise, and Windows RT/RT 8.1. Active Software Assurance customers in volume licensing have the benefit to upgrade to Windows 10 Enterprise outside of this offer. We will be sharing more information and additional offer terms in coming months.

This further makes it clear.

The point that Joe was making, that the upgrade won't be offered for Windows 8 users... they have to upgrade to Windows 8.1. Similarly, Windows 7 users should be updated to Windows 7 SP1.

Considering that Windows 8.1 is offered as a free update, and it only betters Windows 8, this should be no big deal. Windows 8 users should have updated to Windows 8.1 by now anyways.

Thanks again Joe, for mentioning the key point about the free upgrade in the video. I think I will skip watching the video, as the main thing I wanted to know about, the free upgrade, I now know.

Will be waiting to see when they plan to release Windows 10.

[Jojo Yee]

Good news, so I don't need to spend extra monies to get Windows 10.

Any further updates or news that new Windows will be free for devices with small screens?

[Anupam]

Originally Posted by Jojo Yee

Any further updates or news that new Windows will be free for devices with small screens?

You mean mobile phones?

The list does include Windows 8.1 phones too... so most probably, it will be free for these too.

[Jojo Yee]

Something along this line Microsoft making Windows free on devices with screens under 9 inches.