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Windows 10 free for all Windows 8.1 and 7 users for first year after release

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JimKiler said:
It would require more work but you are saying if i want a new clean install i will have to reinstall 7 and then upgrade to 10? I suppose i could do that since i do not reformat often.
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Just saying that this has been the traditional method (since XP IIRC). I remember with ME that it would validate my 98 CD and do a fresh install from there. AFAIK we are all still waiting to see what the 10 method will be like.
 
ketchup79 said:
Just saying that this has been the traditional method (since XP IIRC). I remember with ME that it would validate my 98 CD and do a fresh install from there. AFAIK we are all still waiting to see what the 10 method will be like.
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I wonder if win10 will be an app in store so i can download an ISO. I would prefer to have a disc for an inevitable re install.
 
I smell something fishy, my best guess would be everyone gets a free upgrade to windows 10 basic edition and then you find out that is costs a subscription fee to upgrade to premium.
 
Puppies04 said:
I smell something fishy, my best guess would be everyone gets a free upgrade to windows 10 basic edition and then you find out that is costs a subscription fee to upgrade to premium.
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Not sure where you get that Pro to basic.. they have confirmed it will be to like like verisons

ie Home, Home Premium will be home , Pro will be Pro, Ultimate will be Pro
Enterprise is excluded as that is tied to the Licensing paths

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9317/microsoft-announces-that-windows-10-will-launch-on-july-29
 
Puppies04 said:
I smell something fishy, my best guess would be everyone gets a free upgrade to windows 10 basic edition and then you find out that is costs a subscription fee to upgrade to premium.
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You are not alone. A lot of people are afraid of this. Microsoft has stated that within the free upgrade period, you will be entitled to the Windows 10 version, which will last for the life of the device. Make of that what you will.
 
Puppies04 said:
I smell something fishy, my best guess would be everyone gets a free upgrade to windows 10 basic edition and then you find out that is costs a subscription fee to upgrade to premium.
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People are overly paranoid. Until something extreme pops up I am just assuming they are following Apple's model for OS upgrades after how Windows 8 failed.
 
MustISO said:
The chart here (What edition of Windows will I get as part of this free upgrade?) shows what the version conversion is.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-faq
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Good to see that by default Win10 will still store all your stuff on your local drive, not to the cloud.

It doesn't answer how it will treat retail copies of Windows 7 or 8.1 though. It just says "free upgrade for the life of the device." Does that mean they're going to effectively convert my retail license Windows 7 Pro to an "OEM" license to my existing PC only, and force me to buy something new if I upgraded my PC later? That would suck!
 
SparkyJJO said:
Good to see that by default Win10 will still store all your stuff on your local drive, not to the cloud.

It doesn't answer how it will treat retail copies of Windows 7 or 8.1 though. It just says "free upgrade for the life of the device." Does that mean they're going to effectively convert my retail license Windows 7 Pro to an "OEM" license to my existing PC only, and force me to buy something new if I upgraded my PC later? That would suck!
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For the time being it's safe to assume that's correct. A perpetual Windows license that is always up to date and can always be moved would mean you'd never have to buy Windows ever again, which as nice as that sounds, would be absurd.😛
 
Chiefcrowe said:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015...indows-8-1-and-windows-7-users-for-first-year

I wonder if this means you can download it within that 1 year window and install it later, or that you would have to install it within that 1 year? Also, is this an OS upgrade only or can you wipe out your current system and install fresh?
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Call me suspicious but why would they offer Windows 10 for "free" to windows 7 and windows 8 users if they could make money from it otherwise? 😕
 
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silicon said:
Call me suspicious but why would they offer Windows 10 for "free" to windows 7 and windows 8 users if they could make money from it otherwise? 😕
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because they will make more money off platform if everybody is on it; and if they don't have to maintain multiple versions of OS at the same time.
 
postmortemIA said:
because they will make more money off platform if everybody is on it; and if they don't have to maintain multiple versions of OS at the same time.
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Yeah, sounds like a long term "plan" or long term "gamble," but maybe it will work for them. The latest build looks pretty promising.
 
silicon said:
Call me suspicious but why would they offer Windows 10 for "free" to windows 7 and windows 8 users if they could make money from it otherwise? 😕
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Virge already posted a pretty good reasoning of the situation.

ViRGE said:
Meanwhile you also have to take into consideration the fact that OS upgrade sales haven't been a significant portion of Microsoft's income in quite some time. New PC sales, Enterprise sales, and Office sales have become such a cash cow for Microsoft that selling OS upgrades every 3-5 years was a one-quarter blip on Microsoft's financial sheets. Sure they made some easy money, but it was never all that great. So the loss to Microsoft for giving away updates is not all that great either.

It's also important to keep in mind Microsoft's grand plan, which is to leverage Windows across phones, tablets, PCs, and even the XB1 in order to capture a greater share of the latter 3 markets. That plan only works if the largest Windows user base (PCs) is capable of running universal applications, and PC users are not going to be in a rush to upgrade if they have to pay for it. Which is why Microsoft is willing to eat the loss on upgrade sales now in order to get the PC users up to Win10, and in the long run that greatly increases their chances of taking a larger piece of the mobile pie.
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For quite a long time I think that selling a consumer level OS is a big mistake.

Giving an OS for free is the best way to evolve and get more easily to common people. I think most of the people change OS with a new computer nowadays ... so the purchase price is somewhere on the PC cost ...

Selling an OS only makes sense in the enterprise world, where servers require more mature,stable OS. Some features that are mostly required on enterprise world would be a reason to ask money for an enterprise desktop OS.

And on top of that, they can stop fighting against piracy on the consumer OS market. And that piracy just ... ends ... eheh

Now let it be opensource ... 😀
 
silicon said:
Call me suspicious but why would they offer Windows 10 for "free" to windows 7 and windows 8 users if they could make money from it otherwise? 😕
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Because Ms knows that they will catch many win7 ilegit copies,and if it's the way i think Ms is going to make users of Win7 to upgrade to win10 RTM will erase many copies of ilegit win7 and make them pay to upgrade to Win10 RTM,

I know a person that won't fall for that,despite believing my win 7 copy is legit,i will not upgrade from my original win 7 copy,but install an win7 ISO and see if my activation key will be validated then upgrade to win 10 and see if it will be activated. I think everybody that own a copy of win 7 and are not sure that is legal 100% should do.
 
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FrankRamiro said:
Because Ms knows that they will catch many win7 ilegit copies,and if it's the way i think Ms is going to make users of Win7 to upgrade to win10 RTM will erase many copies of ilegit win7 and make them pay to upgrade to Win10 RTM,

I know a person that won't fall for that,despite believing my win 7 copy is legit,i will not upgrade from my original win 7 copy,but install an win7 ISO and see if my activation key will be validated then upgrade to win 10 and see if it will be activated. I think everybody that own a copy of win 7 and are not sure that is legal 100% should do.
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Call me ignorant, but I thought it was darn near impossible to run an illegit copy of 7 (for very long anyway), unless maybe you had it completely disconnected from the internet.
 
ViRGE said:
For the time being it's safe to assume that's correct. A perpetual Windows license that is always up to date and can always be moved would mean you'd never have to buy Windows ever again, which as nice as that sounds, would be absurd.😛
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I disagree, a retail copy of the OS would allow you to install it perpetually. But an OEM copy is tied to hardware and therefore this free version we are upgrading to is an OEM copy.

I still would be surprised if MS tried to make us buy it, as others have stated it seems in their best interest to keep us using Windows for free and make money on the MS Store sales model than force us to shell out $100 for a copy of Win10.
 
I saw another discussion where some were discussing the Retail vs OEM, and how it really wouldn't make sense for them to convert your retail copy to an OEM one, especially given the possible legal issues of doing so.

MS really needs to make a blog post or something that makes it perfectly clear how exactly this licensing thing with the upgrade will work, both for the initial upgrade and how it would be reinstalled in the event of something like a hard drive crash, along with addressing the retail Windows 7/8.1 upgrade.
 
Has anybody with Windows 7 Professional gotten the invite yet? Saw one last night on a computer I was working on (7 Home Premium), but haven't seen it on my desktop yet.
 
I have Win 7 Pro on a Dell Vostro and I got the Upgrade to Win 10 icon. I haven't clicked on it though as I too have the same questions and concerns as others have in the thread.
 
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