Windows 10 upgrades and license transfer after July 29, 2016?

[arandomguy]

Has there been any concrete official comment with a source that can be cited about this situation?

 

[Elixer]

Win 10 is tied to the mobo, you can't transfer it, unless you upgraded a retail version of the OS that you bought.

That said, I think it still will be possible to transfer to a new mobo matches the old one, so on that aspect, only time will tell.

 

[Steltek]

Has there been any concrete official comment with a source that can be cited about this situation?

Yes, there has.

http://winsupersite.com/windows-10/...-after-29-july-2016-if-i-need-change-hardware

In short, the "free" Win10 upgrade offer is "for the lifetime of the device", you are upgrading, and only that one single device.

On the other hand, if you change your hardware after 07/29/2016, you can still reinstall your prior retail Windows license, but you would no longer qualify to upgrade your new machine to Win10 for free as the free upgrade offer would have expired.

To get back to Windows 10 at that point, you would then have to purchase either a Win10 upgrade or a new Win 10 license.

However, if you then purchase an upgrade license to Win10 for your new hardware, your prior license terms should again carry forward and you should again be able to move it from machine to machine as you upgrade. That is, if Microsoft doesn't make licensing changes to prevent it.

 

[twjr]

Yes, there has.

http://winsupersite.com/windows-10/...-after-29-july-2016-if-i-need-change-hardware

In short, the "free" Win10 upgrade offer is "for the lifetime of the device", you are upgrading, and only that one single device.

On the other hand, if you change your hardware after 07/29/2016, you can still reinstall your prior retail Windows license, but you would no longer qualify to upgrade your new machine to Win10 for free as the free upgrade offer would have expired.

To get back to Windows 10 at that point, you would then have to purchase either a Win10 upgrade or a new Win 10 license.

However, if you then purchase an upgrade license to Win10 for your new hardware, your prior license terms should again carry forward and you should again be able to move it from machine to machine as you upgrade. That is, if Microsoft doesn't make licensing changes to prevent it.

The problem is that as yet there is still no Windows 10 upgrade license to purchase. I can get a limited rights free upgrade or a new full cost retail Windows 10 key. But as yet I can not purchase a discounted upgrade key like there was for Windows 8. I would much rather pay a little to upgrade my retail Windows 8 retail key to a 10 retail key than what currently exists, even if it invalidated my 8 keys.

 

[SparkyJJO]

If you do the free upgrade from your Windows 8 retail then your resulting Windows 10 will be "retail" also and carry all those transfer rights. EULA is pretty clear on upgrade versions. What isn't exactly clear yet is how you transfer after next July, but I'm sure that'll be hashed out in due time. Perhaps as soon as November, as it is rumored that you'll be able to use eligible prior Windows version keys to activate your Windows 10 upgrade directly. This would be perfect for those of us with retail Windows 7/8.1 copies we're upgrading from.

The reason you don't see any upgrade versions available for sale is because MS is giving those away for free for the first year. Selling a free item is a little silly

 

[WildW]

Is there a way you can examine your licence key or Windows Product ID and figure out what you actually have?

I did a weird upgrade path (Windows 7 Retail -> Windows 8 Upgrade -> Windows 10) and I'm not sure what kind of licence I have now.

Edit: That's interesting, command prompt and entering "slmgr.vbs /dlv" pops up Windows licencing information. Apparently I have "Retail channel" =)

 

[Dahak]

The problem is that as yet there is still no Windows 10 upgrade license to purchase.

Most likely they will either
1 - extended the free offer

2 - start selling the upgrade version at that time.

I could see #2 happening.

Probably the reason why they are not selling the upgrades now is because that they have the free offer going on and if they sold the upgrades, some people will get because
they bought it when they could of relieved it for free, or was convinced to pay for it when it is free

 

[SparkyJJO]

Is there a way you can examine your licence key or Windows Product ID and figure out what you actually have?

I did a weird upgrade path (Windows 7 Retail -> Windows 8 Upgrade -> Windows 10) and I'm not sure what kind of licence I have now.

Edit: That's interesting, command prompt and entering "slmgr.vbs /dlv" pops up Windows licencing information. Apparently I have "Retail channel" =)

Makes sense since the chain originally started with retail.