We’ve gone past the halfway mark for this year and many in the tech industry are gearing up for major releases within this quarter. One of the biggest among them is Microsoft and its upcoming Windows 10 release.
Microsoft held a Windows 10 event in January this year and followed it up with a new build of the Windows 10 Technical Preview 2 days later. Still, with all of those updates, the only info on availability was that it will arrive in Fall of this year. Now it looks like Microsoft has outdone itself and has announced that Windows 10 (for PCs, tablets, and 2-in-1s) will be available worldwide beginning July 29th. The free Windows 10 upgrade offer will remain valid for one full year after the availability date, which means it’ll expire before the 29 of July 2016.
As mentioned in the past, Windows 10 will be available as a free upgrade for existing customers who are currently running genuine Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and Windows 8.1 Update. Unfortunately, Windows RT users will not see a version for them but there will be a new update (not upgrade) that will arrive around the same time.
Before we proceed with the details of the upgrade, let’s have a look at few nagging questions that has been on the minds of a lot of us. For starters, those who have been walking the other side of the law (by running non-genuine versions of Windows), it looks like Microsoft will allow for the computers to upgrade to Windows 10 but that will not change its status to genuine. According to the post in the Windows blog, when Microsoft is not able to verify if a user’s copy is properly installed, licensed, or has not been tampered with, the user will then get a desktop watermark to indicate that. While one of the purposes of the watermark is to nudge the user to get a proper license, the other is to serve as an alert when a user makes a new computer purchase; if the PC already comes with that, then the user will know immediately that the installed Windows is not genuine.
The workaround to the above predicament without taking out a single cent is of course the Windows Insider way. The program allows participants to continue using and updating to newer previews of still-in-development versions when they become available. Participants are required to provide feedback and report bugs to Microsoft in every build, and using these builds require an advanced knowledge of computing (such as the ability to resolve issues when the system fails or crashes). Participants are also required to continuously provide reports and will not be able to stop that for as long as the insider version is installed. Do note that upgrading to Windows 10 Insider from an older OS (even if it’s genuine) does not make former a genuine end product. Installing a build of Windows 10 RTM (release to manufacturing, or in other words, ready for retail/distribution) on top of Windows 10 Insider does not change the status as well. So, if you’re up for running an unstable version of Windows 10 for free, throughout its life cycle, then Windows Insider Program is where you should go.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let us move back to the free upgrade itself. Microsoft has confirmed that there will be several different editions of the OS when it becomes available for PCs and tablets: Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Pro, Windows 10 Enterprise, and Windows 10 Education. Microsoft has yet to provide a specific date for all the other editions though but it is expected that Windows 10 Mobile, Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise, and the rest, to arrive later this year.
Anyhow, below are the upgrade paths for existing versions of Windows 7 and 8.1 and their respective versions after the upgrade:
According to Microsoft, the easiest way to get the free upgrade is by reserving it. Fortunately, users can also upgrade even if they do not reserve but this method will require manual checks for upgrades made by users themselves, and the downloads will not be done automatically.
To reserve your copy, look out for the ‘Get Windows 10’ app that should come automatically to all verified/eligible computers with the usual Windows Update,. The app will show up as a Windows icon in the system tray at the bottom right corner of the Windows desktop. Just open the app, click reserve (the confirmation is not an obligation and users will be able to cancel the reservation at any time) and the app will then proceed to check if the device is compatible. If it is, the app will then reserve the upgrade and will provide more information about the features of Windows 10. The app can even start to slowly download the files needed for the upgrade so that when the final version is released, the computer will simply notify the user that the upgrade is ready and users will be able to start immediately. The downloads will come up to about 3 GB in size so just make sure you’re connected to the appropriate network for it.
Once the upgrade is complete, users will be allowed to reinstall on the same device (if necessary) as many times as they would want; this includes even a clean install. There will be no need go back to the previous version of Windows just to upgrade again, or to even purchase a retail copy of Windows 10. Users are also allowed to create their own installation/boot-up disk using a USB flash drive or DVD, for future installations.
Windows 10 for PCs, tablets, and 2-in-1s will be available in 190 countries when it becomes available and Microsoft expects hundreds of millions of users to be the beneficiary of the free upgrade. Retail stores are also expected to help upgrade to the new OS in-store when it becomes readily available.
Together with the announcement, Microsoft has also confirmed the retail prices of its personal editions within the pages of its FAQ section. The SRPs in the United States for Windows 10 Home, and Windows 10 Pro are US$ 119.99 (~ RM 452) and US$ 199.99 (~ RM 754), respectively. For those who have a Home edition but would want to upgrade to Pro, the Windows 10 Pro Pack will let you do that for US$ 99.99 (~ RM 377). All of these editions will be available in stores as well as online on release day.
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