5 ms·

I wonder how Microsoft will respond to this? Come July 2016 will Microsoft really stop the free upgrade from 7/8 to 10 or will they just make Windows free to co

I wonder how Microsoft will respond to this? Come July 2016 will Microsoft really stop the free upgrade from 7/8 to 10 or will they just make Windows free to consumers? Obviously there will still be a (small) charge to OEMs and for business users they will still charge for the Pro and Enterprise versions but I think it is time for Windows Home to become free.

rogerbinns 11y ago
Also what about the folks who tried to install Windows 10, but their installer gives up with the "Something Happened" error? Will Microsoft take calls to fix their bugs, or are those unable to upgrade because of choices Microsoft made in their code out of luck?
- voltagex_ 11y ago
  I ended up buying a whole new copy of Windows after my "upgraded" key was declared non-Genuine. Not a great experience, but I need Windows for my current work.
mattmanser 11y ago
Windows will never be free to consumers, they still charge for new installs. A windows tax of 5%-10% on virtually all desktop/laptop computers is not small.
- kozukumi 11y ago
  Yes probably to the OEMs, like I said, but I suspect in the future a current Windows consumer will be able to upgrade pretty much any version of Windows to the latest for free. People see the OS as free these days. They get updates to their iPad, iPhone, Mac and Android (kind of, depends on the OEM) without having to pay.
  - mattmanser 11y ago
    You can't upgrade if you've switched motherboards. New computer = new version of windows.
    - kozukumi 11y ago
      Well the "digital entitlement" won't auto activate that is true (and has been since XP) but a simple and quick call to the MS activation phoneline and the automated process just "resets" your license. Then you can activate on the new motherboard with any issues. I have actually done this myself a number of times since MS first introduced activation in 2001. Most recently with a free Windows 10 upgrade on a machine that needed a motherboard replacement. Took maybe 5 minutes. Annoying that I had to do it but now the machine activates just fine without a product key. It is a test machine so I have installed Windows 10 on it about 20 times and never once had an issue with activation :)
      - mattmanser 11y ago
        You can't do that with OEM licences. Do you understand that means that you will persistently pay as a normal, non-techie, consumer every time you buy a new machine? Also not sure why my parent post is getting downvotes, bit ridiculous really.
        kozukumi 11y ago
        Yeah of course OEMs will still have to pay. That may or may not change, it is very hard to tell. MS will resist that as much as possible. However I believe that Microsoft will reposition Windows on consumer devices to a 'if you got Windows on that machine when you bought it then you can upgrade it for as long as the machine works' kind of setup. They already state licenses are for the life of the device and not to the user. I have transferred OEM licenses to a new motherboard in the past, not with Windows 10 though. Yes it is technically not supposed to happen but I have never known the automated system decline a reset. I have changed a few motherboards over the years in OEM systems from Dell and IBM/Lenovo and never had a problem getting things sorted on the phone.

rogerbinns 11y ago

Also what about the folks who tried to install Windows 10, but their installer gives up with the "Something Happened" error? Will Microsoft take calls to fix their bugs, or are those unable to upgrade because of choices Microsoft made in their code out of luck?

voltagex_ 11y ago
I ended up buying a whole new copy of Windows after my "upgraded" key was declared non-Genuine. Not a great experience, but I need Windows for my current work.

mattmanser 11y ago

Windows will never be free to consumers, they still charge for new installs. A windows tax of 5%-10% on virtually all desktop/laptop computers is not small.

kozukumi 11y ago
Yes probably to the OEMs, like I said, but I suspect in the future a current Windows consumer will be able to upgrade pretty much any version of Windows to the latest for free. People see the OS as free these days. They get updates to their iPad, iPhone, Mac and Android (kind of, depends on the OEM) without having to pay.
- mattmanser 11y ago
  You can't upgrade if you've switched motherboards. New computer = new version of windows.
  - kozukumi 11y ago
    Well the "digital entitlement" won't auto activate that is true (and has been since XP) but a simple and quick call to the MS activation phoneline and the automated process just "resets" your license. Then you can activate on the new motherboard with any issues. I have actually done this myself a number of times since MS first introduced activation in 2001. Most recently with a free Windows 10 upgrade on a machine that needed a motherboard replacement. Took maybe 5 minutes. Annoying that I had to do it but now the machine activates just fine without a product key. It is a test machine so I have installed Windows 10 on it about 20 times and never once had an issue with activation :)
    - mattmanser 11y ago
      You can't do that with OEM licences. Do you understand that means that you will persistently pay as a normal, non-techie, consumer every time you buy a new machine? Also not sure why my parent post is getting downvotes, bit ridiculous really.
      - kozukumi 11y ago
        Yeah of course OEMs will still have to pay. That may or may not change, it is very hard to tell. MS will resist that as much as possible. However I believe that Microsoft will reposition Windows on consumer devices to a 'if you got Windows on that machine when you bought it then you can upgrade it for as long as the machine works' kind of setup. They already state licenses are for the life of the device and not to the user. I have transferred OEM licenses to a new motherboard in the past, not with Windows 10 though. Yes it is technically not supposed to happen but I have never known the automated system decline a reset. I have changed a few motherboards over the years in OEM systems from Dell and IBM/Lenovo and never had a problem getting things sorted on the phone.