Microsoft Reveals Windows 10 Will Be a Free Upgrade

mpicpp was one of many to point out this bit of news about Windows 10."Microsoft just took another big step toward the release of Windows 10 and revealed it will be free for many current Windows users. The company unveiled the Windows 10 consumer preview on Wednesday, showcasing some of the new features in the latest version of the operating system that powers the vast majority of the world's desktop PCs. The developer preview has been available since Microsoft first announced Windows 10 in the fall, but it was buggy, limited in scope and very light on new features. Importantly, Windows 10 will be free for existing Windows users running versions of Windows back to Windows 7. That includes Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and Windows Phone. Microsoft specified it would only be free for the first year, indicating Windows would be software that users subscribe to, rather than buy outright. Microsoft Corporate Vice President of the Operating Systems Group Joe Belfiore showed off some of the new features in Windows 10. While Microsoft had already announced it would bring back the much-missed Start Menu, Belfiore revealed it would also have a full-screen mode that includes more of the Windows 8 Start screen. He said Windows machines would go back and forth between to two menus in a way that wouldn't confuse people. Belfiore also showed a new notification center for Windows, which puts a user's notifications in an Action Center menu that can appear along the right side, similar to how notifications work in Apple OS X. Microsoft Executive Vice President of Operating Systems Terry Myerson revealed that 1.7 million people had downloaded the Windows 10 developer preview, giving Microsoft over 800,000 individual piece of feedback. Myerson explained that Windows 10 has several main intents: the give users a mobility of experience from device to device, instill a sense of trust in users, and provide the most natural ways to interact with devices." More details are available directly from Microsoft.

Comments

im guessing the iterations were something similar

[nimbius]

Windows 3.11: Better than dos!
Windows 95: now 32 bit!!
Windows 98: uh...3 more than 95!
Windows ME: grinds cats into freezer meat!
Windows XP: We've been told you dont want or like having cats ground into freezer meat...so this one doesnt do that. also we're doing letters now for real instead of numbers. Dont question it..
Windows Vista: Reboot simulator included!
Windows 7: ok so lets just do numbers again. 7 is less than 95, plus 3.11 minus the square root of 2000 is....eh....we changed the start button for you
Windows 8:: Hello there youths! we're told you like touched screens! Also we have an app store now and that has always been there. check out the full-screen start menu there now isnt that nifty?
Windows 9:: Maadamme Romani threatened to unravel my lifeweave if we ever used 9. seriously. its cursed. also all our code would mistake it for 95 or 98.
Windows 10: We gave you back the start button, but also included a mini start screen in it as a big fuck you for not accepting the start screen. Also its free...because uh...Ubunt...er...apple is still our competitor...yeah.

free as in AOL

[raymorris]

Not free as in free speech.
Not free as in free beer.
Free as in AOL. :)

Cinder Rella at 12:01 am

[Tablizer]

what happens after the first year?...If you don't pay will it brick your PC...?

It turns into Vista, the equivalent of a pumpkin.

beer wants to be free

[raymorris]

> Beer is never free. Someone has to pay for it.

beer wants to be free

Re:beer wants to be free

[idontgno]

Don't anthropomorphize beer.

It doesn't like it.

So wait, guys, I'm still not clear

[OldSport]

The previous 200 comments have not satisfactorily answered the question: will it be free forever or subscription based?

Beware ...

[PPH]

... of Geeks bearing gifts.

Re:Only for the first year

[jez9999]

Not really. If you're the kind of person who builds custom computers, when you call them up just say you replaced the motherboard. If they really push (and I've never had a problem with that) then just say the previous one went bad and had to be RMA'd or replaced. They're happy to remove the old motherboard from the license and apply the license to your new one.

Yep. My machine has had 3 new motherboards, 4 new gfx cards, 10 new RAM modules, 2 new hard drives, a new PSU, 2 new cases (one with additional go-faster stripes upgrade), 3 new montors, 4 new mice, a new keyboard and 5 new surround sound speakers. It's still going strong with the original OS.