Free windows 10??

[DaOld Man]

I just saw this:

http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/18/8241023/windows-10-free-for-software-pirates

[nitrogen_widget]

The question is, which will run my emulators better on old P4's people are giving away.
Tiny XP or windows 10.

[shponglefan]

That's one way to beat the pirates; just give it away.

Have to say I am very surprised by Microsoft doing this.  And I wonder where the catch is.

[JDFan]

Question I have is can you get as many upgrades as you want or 1 per person (they require you submit an E-mail address and other info in order to send you the upgrade key info so are they limiting it to one free key or can you submit for additional keys also - and when you go to put in an e-mail address they come up with the attached Pic  : saying you have to let them pull your E-mail list off of your system and if you say no it exits.

And also do not like the small print on another page saying :

By using this site you agree to the use of cookies for analytics, personalized content and ads

[Generic Eric]

Big brother gives you the first hit for free... and all of the rest apparently.

Just so long as you are not the droids they are looking for, you'll be fine.

[lilshawn]

All I can think is...

"What kind of backdoor NSA surveillance do they have in this thing that they want EVERYBODY running it...so much so they give it away for free?"

[lamprey]

I haven't seen the official licensing model(s) yet, but I believe what the article isn't saying is that although the UPGADE is free and the license is free for a year. But, after that year then you have to pay to renew your license. Hopefully, MS will offer a one time purchase option, but they seem to want to drive everything to the cloud and a SAS model.

[Vigo]

If it is free, then that isn't piracy. 


My honest theory is that that MS knows the desktop war doesn't matter right now. It is all about mobile penetration. Windows mobile is actually a darn good platform, but the lack of support from 3rd parties is keeping it out of the game.

[nitrogen_widget]

I think they just want XP dead & buried like all the other OS's before 7.
But, people just don't care if there aren't anymore updates for XP.

They have their not IE browser & 3rd party anti-virus and they are all set.

They don't need to buy a new underpowered PC with windows 8 just to check their email & use facebook.
Microsoft knows this.

[ed12]

lamprey is correct
first year free, then u pay by the year.
now also remember once your drive goes to 10 u CANNOT with that drive
go back. for reference on this go to Microsoft's cite

ed

[JDFan]

Just saw this report ( http://www.computerworld.com/article/2899229/microsoft-reveals-who-gets-windows-10-and-how.html ) which says the upgrade is going to come through Windows Update --- I sure hope it doesn't try and update you automatically like it forces the updates to load if using the update service (or at least warns you to turn off updates if you do not want it !!!)  Wouldn't be surprised if it just auto updates one morning when you turn the system on which would not be a good thing. (esp if something goes wrong in the process or some programs do not have drivers for win 10 making them no longer work)

Especially disturbing is they are currently requiring user of the win10 preview to uninstall office because it conflicts with an update for win10 (they tell you to uninstall office apply the update and reinstall office so if even their own programs are having compatibility problems I don't like the odd of other programs not running into problems ! -- http://www.computerworld.com/article/2857637/microsoft-tells-windows-10-users-to-uninstall-office.html

"We have a security update going out today, and the installer fails on 9879 if Office is installed," Aul continued. "Rather than rolling a new fix (losing several days in the process) we're going to publish it as is. The workaround is painful: uninstall Office, install the hotfix, reinstall Office. Sorry. We're working hard to fix."

[BorgDog]

lamprey is correct
first year free, then u pay by the year.

um, no.  From Microsoft's site

Free Upgrade Offer*
Great news! We will offer a free upgrade to Windows 10 for qualified new or existing Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 devices that upgrade in the first year!  And even better: once a qualified Windows device is upgraded to Windows 10, we will continue to keep it up to date for the supported lifetime of the device, keeping it more secure, and introducing new features and functionality over time – for no additional charge.

[lordnacho]

They'll let you upgrade your "ungenuine" old version of Windows and it will still be "ungenuine" but v10.  Not sure what that means really, but it sort of makes sense hoping people will like it and buy it rather than sit on old software that still does the job.

[lamprey]

lamprey is correct
first year free, then u pay by the year.

um, no.  From Microsoft's site

Free Upgrade Offer*
Great news! We will offer a free upgrade to Windows 10 for qualified new or existing Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 devices that upgrade in the first year!  And even better: once a qualified Windows device is upgraded to Windows 10, we will continue to keep it up to date for the supported lifetime of the device, keeping it more secure, and introducing new features and functionality over time – for no additional charge.

The word Qualified is what you should be wondering about.

[JDFan]

The word Qualified is what you should be wondering about.

That and "supported lifetime of the device"

I can see them anouncing about a year after win10 launch that they will no longer be supporting it and are switching to "Windows 365" subscription instead (seeing they already filed to copywrite/and or patent Windows 365 ) so all win 10 installs would soon reach their supported lifetime !

[Vigo]

[nitrogen_widget]

lamprey is correct
first year free, then u pay by the year.
now also remember once your drive goes to 10 u CANNOT with that drive
go back. for reference on this go to Microsoft's cite

ed

I am 100% certain I could in fact re-install XP on a hard drive upgraded with 10.

[lilshawn]

lamprey is correct
first year free, then u pay by the year.
now also remember once your drive goes to 10 u CANNOT with that drive
go back. for reference on this go to Microsoft's cite

ed

I am 100% certain I could in fact re-install XP on a hard drive upgraded with 10.

I'm 100% certain i'm still running xp on my work machine and i STILL get updates (particularly the "windows malicious blabla bla removal tool".)

[EMDB]

...
I'm 100% certain i'm still running xp on my work machine and i STILL get updates (particularly the "windows malicious blabla bla removal tool".)

Read this : http://www.pcworld.com/article/2310301/windows-xp-registry-hack-keeps-the-security-updates-rolling.html

[pbj]

I'm very interested in seeing what Microsoft does about drivers and small time vendors.  My version of Windows 8 has been hacked up so bad to work with junk like the EMS Top Gun that it's hit or miss with other devices now - it'll recognize the Kade firmwares but not take any inputs from them.  Also had issues with my sound and bluetooth drivers on a machine that started as Windows 7.  I actually kinda like Windows 8, particularly with a touch screen, so it'll be nice if these issues are polished out. 

I suppose the whole experience was my penance for, "I've been stuck in the past with XP so long I'm jumping straight to 8 on my new machine."