Windows 10 to be Free Upgrade for Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 Users

btarunr · Jan 21, 2015

In what could be a fundamental shift in how Microsoft monetizes its flagship product, the Windows operating system, the company decided to offer its upcoming Windows 10 as a free upgrade for existing users of Windows 8.1 and Windows 7. This offer will be applicable only for the first year following Windows 10 launch (after which, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 users will have to pay to upgrade to Windows 10). Windows 10 will see the return of the Start Menu, a productive Desktop environment, and cutting-edge new API features such as DirectX 12.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

Chaitanya · Jan 21, 2015

Will be waiting for reviews and will try it in some store before upgrading to Win10 from Win7. Luckily I didnt make a mistake of upgrading from Win7 to 8 .

natr0n · Jan 21, 2015

I like free.

Still on 7 currently.

nickbaldwin86 · Jan 21, 2015

Windows 10 Preview is on my machine now... best OS yet

Yes I will be getting my free upgrades with all my old win7 and win8 codes.

I am watching the live feed from Microsoft

TRWOV · Jan 21, 2015

Nice move MS :toast:

Will make sure to upgrade to 10 on day one

MxPhenom 216 · Jan 21, 2015

Chaitanya said:
Will be waiting for reviews and will try it in some store before upgrading to Win10 from Win7. Luckily I didnt make a mistake of upgrading from Win7 to 8 .

Your mistake was not upgrading to 8.1.

Debat0r · Jan 21, 2015

I wonder how they will monetize it then...? Ads in windows?

mroofie · Jan 21, 2015

Free for a year ?? vague much ? :0
Do we pay after the 1 year ??
WTF!! :0

MxPhenom 216 said:
Your mistake was not upgrading to 8.1.

How does one not upgrade to 8.1 :0
Last time I checked that upgrade was free (for users on 8.0)
5 bucks says he's a hater

MxPhenom 216 said:
that should be implied...

now you vague xD

Not getting what you're saying :/

MxPhenom 216 · Jan 21, 2015

mroofie said:
Free for a year ?? vague much ? :0
Do we pay after the 1 year ??
WTF!! :0

that should be implied...

GhostRyder · Jan 21, 2015

Been loving the preview on my test computer, this is a great deal to offer it as a free upgrade to those with 7 and 8. Makes people more willing to upgrade in general and will help them get rid of supporting old platforms.

Disparia · Jan 21, 2015

Very nice. Used the preview for awhile and like it so there's 3 Windows 7 computers here that'll go to 10 upon launch. Now the important question is when? I'd like it to coincide with some SSD upgrades.

Sony Xperia S · Jan 21, 2015

Debat0r said:
I wonder how they will monetize it then...? Ads in windows?

Service packs are free, consider Win10 a second service pack to Win8.

nickbaldwin86 said:
Windows 10 Preview is on my machine now... best OS yet

I wonder what is so special and good about it?

P4-630 · Jan 21, 2015

Does this mean that I have to re-install all my software?

thekaidis · Jan 21, 2015

mroofie said:
Free for a year ?? vague much ? :0
Do we pay after the 1 year ??
WTF!! :0

How does one not upgrade to 8.1 :0
Last time I checked that upgrade was free (for users on 8.0)
5 bucks says he's a hater

now you vague xD

Not getting what you're saying :/

From my understanding, it's "free for 1 year" in that the free upgrade has to be redeemed within one year of release. I've seen no mention of a subscription-based model.

Think of it as giving current Windows users a free-upgrade coupon which expires in 365 days.

lemonadesoda · Jan 21, 2015

I do hope "free for a year" doesn't mean that Win10 will be OS-as-a-service, ie subscription based pay per month/year, like MS's new concept for Office. Requiring always, or nearly always, or often, connected.

Still love 2K3/XP more than 8.1. Yes, I know I know the taskmanager has improved. And multitasking is 10% more efficient, but LOL what else for me and my use of Windows for email, file management, Office, printing, and Chrome Browser?

I buy my cars. I buy my beers. I buy my women. I don't and won't rent them.

TRWOV · Jan 21, 2015

Sony Xperia S said:
I wonder what is so special and good about it?

Mine boots in 5 seconds on a non UEFI board (5 seconds after POST, not 5 seconds from powering up). That's using an SSD though but I guess it'd take even less on an UEFI board with all the bells and whistles enabled.

Ahhzz · Jan 21, 2015

Sony Xperia S said:
Service packs are free, consider Win10 a second service pack to Win8.

Most intelligent post this year, so far.

Crap Daddy · Jan 21, 2015

Is Bill Gates confusing his charity work with Microsoft, or is this Nadella's way to turn things around in the company by giving away the most precious asset?
Either way there has to be a catch, nothing's free in the free world. But it sounds good.

Scrable · Jan 21, 2015

Chaitanya said:
Will be waiting for reviews and will try it in some store before upgrading to Win10 from Win7. Luckily I didnt make a mistake of upgrading from Win7 to 8 .

Same. At least we have a year to do it.

EYE4ONE · Jan 21, 2015

That was the worst presentation for a New Product I have ever seen from a large corporation. The lack of enthusiasm from the host was apparent and the continued pacing back and forth onstage was highly irritating. I stopped watching after 5 minutes and will wait for Online Techies to get a general synopsis.

bihboy23 · Jan 21, 2015

Wonder if pirated copies wil be able to upgrade. Most likely not due to them not being genuinely activated.

TRWOV · Jan 21, 2015

Crap Daddy said:
Is Bill Gates confusing his charity work with Microsoft, or is this Nadella's way to turn things around in the company by giving away the most precious asset?
Either way there has to be a catch, nothing's free in the free world. But it sounds good.

Well, most end users don't upgrade Windows versions at all, they upgrade when buying new PCs so this might not affect MS too much if at all. Also, I think this free upgrade won't work with VLK or KMS keys (corporate) just with retail keys, otherwise that would be suicidal for MS as you say.

adulaamin · Jan 21, 2015

I'll be upgrading to 10 once it becomes available. I hope it won't be subscription based after one year though.

64K · Jan 21, 2015

TRWOV said:
Also, I think this free upgrade won't work with VLK or KMS keys (corporate) just with retail keys, otherwise that would be suicidal for MS as you say.

That's what I've been reading too. This will only be for personal use upgrades not businesses that buy multiple use keys.

Crap Daddy said:
Is Bill Gates confusing his charity work with Microsoft, or is this Nadella's way to turn things around in the company by giving away the most precious asset?
Either way there has to be a catch, nothing's free in the free world. But it sounds good.

MS may go to a subscription model or they may be hoping to make up the loss by pushing apps from their store.

Ahhzz · Jan 21, 2015

The tech talk I'm seeing appears to back it being a repeat of the Windows 8 Fiasco, but an apology for screwing the pooch on Windows 8, and making it free to upgrade for the first year instead of $40 like Win8 was. Basically, if you have win7 or Win 8 legitimately obtained, and not on volume licensing (which already has a different update/upgrade model), or a win 8 mobile device (jury is still out on whether that covers tablets as well as phones), you can upgrade to Windows 10 if you do it within the first 365 days of release. After that, if you want to upgrade, or build your own, you'll have to purchase the license.

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling	AMD Wraith Prism
Memory	2x 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3000
Video Card(s)	Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage	Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s)	BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case	Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D PCIe
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse	ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard	Microsoft Sidewinder X4
Software	Windows 10 Pro

System Name	natr0n-PC
Processor	Various
Motherboard	Various
Cooling	Various
Memory	Various
Video Card(s)	Various
Storage	Various
Display(s)	Various
Case	Various
Audio Device(s)	Various
Power Supply	Various
Software	XP/8.1/10
Benchmark Scores	http://valid.x86.fr/79kuh6

System Name	Red 101
Processor	9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900k
Motherboard	EVGA Z370 Classified
Cooling	Custom Primochill and Heatkiller water cooling loop
Memory	16GB of Gskill 3200Mhz CL14
Video Card(s)	EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW2 with Heatkiller block @2114Mhz
Storage	4- Samsung Evo 250GB, 1- Pro 512GB and 1-512GB M.2
Display(s)	LG 38" UW
Case	In Win 101 customized a lot and painted red
Audio Device(s)	Razer Kraken 7.1 Chroma
Power Supply	EVGA 850w G2
Mouse	Razer DeathAdderv2
Keyboard	Razer Ornata Chroma
Software	Win10Pro and games
Benchmark Scores	NA

System Name	STEAMBOX \| GAMECUBE \| EQC (Everyday Quad Core)
Processor	i5 4590@3.7Ghz \|i7 3770K@4Ghz -\|- Athlon 5350@2.52Ghz
Motherboard	GA-B85N PHOENIX \| Asrock Z77E-ITX \| Asus AM1I-A
Cooling	Stock \| Antec Kuhler 620 \| Reeven Vanxie
Memory	2x4GB ADATA XPG 1600Mhz \| 2x4GB Kingston 1866Mhz -\|- 2x4GB Crucial Ballistix@1920Mhz
Video Card(s)	RX 480 Nitro \| Sapphire RX 480 w/Accelero Mono Plus \| HD 8400 @ 720Mhz (IGP)
Storage	LiteON 128GB mSATA+3TB Seagate \| Seagate 1TBxSamung 64GB SSD (Intel RST) \| Kingston v300 240GB
Display(s)	Daewoo 49" 1080p \| ASUS PA248Q 1920x1200 IPS
Case	Corsair 250D \| CoolerMaster Elite 110 \| Acteck Fiji
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Seasonic SS-660XP2 \| Silverstone SFX-450 \| 200w mini FLEX PSU
Software	Windows 10 64bit

System Name	Please god I need a GPU!
Processor	Intel Core i7 8700k @ 4.8GHz 1.28v
Motherboard	MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
Cooling	2x EK PE360 \| EK CPU and GPU WB \| Full hard line tubing \| Singularity Resonance Single res/pump
Memory	Corsair Vengeance Pro RGB 32GB 3200 14-14-14-34
Video Card(s)	MSI GTX1070 Gaming X -> Asus TUF RTX3080 or Evga XC3 RTX3080
Storage	1TB Samsung 970 EVO 2TB Samsung 970 Evo Plus
Display(s)	Dell S3220DGF 32" 1440p Freesync 2 (G-Sync) HDR 165Hz \| 2x Asus VP249QGR 144Hz IPS
Case	Lian Li PC-011D
Audio Device(s)	Realtek 1220 w/ Sennheiser Game Ones
Power Supply	Seasonic Flagship Prime Ultra Platinum 850
Mouse	Razer Viper
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit

Windows 10 to be Free Upgrade for Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 Users

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator

Chaitanya

natr0n

nickbaldwin86

TRWOV

MxPhenom 216

ASIC Engineer

Debat0r

mroofie

MxPhenom 216

ASIC Engineer

GhostRyder

Disparia

Sony Xperia S

P4-630

thekaidis

lemonadesoda

TRWOV

Ahhzz

Moderator

Crap Daddy

Scrable

EYE4ONE

New Member

bihboy23

TRWOV

adulaamin

64K

Ahhzz

Moderator

System Name	Clevo W230SS
Processor	i5-4300M (-75mV)
Memory	8GB DDR3L-1600
Video Card(s)	GTX 860M
Storage	Samsung 840 EVO 500GB
Software	Windows 8.1
Benchmark Scores	Fire Strike: 3569 Sky Diver: 10 236 Cloud Gate: 10 544 Ice Storm: 63 590

System Name	Mroofie / Mroofie
Processor	Amd Phenom 2 x6 1100T Black Edition / Inte Cpu i5 4460 3.2GHZ Turbo Boost 3.4
Motherboard	MSI 760GM-P23 (FX) / Gigabyte B85M-HD3
Cooling	Stock Cooling / Same
Memory	Apacer DDR3 1333mhz (4GB) / Adata DDR3 1600Mhz(8GB) CL11
Video Card(s)	Nvidia GT 440 / Gigabyte Gtx 960 WF
Storage	Seagate 1TB / Seagate 80GB / Seagate 1TB (another one)
Display(s)	Philips LED 24 Inch 1080p 60Hz / LG LCD 19 Inch 768p 60Hz / Sony Bravia TV 1080p 60Hz?
Case	Standard / Zalman T4
Audio Device(s)	Meh
Power Supply	Standard Psu 450w / Antec Truepower Classic 750W 80 Plus Gold
Mouse	Meh
Keyboard	Meh
Software	Windows 8.1 Pro / Windows 7
Benchmark Scores	Who Cares

System Name	SnowFire / The Reinforcer / Portable?
Processor	i7 10700K 5.1ghz (24/7) / 2x Xeon E52650v2 / AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Motherboard	Asus Strix Z490 / Dell Dual Socket (R720) / Asrock X570 ITX
Cooling	RX 360mm + 140mm Custom Loop / Dell Stock / Noctua L9i (Yes L9i)
Memory	Corsair RGB 16gb DDR4 3000 CL 16 / DDR3 128gb 16 x 8gb / Corsair RGB 3200 16gb
Video Card(s)	GTX Titan XP (2025mhz) / Asus GTX 950 (No Power Connector) / GTX 970 (Temp)
Storage	Samsung 970 1tb NVME and 2tb HDD x4 RAID 5 / 300gb x8 RAID 5 / 2x Samsung 850 Pro 512gb
Display(s)	Acer XG270HU, Samsung G7 Odyssey (1440p 240hz) / HP Omen 1080p 240hz
Case	Thermaltake Cube / Dell Poweredge R720 Rack Mount Case / Fractal Design Node 202
Audio Device(s)	Realtec ALC1150 (On board)
Power Supply	Rosewill Lightning 1300Watt / Dell Stock 750 / Brick / Fractal Design 450 Watt Bronze
Mouse	Logitech G5
Keyboard	Logitech G19S
Software	Windows 10 Pro / Windows Server 2016 / Windows 10 Pro

Processor	Intel i5-6600
Motherboard	ASRock H170M-ITX
Cooling	Cooler Master Geminii S524
Memory	G.Skill DDR4-2133 16GB (8GB x 2)
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte R9-380X 4GB
Storage	Samsung 950 EVO 250GB (mSATA)
Display(s)	LG 29UM69G-B 2560x1080 IPS
Case	Lian Li PC-Q25
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC892
Power Supply	Seasonic SS-460FL2
Mouse	Logitech G700s
Keyboard	Logitech G110
Software	Windows 10 Pro

Processor	AMD FX-8320
Motherboard	AsRock 970 PRO3 R2.0
Cooling	Thermalright Ultra120 eXtreme + 2 LED Green fans
Memory	2 x 4096 MB DDR3-1333 A-Data
Video Card(s)	SAPPHIRE 4096M R9 FURY X 4G D5
Storage	ST1000VX000 • SV35.6 Series™ 1000 GB 7200 rpm
Display(s)	Acer S277HK wmidpp 27" 4K (3840 x 2160) IPS
Case	Cooler Master HAF 912 Plus Black + Red Lights
Audio Device(s)	Onboard Realtek
Power Supply	OCZ ProXStream 1000W
Mouse	Genius NetScroll 100X
Keyboard	Logitech Wave
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

System Name	Desktop / Laptop
Processor	Intel i7 6700K @ 4.5GHz (1.270 V) / Intel i3 7100U
Motherboard	Asus Z170 Pro Gaming / HP 83A3 (U3E1)
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12A 2 fans + Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut + 5 case fans / Fan
Memory	16GB DDR4 Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000MHz CL15 / 8GB DDR4 HyperX CL13
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 2070 Super Gaming X Trio / Intel HD620
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo 500GB + Samsung 850 Pro 512GB + Samsung 860 Evo 1TB x2 / Samsung 256GB M.2 SSD
Display(s)	23.8" Dell S2417DG 165Hz G-Sync 1440p + 21.5" LG 22MP67VQ IPS 60Hz 1080p / 14" 1080p IPS Glossy
Case	Be quiet! Silent Base 600 - Window / HP Pavilion
Audio Device(s)	SupremeFX Onboard / Realtek onboard + B&O speaker system
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 750W / Powerbrick
Mouse	Logitech MX Anywhere 2 Laser wireless / Logitech M330 wireless
Keyboard	RAPOO E9270P Black 5GHz wireless / HP backlit
Software	Windows 10 / Windows 10

System Name	ICE-QUAD // ICE-CRUNCH
Processor	Q6600 // 2x Xeon 5472
Memory	2GB DDR // 8GB FB-DIMM
Video Card(s)	HD3850-AGP // FireGL 3400
Display(s)	2 x Samsung 204Ts = 3200x1200
Audio Device(s)	Audigy 2
Software	Windows Server 2003 R2 as a Workstation now migrated to W10 with regrets.

System Name	Ironic
Processor	Intel 2500k 4.4Ghz
Motherboard	ASROCK\|Z68 PROFESSIONAL Gen 3
Cooling	Corsair H60
Memory	32GB GSkill Ripjaw X 1866
Video Card(s)	Sapphire R9 290 Vapor-X 4Gb
Storage	Samsung 860 EVO 1Tb/WD BLACK SN750 500GB NVMe
Display(s)	22" Dell Wide/ 22" Acer wide/24" Asus
Case	Antec Lanboy Air Black & Blue
Audio Device(s)	SB Audigy 7.1
Power Supply	Corsair Enthusiast TX750
Mouse	Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum
Keyboard	K68 RGB — CHERRY® MX Red
Software	Win 7 Ult 64 bit

System Name	Old Fart / Young Dude
Processor	2500K / 6600K
Motherboard	ASRock P67Extreme4 / Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 DDR3
Cooling	CM Hyper TX3 / CM Hyper 212 EVO
Memory	16 GB Kingston HyperX / 16 GB G.Skill Ripjaws X
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte GTX 1050 Ti / INNO3D RTX 2060
Storage	SSD, some WD and lots of Samsungs
Display(s)	BenQ GW2470 / LG UHD 43" TV
Case	Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced / Thermaltake Core v31
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar D1/Denon PMA500AE/Wharfedale D 10.1/ FiiO D03K/ JBL LSR 305
Power Supply	Corsair TX650 / Corsair TX650M
Mouse	Steelseries Rival 100 / Rival 110
Keyboard	Sidewinder/ Steelseries Apex 150
Software	Windows 10 / Windows 10 Pro

System Name	Hello
Processor	AMD Athlon x4 750k 3.4 Ghz
Motherboard	MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 Micro-ATX
Cooling	Stock FM2 Cooler
Memory	Kingston HyperX Blu (2x4gb) 1600 Mhz
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Dual-X R9 280X 3GB
Storage	WD Caviar Blue 320 GB
Display(s)	HP 2009m 20-inch
Case	Rosewill Redbone Mid-tower
Audio Device(s)	Integrated HD Realtek
Power Supply	Corsair CX430
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

System Name	hmmm... / lappy (ASUS Scar III)
Processor	Intel Core i7-8086K / Intel Core i7-9750H
Motherboard	ASUS Maximus XI Formula / ASUS G531GW
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15s w/ 2 x Noctua NF-F12 PWM Chromax and 1 x Noctua NF-A15 HS-PWM Chromax Fans / Stock
Memory	4x16gb G.Skill Trident Z DDR4 3600mhz / 2x16gb Kingston Hyper X Impact DDR4 2666mhz C15
Video Card(s)	2 x EVGA GTX 1080 TI FTW3 / Nvidia RTX 2070 8gb
Storage	2 x Samsung 960 EVO Plus 1tb NVME/ 1tb Intel SSDPEKNW010T8 NVME + 2tb Samsung 860 EVO SSD
Display(s)	Acer Predator X34P / ASUS 15.6" Screen
Case	Fractal Design Meshify S2 White-TG + Noctua Chromax Fans / ASUS Scar III Case
Audio Device(s)	Onboard + Logitech Z623 / Onboard
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime Ultra Titanium 1000W + PROLINK PRO903WS / ASUS ADP-230GB B Power Brick
Mouse	Corsair Vengeance M65 PRO RGB / Logitech MX Anywhere 2S
Keyboard	Corsair K70 LUX RGB / ASUS Scar III Keyboard
Software	Windows 10 Professional x64 / Windows 10 Professional x64

Processor	i7 7700k
Motherboard	MSI Z270 SLI Plus
Cooling	CM Hyper 212 EVO
Memory	2 x 8 GB Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 2070 Super
Storage	Samsung 850 EVO 250 GB and WD Black 4TB
Display(s)	Dell 27 inch 1440p 144 Hz
Case	Corsair Obsidian 750D Airflow Edition
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNova 850 W Gold
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Logitech G105
Software	Windows 10