Upgrades from Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 as previously announced are free for the first year of availability. Windows 7 Starter, Windows 8/8.1, Home Basic and Home Premium users will receive Windows 10 Home. Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, and Windows 8.1 Pro users will receive Windows 10 Pro. However, Enterprise users will get nothing, as upgrading is usually considered a part of their license agreement. According to Microsoft, on July 29, you will be able to either buy a new Windows 10 PC from retailers or download Windows 10. Further, if you click the “reservation link” that Microsoft is prompting through its most recent updates to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, you can probably sign up to preload the software as soon as it is available. Upgrades as promised by Microsoft will be free for the “supported lifespan” of the device; however, no proper explanation has been given regarding the same. The free upgrade mentioned by Microsoft is available for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users, which apparently looks like a great saving. However, one needs to keep in mind that this upgrade is available for a year’s time only. Jeff Barney, Vice President & General Manager at Toshiba America Information Systems said in a statement that “We know many people are out there on old Windows 7 clamshell devices. We believe Windows 10 presents a new opportunity to win over consumers and later this summer we will have new laptops built to take advantage of the key features of Windows 10 with functionality and designs that are completely different than what consumers had with Windows 7 four years ago.” If you are using an operating system older than Windows 7 or planning to build a new PC, in that case, you will need a full non-upgrade version of the operating system, which will be chargeable.
