With a nod and a wink, Microsoft gives away Windows 10 to anyone who asks

ZDNet ^ | 06/20/2015 | By Ed Bott for The Ed Bott Report |

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I recently bought an HP Windows 7 laptop, and it occasionally importunes me to “upgrade” to Windows 10 for free. (Nein, danke).

[4rcane]

its not clear that its going to be free for insiders imho. The language they used is similar to it being free to pirated version as well. Its free to update, but whether you could keep it long term is a different story

[mountainlion]

My windows 8 offers me a free update to 8.1. When I click on it I get the error message “store not found”. What a piece of junk.

[Swordmaker]

Pingeration

[JoeProBono]

[JoeProBono]

Remember, trying out an early build like this can be risky. That’s why we recommend that you don’t install the preview on your primary home or business PC. Unexpected PC crashes could damage or even delete your files, so you should back up everything.

If you want to stop using Windows 10 Insider Preview and return to your previous version of Windows, you’ll need to reinstall your previous version from the recovery or installation media that came with your PC—typically a DVD. If you don’t have recovery media, you might be able to create recovery media from a recovery partition on your PC using software provided by your PC manufacturer. You’ll need to do this before you upgrade. Check the support section of your PC manufacturer’s website for more info.

After you install Windows 10 Insider Preview, you won’t be able to use the recovery partition on your PC to go back to your previous version of Windows.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/preview-iso

[Bernard]

So Windows 8 was such a great success that they are offering free upgrades away from it. Hope 10 works better than 8, because W 8 resembles Windows ME more than anything else.

[SeeSharp]

Back in the 90’s you could unlock any Microsoft software except Exchange and SQL Server with the key “411 1111111”. It was Microsoft’s way of engaging in dumping without getting prosecuted for it. Technically you were stealing the software, even though Microsoft clearly wanted you to.

[fella]

If 10 is anything like 8, no thanks.

[mkmensinger]

I’m using the Windows 10 preview and I like it. It includes many of the features of Windows 7. I hate Windows 8 and I’m not too fond of 8.1. But Windows 10 is pretty good so far. I haven’t experienced any crashes or anything of that sort.

[Scrambler Bob]

M4L Win 10 Win8

[ArcadeQuarters]

Assuming the store app does actually exist on your computer, you could try launching it manually from the Start screen and download.

[ansel12]

Leroy S. Mort posted this link on another thread. To find it.

http://www.jacksontechnical.com/article.htm?id=56

[TomGuy]

One problem with WIN10 is what it leaves out: IE, W Media Center, etc.

I have software that are dependent on those.

I already know that IE 10 and above kills my older tabbed browser I use for FR. It use the old browser because it has some editing add-ons that are no longer available, do not work with IE 10 and later, and have no recent updates.

I have a PCTV connector that uses Media Center. [This problem may be irrelevant, as my Cable company is doing away with direct TV feeds and replacing it with encrypted digital feeds that require a decryption box.]

When I finally started with Win7 (replacing XP laptop and desktop), I lost some hardware and software. I did manage to gerry-rig some XP software to work partially or fully under Win7. I doubt those will work under Win10.

[TomGuy]

I read some articles months ago that seemed to suggest that Win10 would be 'free' for a year and then cost for an 'authentic' mandatory upgrade.

==

MS has released enough ambiguity to keep the answer from the public.

[mountainlion]

Assuming the store app does actually exist on your computer...

I can get to the store manually but never found the update to 8.1 unless I payed for it.

[sheikdetailfeather]

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-faq?ocid=win10_auxapp_context

[molson209]

My windows 8 offers me a free update to 8.1. When I click on it I get the error message “store not found”. What a piece of junk.

in win 8 you have to update the Store apps yourself before you can use it , in win 8.1 it does it automatically

[discostu]

i don’t like them pushing it through updates. I think I might be able to make that update not happen, but I shouldn’t have to put effort into not upgraded. I do not upgrade my OS, period ever. When I get around to 10 it’ll be on a new machine, that’s the way I always do it.