Microsoft lays out all of the upgrade paths for Windows 10

By Krystle Vermes Published May 19, 2015

microsoft there will be no annual fee for windows 10 satya nadella print — Image used with permission by copyright holder

In a recap of the latest Windows 10 announcements, Windows Product Manager Alex Snelson has laid out all of the potential upgrade paths and licensing channels for the newest Microsoft operating system. The information was posted on the Microsoft Australia Partner Network Site on May 18.

The new editions of Windows 10 were introduced on May 13, and they included Home, Pro, Enterprise, Education, Mobile, and Mobile Enterprise. Microsoft laid out all of the features of the various editions in a post on the Windows blog. However, Snelson used the opportunity to confirm the details surrounding Windows 10 as a free upgrade.

Recommended Videos

“Microsoft will offer a free upgrade to Windows 10 for qualified Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows Phone 8.1 devices in the first year,” Snelson wrote. “After the first year, upgrades will be paid via boxed product and VL Upgrades.”

Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 7 Home Basic and Home Premium devices can be upgraded to Windows 10 Home, and Windows 8/8.1 Pro and Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate devices can be updated to Windows 10 Pro.

If a device is upgraded within the first 12 months after the Windows 10 launch, it will continue to receive Windows 10 updates for free throughout its life. However, this excludes Windows Enterprise and RT devices. You’ll be able to get your free Windows 10 upgrade through Windows Update.

Microsoft already confirmed at Ignite 2015 that it will provide a free Windows Update for Business service to Windows Pro and Windows Enterprise devices. This will provide business users with the most up-to-date security defenses in Windows, according to the company blog.

Windows 10 is set to be released this summer, likely by the end of July. Microsoft has already announced that Windows 10 will be the last “version” of its operating system. Following its release, Microsoft will continue to make system improvements over time.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Krystle Vermes is a professional writer, blogger and podcaster with a background in both online and print journalism. Her…

Computing

Possible Windows 12 hardware system requirements revealed

Windows 11 set up on a computer.

After the debacle over the controversial Windows 11 system requirements, the question of how they would change in future versions remains a point of interest.

And now, some of the first details about Windows 12's system requirements are beginning to surface despite its prospective launch still being some time away.

Computing

Turns out DirectStorage isn’t killing frame rates in Forspoken after all

Frey is handcuffed and guarded in Forspoken.

Yesterday, we published that DirectStorage might be killing your frame rate in Forspoken. This claim was based on some early testing from the PC Games Hardware YouTube channel, which claimed upwards of a 10% drop in frame rate when using DirectStorage. As some new testing has proven, that's has turned out to not be true.

It's a classic case of assuming on my part, and you know what they say about that. Although generally a reliable German source for PC hardware coverage, the YouTube channel didn't take into account loading screens when running its benchmarks. Naturally, a SATA SSD took longer to load than a PCIe SSD, boosting the average frame rate for the slower drive.

Computing

It turns out AMD isn’t cutting GPU prices after all

AMD RX 6950 XT graphics card on a pink background.

Nearly two weeks ago, AMD published a chart showing price cuts to every card in its RX 6000 range, following the controversy surrounding the RTX 4090's absurdly high price tag. It turns out those price cuts aren't official -- they're just what AMD's graphics cards are currently selling for on Newegg.

The chart (below) clarifies that the prices were gathered from Newegg, but it still suggests that AMD was cutting the official list price of its GPUs. That's what we originally published on September 22, and we weren't alone. TechPowerUp proclaimed "AMD cuts MSRPs of Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards," while Wccftech reported "official price cuts." PCMag also ran the story, though it has since updated the article with a statement from AMD.