Windows 10 Will be free upgrade for 1 year after launch (Win 7 & up)

[Salmon Trout]

And, no that doesn't mean you have to pay after 1 year.

Terry Myerson,  executive vice president of the Operating Systems Group:

We announced that a free upgrade for Windows 10 will be made available to customers running Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows Phone 8.1 who upgrade in the first year after launch.

This is more than a one-time upgrade: once a Windows device is upgraded to Windows 10, we will continue to keep it current for the supported lifetime of the device – at no additional charge.

http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/01/21/the-next-generation-of-windows-windows-10/

[Salmon Trout]

And, no that doesn't mean you have to pay after 1 year.

I mean, they won't make the recipients of the free upgrade pay after they have used it for 1 year. As some have suggested.

[DaveLembke]

Just read this and was going to share this and you beat me to it.. 

Curious as to what the costs will be that havent been announced.

OS's have generally been $89 to $139 for Home and Pro versions, and if a monthly fee, would it be like $2 a month = $48 a year or more.

I personally prefer a 1 time fee per license and not having to worry about additional costs. Article I read was similar here:

 http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/windows-10-now-a-free-service-news/

[Salmon Trout]

My understanding is there isn't going to be a subscription model, (I sure hope not), that for 1 year people running a qualifying OS will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 free of charge, thereafter they (and everyone else) will have to pay whatever one-time price Microsoft decide to charge, and also that people buying a "full retail" Windows 10 product will pay one time like they do now for Windows 8 products and did in the past for 7, Vista, XP, etc. That Digitaltrends article says it's "unclear" what will happen after the 1 year period, but the Microsoft blog by Terry Myerson I quoted above seems clear enough.

[camerongray]

Very happy to see this, through uni I have 3 copies of Windows 8 and 2 copies of Windows 7 then an additional copy of 7 that I bought when it came out, that means I have 6 copies of Windows 10 for free (excluding the ones that I'll probably get through uni again) .

[DaveLembke]

Hopefully Microsoft will keep track of what Windows 7, 8, 8.1 keys have been used during the free upgrade period so that say 2 years later when you need to rebuild the system clean you can install 7 and then perform the same upgrade to 10 without having to buy it at that point because it was after the 1 year free upgrade period. 

It may be worth while to create an image after you get your free upgrade just in case it will cost you on a reinstall say 2 years later. 

[patio]

Only MS has figured out how to make money giving things away...i say it's brilliant.