The Windows 10 free update option ends today

Microsoft has been rolling out operating systems since its First OS DOS up to its current version Windows 10, which was released one year back on July 29. Microsoft has been offering Windows 10 upgrade for free to all licensed Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users. So, if you haven’t upgraded to Windows 10 you are probably getting ‘Upgrade to Windows 10 now! Offer expires on July 29’ popup from your Windows update centre. That brings to mind some questions like:

• Will Windows 10 be subscription based in future?
• Is Microsoft putting pressure on the users to upgrade to Windows 10?
• The future Windows Update system under Windows 10: What about Windows 10 Home users not being able to manage their Windows Updates?
• Is the "Get Windows 10 App" adware from Microsoft to advertise Windows 10?
• What are Pros and Cons of Windows 10?
• What about Windows Media Center being discontinued on Windows 10?
• What about users who have limited bandwidth?

 

We will try to answer all these questions one by one and to best of our knowledge.

• So Windows 10 will be subscription based or one time license is not yet sure but Microsoft is expected to release the price after the free upgrade period, after 29th July.
• Microsoft is a little focused on Windows 10 upgrade for all Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users but users still have choice on whether to upgrade to Windows 10 or not.
• About Windows 10 home users will get all upgrades and will not be able to manage them as what to download and when to download is a bit setback for Windows Home edition users.
• Get Windows 10 app is not an adware from Microsoft.
• The Pros and cons are discussed below.
• The Windows Media center being discontinued on Windows 10, Microsoft has made no mention of alternative application.
• Users Who have limited bandwidth might have problem downloading the updates which are suppose to be quite heavy and might need to switch to Unlimited plans.

 

Windows 10 is SaaS (software as a service) and continuously updated from cloud and free for life of the device on which it is installed. SaaS means there will be no Service packs of Windows 10 or any Windows 11 for that matter but Microsoft will keep upgrading Windows 10 on regular basis.

There will most probably be 2 major updates to Windows 10. These updates or Milestone versions will get most PCs onto the same code bus. There have been 2 major updates to Windows 10, the launch version and the Windows 10 Fall update, aka version 1511, which was released in November.

A new update to Windows 10 a.k.a Redstone, which Microsoft is calling the Anniversary update, is scheduled to be released for August 2 and is being beta tested currently.

So what’s new in the Anniversary update?

As usual the Anniversary Update includes lots of bug-fixes plus improvement to Windows Hello’s biometric authentication, Windows Ink for the wider use of styluses, also you can access ‘Cortana,’ Microsoft’s personal assistant without unlocking your PC, extension support in the Edge browser, Linux command-line integration (a Ubuntu-based Bash shell running on a “Linux Subsystem for Windows”), and features for Android users as well as Apple iPod users.

Forza Motorsport 6: Apex a Directx 12 compatible game is available for free. Forza is popular on the Xbox consoles. Also, the new Play Anywhere games brought for Xbox will make Xbox games playable on Windows 10 PCs, and vice versa. That means you can play the game on a console as well as a PC, which is going to be a huge boost for Gaming industry.

One another useful feature is Active hours which you can set via the Windows Update page in Update & Security. Windows 10 will not attempt to install updates and restart during the times you set as Active Hours.

Of course, there ARE people who don’t want a more secure, more powerful, more usable operating system with a voice-controlled AI assistant and thousands of new apps, even if it’s free! But Windows 10 is improving at a rapid pace, and it’s worth keeping the option open.