If you’re pirating Windows right now, then you’re going to have to pay for Windows 10, contrary to earlier reports. Microsoft has issued a full clarification, stating, “in partnership with some of our valued OEM partners, we are planning very attractive Windows 10 upgrade offers for their customers running one of their older devices in a Non-Genuine state. Please stay tuned to learn more from our partners on the specifics of their offers.” which will let people with pirated copies of its OS own an official version. The confusion around this started in March, when Microsoft’s Terry Myerson told the media that the free upgrade offer for Windows 10 would extend to users pirating the OS right now.
The company had then issued a clarification, which still maintained that pirated versions of Windows 7 and 8 could still be upgraded to Windows 10 for free. There were reports that non-genuine copies of Windows could be upgraded to Windows 10 free of cost, but their license would remain non-genuine after the upgrade.
Microsoft announced Windows 10 back in March, and has since detailed some impressive features of the new OS. Windows 10 is also going to be the last Windows version, since the company plans to follow an Android type model from now on, meaning it will send regular OTA updates for the OS.
With this launch, Microsoft turns its attention completely to services and devices. The company already has its Surface tablets and Lumia devices in the tablet and mobile segments respectively. In addition, Microsoft has been seeking other OEM partners to build Windows-based smartphones as well. The major push has been towards the company’s Office 365 service, which Microsoft has been trying to spin into a consumer product.
You can read Microsoft's complete blog post here.