Microsoft's Giving Windows 10 Away - Free

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 1 Jun 2015 1:03 pm

Noticed a new volunteer icon in my Windows taskbar today, on both my PC and my laptop. Turns out, MS is offering free Win10 downloads, once available. I thought, why not? I haven't upgraded my OS in a while.

I'm unsure how this will make money for MS, but it has to somehow - they have to please their shareholders, same as any other company. I'd like to have been in the strategy meetings when they decided to do this, just to hear the rationale.

Harold Dye · Post by **Harold Dye** » 1 Jun 2015 6:22 pm

That same icon showed up on my computer also..I am curious about it and would like to know more.

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 1 Jun 2015 6:54 pm

Harold Dye wrote:That same icon showed up on my computer also..I am curious about it and would like to know more.

You can get a lot more information out of that icon. Just explore it - right clicking it, etc. You'll get drop-down menus, etc. Even if you commit with your email address, you can still cancel later, if you have second thoughts.

Mitch Drumm · Post by **Mitch Drumm** » 1 Jun 2015 7:34 pm

Here is Microsoft's FAQ on upgrading to Windows 10:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-faq

You are getting that icon because you accepted certain Windows Updates within the last couple of months.

Those updates weren't mandatory and could have been refused, but Microsoft is doing what it can to drive everyone to Win 10 as much as possible.

You can ignore it if you like and refuse any upgrade to Windows 10. The "free" offer will expire one year after Windows 10 is released.

Those who did not accept the updates and did not get that icon can still get the "free upgrade" if desired.

Windows 10 will supposedly be released on July 29 in two versions: Home and Professional. Newegg.com is showing pre-order prices of $110 and $150 respectively.

The finer points of the "free upgrade" offer are not yet known--such as whether you will be able to easily revert to your current operating system if you don't like Windows 10, whether there will be a downloadable ISO that you can burn to a disc, whether you will be able to apply the "free upgrade" to a new motherboard if your current motherboard fails, etc, etc.

I'd say generally it might be wise to hold your fire on the free upgrade until some of these questions are answered.

Microsoft makes a relatively small amount of money on sales of Windows licenses to home users. I think licensing of all products in all forms is still about 70% of their total revenue, but they are looking to place more emphasis on other areas--particularly selling "apps" from the "Microsoft Store".

And there is the continuing suspicion that they may eventually go to a subscription model as they have already done with some Microsoft products. So maybe you can look forward to another bill---just like cable TV. Enjoy.

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 2 Jun 2015 2:01 am

I got it too.
I figured 'why not'.
But it also tells me that I've got a couple of utilities that won't work. One is no big deal but the other is my Norton 360 . That is a problem. For one thing, I just renewed.
So far I've just registered for 10. When they notify me of its availability, maybe by then Norton will be compatible.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 2 Jun 2015 2:11 am

I will get it and update my Win 8.1 to Win 10, but will keep my Win 7 (I have a dual boot). I already have the Win 10 "preview" on another PC. Everything that I use for my recording studio works on Win 10 (Sonar Platinum, Roland Studio-Capture, Frontier Tranzport, BCF2000, etc).

I have to keep at least one Windows 7 to be able to transfer patterns to my Wife's Singer Embroidery machine. The RS232C interface I have will not work on Win 8/8.1. I haven't tested it on Win 10 but I suspect it won't work.

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 2 Jun 2015 3:42 am

Mitch Drumm wrote:You are getting that icon because you accepted certain Windows Updates within the last couple of months.

For all sorts of reasons, I "accept" any update MS offers me, meaning, I want to see the list. I then decide which ones I want to run.

Those updates weren't mandatory and could have been refused, but Microsoft is doing what it can to drive everyone to Win 10 as much as possible.

Yes. They're trying to avoid another Win8 experience, and I don't blame them.

Windows 10 will supposedly be released on July 29 in two versions: Home and Professional. Newegg.com is showing pre-order prices of $110 and $150 respectively.

The "free" version people will receive will be the same as the level of their pre-existing version. I bet Newegg will be able to count their pre-orders on one hand, now that the word is out.

The finer points of the "free upgrade" offer are not yet known--such as whether you will be able to easily revert to your current operating system if you don't like Windows 10, whether there will be a downloadable ISO that you can burn to a disc, whether you will be able to apply the "free upgrade" to a new motherboard if your current motherboard fails, etc, etc.

I thought about that before "reserving". But then, that's the same issue one faces every time one upgrades to a new OS. One thing's for sure - as soon as my upgrade finishes, I will make my own drive image. That way, I'll have it for backup, and of course, I'll also have several drive images stored of my prior Windows version, should Win10 be unacceptable for any reason. Reverting to the previous version should be easy in the unlikely event I have to do it.

And there is the continuing suspicion that they may eventually go to a subscription model as they have already done with some Microsoft products. So maybe you can look forward to another bill---just like cable TV. Enjoy.

My tolerance for that kind of thing is low. Adobe's done that with Photoshop, along with their penchant with "collaboration/cloud/community", etc, and I'm not planning to upgrade - ever. When I was growing up, there WERE no computers, and somehow, we survived that. I could do without again, if need be (or buy a Ma...ma....ma.........MAC). THERE, I said it.

Jon Light wrote:But it also tells me that I've got a couple of utilities that won't work. One is no big deal but the other is my Norton 360 . That is a problem. For one thing, I just renewed.
So far I've just registered for 10. When they notify me of its availability, maybe by then Norton will be compatible.

I got similar results when I did the compatibility thing. My Broadcom stuff, drivers, etc for the bluetooth that's supposed to run on my PC, aren't compatible. I don't care, because the bluetooth stuff on my PC has never been right to begin with. I think poorly of Broadcom in general from past experience.

But this time won't be different from previous Windows versions - anytime MS releases one, there's always a flurry of activity by peripheral companies to update their software for compatibility.

Scott Duckworth · Post by **Scott Duckworth** » 2 Jun 2015 3:42 am

when I can't use Windoze XP anymore, I'll go to Linux...

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 2 Jun 2015 9:18 am

I check for Windows updates a couple times a week, plus I have a calendar reminder for their second Tuesday planned updates. I haven't received the volunteer icon in my Windows taskbar yet, but I guess there's plenty of time before the official release. I keep all of my equipment on the newest releases, so I'm sure I'll jump on this too, although I did skip Windows 8.

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 2 Jun 2015 9:44 am

Jim Smith wrote:I check for Windows updates a couple times a week, plus I have a calendar reminder for their second Tuesday planned updates. I haven't received the volunteer icon in my Windows taskbar yet, but I guess there's plenty of time before the official release. I keep all of my equipment on the newest releases, so I'm sure I'll jump on this too, although I did skip Windows 8.

I don't know from your post how you have your update preferences set, but if you don't have it set to automatically alert you when updates are available, that might be the reason you don't have it.

Microsoft Q&A on Win10 is at

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ ... pp_context

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 2 Jun 2015 12:59 pm

You must have KB3035583 installed to get the Win 10 notice.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 2 Jun 2015 4:32 pm

I went to MicroS#!T's website for Win 10. They talk about a program to check to see if you can install 10 on your computer. I can't find hide nor hair of it anywhere. Anybody have a clue?

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 2 Jun 2015 10:12 pm

Jack Stoner wrote:You must have KB3035583 installed to get the Win 10 notice.

I found my answer here: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... 99a883265b

"Your device is running Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise, or Windows RT/RT 8.1, which are excluded from this reservation offer."

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 2 Jun 2015 10:15 pm

Richard Sinkler wrote:I went to MicroS#!T's website for Win 10. They talk about a program to check to see if you can install 10 on your computer. I can't find hide nor hair of it anywhere. Anybody have a clue?

The same link http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... 99a883265b has instructions for creating a batch file to run on your computer and check if your device meets all the prerequisites.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 3 Jun 2015 2:29 am

Generally, the Enterprise version is used in corporate computer systems and whether those are upgraded is up to the company.

R/T is an old, obsolete, 32 bit tablet OS.

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 3 Jun 2015 6:20 am

Richard Sinkler wrote:I went to MicroS#!T's website for Win 10. They talk about a program to check to see if you can install 10 on your computer. I can't find hide nor hair of it anywhere. Anybody have a clue?

Do you have the app yet? If so, left-click it to open it, then, in the top left corner, left-click the menu icon at the top left cornerof the box, and you'll see a drop-down which includes the item "Check Your PC".

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 3 Jun 2015 6:33 am

Here is more info I got from a Windows 10 forum post.
You have to first do an "upgrade", and then if you want a clean install you can do that.

Well, those of you who prefer clean install over the upgrade will be able glad to know that you will be able to perform a clean install of Windows 10 by wiping your hard drive after the upgrade. That is, once you successfully upgrade to Windows 10, you can clean install Windows 10 using the license. The information comes is straight from Gabriel Aul, the head of Windows Insider Program at Microsoft.

Although Microsoft has not provided much information about the clean install, Microsoft will likely allow users download Windows 10 ISO by entering Windows 10 product key that you get after the upgrade.

In short, itâ€™s possible to perform clean install of Windows 10 once you successfully upgrade to Windows 10.
Can I clean install Windows 10 without upgrading?

No. If youâ€™re coming from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 and want to upgrade to Windows 10 for free, you must upgrade your Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 installation to Windows 10 first. Once successfully upgraded, you will able to perform clean install of Windows 10.

In the meanwhile, if youâ€™re on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 you can register for the free upgrade. And if you have already registered, we recommend you check if your computer and installed programs are compatible with Windows 10 using Upgrade Advisor in Get the Windows 10 app. And if you want to know what edition of Windows 10 you will get after the upgrade, go through our What version of Windows 10 will I get when I upgrade guide.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 3 Jun 2015 6:51 am

Isn't it usually wiser to NOT be among the first to upgrade, since it will be full of bugs and then, after they fix a bunch of stuff, get the next version of it? That's why I ignored the pop-up (plus not wanting to take the time to verify that it was legitimately coming from MS...)

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 3 Jun 2015 8:05 am

Jim Cohen wrote:Isn't it usually wiser to NOT be among the first to upgrade, since it will be full of bugs and then, after they fix a bunch of stuff, get the next version of it?

In my experience, beginning with DOS, long before the first Windows operating system appeared on the scene, Microsoft has not distinguished itself by releasing buggy OSes. Will there be some things that need tweaking? Sure, but that's always the case, and they're usually not show-stoppers.

That's why I ignored the pop-up (plus not wanting to take the time to verify that it was legitimately coming from MS...)

That never entered my mind. But even if it had, I'd have investigated that icon anyway. If it's not legit, that makes it even more imperative that I deal with it...NOW.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 3 Jun 2015 8:21 am

All OS, whether Microsoft, Apple, Android or whatever can have issues. But, Windows as Dave points out is not really the buggy Windows of old.

As long as the hardware is compatible the upgrade should go smooth. There is a chance some old software is not compatible but even that is probably very few.

If someone is going to update, go for it at the start.

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 3 Jun 2015 8:42 am

Jack Stoner wrote:If someone is going to update, go for it at the start.

And coming from one who already has Win10 installed, I'd think it would be somewhat authoritative.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 3 Jun 2015 8:44 am

Okay so what are the benefits of upgrading? Jack, have you noticed anything different?

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 3 Jun 2015 10:24 am

Dave Potter wrote:
Richard Sinkler wrote:I went to MicroS#!T's website for Win 10. They talk about a program to check to see if you can install 10 on your computer. I can't find hide nor hair of it anywhere. Anybody have a clue?
Do you have the app yet? If so, right click it to open it, then, in the top left corner, left click the icon inside the app, and you'll see a drop-down which includes the item "Check Your PC".

What app are you talking about? I have the icon in my task bar on the right side, but am afraid to click it. Is that the app you are talking about? I guess it won't do anything I don't want it to do.

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 3 Jun 2015 11:15 am

Richard Sinkler wrote:What app are you talking about? I have the icon in my task bar on the right side, but am afraid to click it. Is that the app you are talking about? I guess it won't do anything I don't want it to do.

That icon is a shortcut to what MS is calling a "Get Windows 10" app. It's harmless - just Microsoft's way of making it easy for your PC to call home.

Left click it and the app will open. Once it's open, left-click the menu icon at the top left of the box, and you'll see the "Check Your PC" link.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 3 Jun 2015 12:23 pm

The icon Dave is referring to is 3 short horizontal blue lines.

See this:

The Steel Guitar Forum

Microsoft's Giving Windows 10 Away - Free

Do You Plan To Upgrade to Windows 10?

Microsoft's Giving Windows 10 Away - Free