Microsoft Changes Windows 10 'Free Upgrade' Rules

Windows 10 is free!

Communicating this message to the masses has been easily Microsoft MSFT +0.00%’s biggest success in the last year and the result has seen over 110 million installations in just 11 weeks. Of course the small print tells a different story, but Microsoft has now made a massive change for the better…

Talking to the official Windows blog, Windows and Devices Group Vice President Gabe Aul has revealed an upcoming build of Windows 10 will let users register the platform using their existing Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 keys:

“If you install this build of the Windows 10 Insider Preview on a PC and it doesn’t automatically activate, you can enter the product key from Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 used to activate the prior Windows version on the same device to activate Windows 10 by going to Settings > Update & security > Activation and selecting Change Product Key,” he explained.
Furthermore, Aul said anyone looking to perform a clean install of Windows 10 by booting off media (eg: USB drive or optical disc) would be able to use these Windows 7 and Windows 8 keys during the setup.
In short: this is huge.

Why? Because Windows 10 can now behave like the past 20+ versions of Windows. Previously those looking to clean install Windows 10 could only get the free upgrade by literally upgrading Windows 7 or Windows 8 to Windows 10 (which registered the hardware with Microsoft) and then formatting everything and performing a Windows 10 clean install.

Read more – Windows 10 Upgrades Explained: Who Gets It Free?

Yes, it was a ridiculous situation and one which saw Microsoft forums flooded with abuse from angry users. Something to which even Aul himself now alludes:

“We have received a lot of feedback from Insiders on making it easier to activate Windows 10 on devices that take advantage of the free upgrade offer to genuine Windows by using existing Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 product keys.”

But despite this extremely positive development, a number of pertinent questions remain:

Can Windows 10 be activated using a valid Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1key which has already been used on a different machine?
Would the above course of action make Windows 7/8/8.1 invalid on that machine?
Can a Windows 7/8/8.1 key be deregistered from a Windows 10 machine in future to upgrade a different PC – just like Windows keys have previously worked?
Will the changes have any effect on the period after 29 July 2016 when the Windows 10 free upgrade offer is scheduled to end?
Needless to say, I’ve reached out to Microsoft for answers to these questions and will upgrade when/if I receive any answers. The company has been notoriously secretive about the inner workings of Windows 10 up to this point, so hopefully that will also change to reflect the more open upgrade policy.

Then again looking at recent examples of Microsoft’s behaviour still leaves much to be desired…

Windows 10 Upgrade Drive Hits Full Throttle

Of course, welcome as the wider acceptance of keys is, it is also symptomatic of the acceleration of Microsoft’s focus on pushing as many people to Windows 10 as quickly as possible.

In fact in pursuing this goal Microsoft has, in my opinion, regularly overstepped the line. For example, last month it admitted to downloading Windows 10 on all Windows 7 and Windows 8 computers even if the user has explicitly said they did not want to upgrade. Microsoft’s response to this:

“For individuals who have chosen to receive automatic updates through Windows Update, we help upgradable devices get ready for Windows 10 by downloading the files they’ll need if they decide to upgrade.”

Pull the other one!
On top of this last week Microsoft quietly re-issued patches for Windows 7 and Windows 8 which send it hardware analysis to determine the potential of a computer to upgrade to Windows 10. It combined this with the re-release of a patch to once again start popup desktop advertisements on Windows 7 and Windows 8 computers urging their users to upgrade to Windows 10.

These tactics remain a step too far, but if Microsoft can continue solving the most unsatisfactory elements of Windows 10 then perhaps it can earn everyone’s trust in a more honourable way.