Reminder: Windows 10 Free Upgrade Promotion Ends Today
Just a friendly reminder that today is the final day that folks with Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 can upgrade to Windows 10 for free. The free upgrade promotion – which has been running for nearly a year now – will come to a close at midnight, so if you've been procrastinating but planned to upgrade, now is definitely the time. Of course, many of you are probably well aware that the promotion has been going on for a year, given the rather annoying desktop pop-ups that urge you to upgrade. Those should (presumably) be ending too, so cheers all around.
Microsoft announced back before Windows 10 first released that upgrades would be free to those who owned Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, attempting to gain as many new Windows 10 users as possible. It seems to have worked relatively well, with Windows 10 now running on 350 million devices around the world according to Microsoft. The company's goal is to have that number reach 1 billion by 2018, and this free promotion is going to go a long way toward achieving that goal.
However, the road to 350 million Windows 10 devices has been bumpy indeed. Those Windows 10 pop ups mentioned earlier drove a lot of users nuts, not only because they were annoying, but because they were confusing as well. This led to some users giving permission to the Windows 10 install without even realizing it, and one particular mix-up resulted in Microsoft paying out $10,000 to a disgruntled customer. There have also been some privacy concerns surrounding Windows 10, with France recently putting Microsoft on notice for the amount of data operating system collects from users and how that data is transferred internationally.
Love it or hate it, Windows 10 is here nonetheless, and those who don't want to be charged to upgrade – Windows 10 Home costs around $100 through various online retailers – should probably click that little Windows button down in the system tray sooner rather than later. Alternatively, you can snag the upgrade by heading to Microsoft's Windows 10 download page. If you're on the fence, keep in mind that Microsoft will allow you to revert back to your old version of Windows within 30 days after updating to Windows 10.
Will you be updating to Windows 10, or are you planning to stick to your current version for the foreseeable future?