Which edition of Windows 10 will you get for free?

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

Windows 10 will come in Home and Pro editions. Which version will you get for free?

Microsoft is doling out Windows 10 as a free upgrade to users running Windows 7 or 8.1. But the edition of Windows 10 that you receive will depend on which edition of Windows you're running now.


Microsoft is counting heavily on Windows 10 to erase the bad memory of Windows 8. As such, the company has made the unprecedented move of offering it as a free upgrade for the first year in hopes of drawing in as many users as possible. Windows 10 also provides a more unified environment among PCs and mobile devices, so Microsoft is hoping the new OS will trigger greater demand for Windows PCs, tablets and mobile phones.

Windows 10 will be available in Home and Professional editions, as well as an Enterprise version for big businesses. So which edition of Windows 10 will you get as part of your free upgrade? A reader asked me this question the other day, so I thought it'd be worth a look.

On its Windows 10 Q&A page, Microsoft tried to address many of the common questions about Windows 10 and the free upgrade. One section in particular called "What edition of Windows will I get as part of this free upgrade?" responds to that very question. Microsoft's Windows 10 Specifications page also answers this question. But basically, the edition you receive will be comparable to the edition you already run.

Windows 7

• Those of you who currently run Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Home Basic or Windows 7 Home Premium will be upgraded to Windows 10 Home.
• Those of you running Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate will be upgraded to Windows 10 Pro.

Windows 8.1

• Those of you running Windows 8.1 (the standard edition) will receive Windows 10 Home. And those of you running Windows 8.1 Pro or Windows 8.1 Pro for Students will receive Windows 10 Pro.
• On the mobile phone side, if you're running Windows Phone 8.1, you'll get Windows 10 Mobile as your free upgrade.

So what are the differences between Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro?

A Microsoft blog post from May 13 described each edition. Windows 10 Home is the "consumer-focused" desktop edition aimed at PCs, tablets and 2-in-1 devices. Windows 10 Pro is also geared for PCs, tablets and 2-in-1 devices but throws in extra features for small businesses, such as the ability to manage your users' devices and use the remote desktop tool to log onto and control another PC.

There are some caveats and conditions with the free upgrade.

If you're using Windows 7, you must be running Service Pack 1 in order to receive the free upgrade. Windows 7 Service Pack 1, or SP1, has been available as an update since 2011, so you should already have it installed. To check, click the Start button in Windows 7, right-click the setting for Computer. Click Properties from the popup menu. The screen to View basic information about your computer should list Service Pack 1. If not, you can download it directly from Microsoft's Download Center.

If you're still running Windows 8.0, you'll have to upgrade to Windows 8.1 to get Windows 10 for free. To check this, open the Apps screen, scroll or swipe to the right of the screen until you see a tile for "This PC." Right-click that tile and click Properties from the popup menu. The screen to View basic information about your computer should list Windows 8.1. If not, you can upgrade to 8.1 by launching the Windows Store app where the 8.1 update should still be waiting for you.

Some Windows editions are not eligible for the free Windows 10 upgrade. These include Windows RT/RT 8.1, Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise. The Enterprise editions are geared toward large organizations, which typically have their own licensing agreements with Microsoft.

Windows 10 will be available as a free upgrade starting July 29. But that free upgrade is good only for one year as of that date. Once that first year is over, a copy of Windows 10 Home will run you $119, while Windows 10 Pro will cost $199. And for those who want to upgrade from the Home edition to the Pro edition, a Windows 10 Pro Pack will cost $99.

Microsoft has already been pushing the new OS to Windows 7 and 8.1 users through a Get Windows 10 system tray icon that prompts you to reserve your free copy of Windows 10 so it's automatically downloaded come launch date. You don't have to reserve your copy now but if you want Windows 10 for free, just remember to download and install it before that first year is up.

Source : https://www.yahoo.com/tech/s/edition-windows-10-free-142023479.html

 

[mikehende]

So as a tech you can offer to do the free upgrade to win10 for those machines which qualify but how would you get the win10 OS?

 

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

Once you download the update, you'll see the Get Windows 10 Icon in your system tray.
Read This

 

[mikehende]

Hey Cindy, is this a new site? I had wanted to post for help on extreme a few days ago but thought something was wrong when it kept redirecting me to this site.

Also, any idea what happens if users upgrade for free but at the end of one year deiced that they don;t wish to keep win10?

 

[starbuck]

is this a new site?

Domain Change

any idea what happens if users upgrade for free but at the end of one year deiced that they don;t wish to keep win10?

How to Rollback to a previous version of Windows from Windows 10

 

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

It looks like Pete has already answered both of your questions.

Thanks, Pete!

 

[mikehende]

Yes thanks Pete! Ok guys to sum up, if I wish to install win10 on anyone's machine, it must be currently running win7 or 8 and they should know that win10 will only for for them for one year after which time they will need to purchase, if this is correct then I am still confused on how to actually get the win10 once someone drops off their machine here?

 

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

The machines have to be running either Win 7 SP1 or Win 8.1.
Windows 10 will come in the form of an update which you should be able to see in your system tray.

The Windows 10 update must be installed within 12 months of the July 29th release date or you will have to pay for it.

The free Windows 10 is good for the life of the device that you install it on.
This means if you have to replace something like the motherboard, you will lose Windows 10.

 

[starbuck]

Looks like Cindy beat me this time

 

[Plastic Nev]

The notification for installing Windows 10 on or after July 29th should be showing as a small window icon on the task bar at the bottom right Mike.
That turned up as a normal Windows update which can be found in the installed updates and is numbered KB3035583. If however the computer has been set to not receive or install updates, then obviously it won't be there.
Clicking on that small window task bar icon opens a window which gives you the chance to reserve the Windows 10 download as well as giving instructions what to do after July 29th once the Windows 10 has been downloaded to the computer. You can install it at any time after it has downloaded, so no need to do so right away, though it may not work after the full twelve months has passed.
Also, if for whatever reason the KB3035583 update is not installed, or has not activated to launch the window icon, you can download Windows 10 direct from the Microsoft site after July 29th.
There has been the odd occasion where KB3035583 did not activate and produce the task bar icon. The solution is to uninstall KB3035583, then find it on the Microsoft site and reinstall it. My laptop had that problem.

Nev.

 

[mikehende]

The notification for installing Windows 10 on or after July 29th should be showing as a small window icon on the task bar at the bottom right Mike.

Hey guys, just checking, any news on this please?

 

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

Everyone running Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 should have the Windows upgrade notification in their taskbar, Mike.

 

[Plastic Nev]

As per my previous post, if there is no icon, check that you have that update KB 3035583 installed.
Open the windows update page from your control panel, then click "View update history" in the left hand side column. Have a look in the list and see if it is there.

 

[starbuck]

If you have no icon or you have reserved a copy and it still hasn't arrived.... you can use the Media Creation Tool from M$.
The Win10 upgrade for my laptop seemed to get itself lost in cyber space .... so I used the Media Creation Tool and got the upgrade straight away.
Just click on Upgrade this PC now if you don't want to create a disc .... and it'll start the process.

 

[mikehende]

Hey guys, thanks for the info, sorry I did not get the notifs about these posts. I am currently creating bootable disks with the 4 versions and only thing I am confused with is if someone has win7 Home and wishes to upgrade to win10 Pro, how much would they need to pay, $199?

 

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

It looks as if the cost to upgrade from Home to Pro would be $99.00, Mike.

http://www.howtogeek.com/222458/should-you-upgrade-to-the-professional-edition-of-windows-10/

 

[mikehende]

So I am not understanding in which scenario one would need to pay $199?

Windows 10 will be available as a free upgrade starting July 29. But that free upgrade is good only for one year as of that date. Once that first year is over, a copy of Windows 10 Home will run you $119, while Windows 10 Pro will cost $199. And for those who want to upgrade from the Home edition to the Pro edition, a Windows 10 Pro Pack will cost $99.

 

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

If you haven't upgraded to Windows 10 by July 29th 2016, it will cost you, $119 for Windows 10 Home and $199 for Windows 10 Pro.

 

[mikehende]

Thanks! I am trying to download and create bootable disks of the 4 versions of win10, in this link there is an all in one version:

http://getintopc.com/softwares/oper...10-all-in-one-multiple-editions-iso-download/

but after downloading the ISO when I try to create the dvd it shows "not enough space on the disk", the dvd size is 4.7 GB so which disk would I need, a dual layer?

 

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

The full setup size shows as 4.8 GB so I guess a dual layer disk is in order.