Microsoft: Windows 10 will be a free upgrade, with a caveat

On Wednesday, January 21, Microsoft took the stage at a small media briefing for its next major OS release, Windows 10. Realizing Windows has long been losing its momentum ever since that Vista train wreck in 2005, the Redmond-based software giant surprised attendees of its press event this morning by announcing that Windows 10 will be a free upgrade from Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 7.

For smartphones running Windows Phone 8.1, PCs running Windows 8.1 and PCs running Windows 7, the free upgrade will be available for a year. As mentioned, it’s only for the first year after Windows 10’s launch. Any time after that, it will presumably cost some amount of money to upgrade, but Microsoft did not clarify what that price will be.

Back by popular demand, the familiar blue taskbar sits in the right left corner of the Windows 10 desktop. The Start menu is more polished, better animated and available in the full screen mode as well.

Microsoft also confirmed that users that upgrade will have access to the latest versions of Windows 10 all for free. Compare that to Apple, which has had free upgrades, including major software versions, since 2013 with the launch of OS X Mavericks. Certainly, Microsoft may be late to the game, but for Windows users out there the free upgrade must be a worthwhile feature.

Some questions regarding Windows 10 are still left unanswered. It’s unclear, for example, how free upgrades will work or if they’re going to be subject to any hardware requirements.

Do you have any plans to upgrade to Windows 10 ?