Get Windows 10 Upgrade for free until December 31st, 2017.
Microsoft quietly announced they will discontinue giving away free upgrades of Windows 10 to genuine licensed users of Win 7, 8, and 8.1 at the end of this month.
If you’ve been holding out and still use earlier versions of Microsoft’s system software, consider using that link and going through the process to upgrade your PC. Allegedly Win 7, 8, and 8.1 (in addition to Win 10) all got patches for such vulnerabilities as the recent KRACK WiFi security risk. Microsoft may not support any version other than 10 in the future.
On the fence on whether or not to upgrade? We can’t make the decision for you, but we would love to help. Windows 10 is worth it for the security and continuous support alone. While functionally Win 7 was much better, Microsoft are moving all their support and updates to Win10.
What you save by upgrading for free this year:
Retail pricing information:
| Edition | Pricing |
| Windows 10 Home | US $119 |
| Windows 10 Pro | US $199 |
| Windows 10 Pro Pack | US $99 |
To keep it 100, there are reasons you may not want to switch to the newer version. They boil down to two main ones:
- You don’t want to participate in the testing of new, experimental features. This only happens if you have the Home version, Pro users should not have this problem.
- You are worried about the data collected and distributed by Microsoft through Windows 10. This again should be better for Pro/Enterprise users, but if you are worried about surveillance, stick with the Windows you know and already use.
You should upgrade if neither of those two considerations concern you.
You can read more about the built-in surveillance from Forbes written by Gordon Kelly with words from Microsoft VP Joe Bellfiore.
For more on security updates, performance tweaks, and time-and-money-saving tips check out our blog, follow us on twitter @oakcityit, and follow our facebook Oak City IT page.