4 edits |
[WIN10] Windows 10 Free Upgrade Offer Details |
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 DavesnothereChange is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada
3 edits |
Thanks for the info.
This seems to answer ONE question which I have seen asked a few times here :
"Will Win 8.0 users will have to upgrade to 8.1 before qualifying for 10 ?"
At first glance, looks like a YES.
Or by 'Win 8.1 Update', did they mean that other update which has been added to 8.1, which some of us call 8.1.1 ?
Either way, MY take is that Win 8.0 does not qualify, though they stated it back-handedly / indirectly once again.
However, chances are that most earlier Win 7 users have SP1 anyway, as enough time has passed by now, and all current Win 7 ships with it installed and/or slipstreamed. |
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coryw
join:2013-12-22
Flagstaff, AZ |
coryw
Member
2015-Apr-3 12:39 pm
Windows 8.1 may as well be 8.0 SP1, as it is a free upgrade, so from that perspective, people whose computers still have Windows 8.0 can get to Windows 10, it just happens to be by way of Windows 8.1U1. |
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 Michail
Premium Member
join:2000-08-02
Boynton Beach, FL |
to Gone Fishing
I hope they make clean installs easy for those of us who upgraded to the CTP or just allow the transition. They did that for the insider program for Windows Phone 8.1.
But it is weird they are saying "Windows Phone within the first year". Since when are phone paid upgrades? |
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 beck
MVM
join:2002-01-29
On The Road |
to Gone Fishing
Ok, I give up. How do you get to the page that asks you which operating system you currently have? |
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 Msradell
Premium Member
join:2008-12-25
Louisville, KY |
Msradell
Premium Member
2015-Apr-4 11:01 am
said by beck:Ok, I give up. How do you get to the page that asks you which operating system you currently have? I was wondering exactly the same thing! I went through the sign-up procedure but never got that screen. I wonder if maybe it auto detects how your machine is set up in some cases? |
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said by beck:Ok, I give up. How do you get to the page that asks you which operating system you currently have? said by Msradell:I was wondering exactly the same thing! I went through the sign-up procedure but never got that screen. I wonder if maybe it auto detects how your machine is set up in some cases? "...
Windows 10 is coming soon and we're glad you signed up to learn more about it. This is the first of several emails you'll get with the very latest news and info.
..." |
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 Wily_One
Premium Member
join:2002-11-24
San Jose, CA |
Wily_One
Premium Member
2015-Apr-4 1:53 pm
Thanks - more spam to avoid.
I'll just wait until the info is published. |
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DavesnothereChange is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada |
to Gone Fishing
Thanks for the further info.
I see that the dark blue background section (which you also added to your OP) seems more clear (than the earlier screengrabs which you presented) that the '8.1 update' is a requirement, and not just Win 8.0, NOR only Win 8.1 without the further update.
Does everybody else get the same impression from that particular info box ? |
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HereToHelp2
Anon
2015-Apr-4 4:40 pm
said by Davesnothere:
Thanks for the further info.
I see that the dark blue background section (which you also added to your OP) seems more clear (than the earlier screengrabs which you presented) that the '8.1 update' is a requirement, and not just Win 8.0, NOR only Win 8.1 without the further update.
Does everybody else get the same impression from that particular info box ? MS has already stated you need to be on Windows 7 Sp1 or 8.1 to upgrade. If you're on Windows 7 prior to SP1 or windows 8.0 you'll have to upgrade to Sp1 or 8.1 FIRST before upgrading to windows 10. Why anyone would still be on 8.0 instead of 8.1 when it's free and easy upgrade is beyond me. |
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DavesnothereChange is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada |
I don't use ANY of those, but that's not the point, and I'm not here to debate the relative merits of each version or update pack.
The earlier wording (in the first screenshot) was LESS clear.
The newer wording is MORE clear, about what your current OS status must be, in order to get the free Win 10.
That was my only observation. |
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 gzt7d8Aliens live amongst us
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
Traverse City, MI |
to Gone Fishing
Thanks for the info. I had not seen that yet.
gs |
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Msradell
Premium Member
join:2008-12-25
Louisville, KY |
to Davesnothere
said by Davesnothere:
Thanks for the further info.
I see that the dark blue background section (which you also added to your OP) seems more clear (than the earlier screengrabs which you presented) that the '8.1 update' is a requirement, and not just Win 8.0, NOR only Win 8.1 without the further update.
Does everybody else get the same impression from that particular info box ? After reading your comments I went back and looked at the screenshots that I believe you're right. You only get that second section if you are using one of the versions of Windows that can't be updated to Windows 10 for free. If you are using one of the ones that can be updated you don't get it. |
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DavesnothereChange is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada
3 edits |
So if I visited the site with my Vista or XP machine, I wonder what it would state to ME ?
One way to find out....
EDIT :
XP Home SP3, FireFox 24.8.1 ESR - I visited the first link offered in the OP :
When I got there, the top item says that I must install Silverlight to see the content.
But, next below it is the more vague lighter blue info box presented at the top of the OP : "Free Upgrade Offer*...."
Then there is some other stuff. |
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Mele20
Premium Member
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI
2 edits |
to Gone Fishing
About windows 10 | 
PC's and tablets link at top |  |
I don't see any free upgrade offer at that first link. I see a very silly video powered by a child's voice ( very thin young female voice...indicating weakness and junk in Windows 10) and I see the holographic stuff which is certainly not ready for the public...wear one of those awful glasses things? Geez...I spent most of my life wearing either thick lenses glasses or contact lenses...I am free of that crap now with Crystal lens implants. I would never wear glasses again...hate 3D glasses too. Windows 10 (so far in Preview) is very little difference from Windows 8 that I have. The only real difference so far is Spartan which is ugly as hell at this point and has nothing really new that I would find useful...maybe it will as time goes by. The only other real difference between Win 10 and Win 8 is how updates to Windows are achieved. Forcing me to allow auto updating has been hell in the Preview (although I understand the reasons for it in beta) and I sure would not want that in final Windows 10. It is a terrible idea for desktop users who run their machines 24/7 365 days a year. Just another hostility from Microsoft toward desktop users. I think it would be ok if not on a desktop or even on a desktop that was shut down fully every day at the end of work, etc. but not for anyone running 24/7. Anyhow where is the free upgrade offer? Not on that link for me. EDIT: I was using my default browser Pale Moon 25. I had to fire up IE 10 to see it..shame on Microsoft. Anyhow, what does this mean "we will continue to keep it up to date for the supported lifetime of the device". Does that mean that until your upgraded PC finally dies of old age Microsoft will keep it up to date? I would not think that the case so what do they mean? |
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| Mele20 |
Mele20
Premium Member
2015-Apr-6 12:12 am
I can't sign up for the newsletter about it because Microsoft tries to FORCE me to abandon my LOCAL ACCOUNT for Windows 8 and instead use only a Microsoft account. It is VERY INVASIVE OF MY PRIVACY to be able to sign up for the newsletter. Microsoft says I have to be signed into my Microsoft account to sign up for the newsletter. So, I signed into my Microsoft account which is SEPARATE from my local User Account. Then I went back to the page where you click to sign up for more information and tried again. I got a page with a red address bar and IE saying the page is insecure. How LOW Microsoft has fallen! They are using GoDaddy cert! BARF. That's the cert authority that gets so many infected. Why isn't Microsoft using their own cert??
Besides that I got an error message that I can't signup for the newsletter because I am NOT signed into my Microsoft account. I AM signed into it but I signed in DIRECTLY and evidently Microsoft won't allow that. It will consider me signed into my Microsoft account ONLY IF I ABANDON MY LOCAL ACCOUNT FOR WINDOWS 8.
I guess I will not be upgrading because right now I can use Windows 10 Preview with a LOCAL account and I don't use any of the Metro apps so I don't need a LACK OF PRIVACY Microsoft account as my sole account for Windows 8. But it looks like it won't be possible on final Win 10 to have a local user account and sign in separately, when needed, to your Microsoft account. |
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DavesnothereChange is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada |
All the more reason for folks to not accept Win 10 - even if FREE !
They still want SOMETHING in exchange.
They keep this up and Win 7 will become 'The New XP'. |
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2 edits |
I thought it already was at this rate regarding Windows 7 being the new XP. |
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Mele20
Premium Member
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI
2 edits |
to Davesnothere
To be more specific, Microsoft wants me to sign INTO an app I have never heard of before. (Granted, I don't use the Metro apps that come with Win 8 or Win 10 Preview but I recognize them). Maybe Microsoft just created this app just for this purpose? When I try to subscribe I get a screen that says I need to give permission to this app I have never heard of so THAT THE APP ITSELF CAN SUBSCRIBE ME. Then the app has privileges from then on to do whatever it wants on my computer. Supposedly, I can later log back into my Microsoft account which now is basically my account for Windows 8 (if I allowed this app to do its thing) and turn off the app's ability to do as it pleases on my computer. Well, whoop ti do! What a lot of convoluted hassle just to be able to signup for a newsletter.  Please tell me why Microsoft thinks I am so stupid as to not be able to enter my email address to subscribe to the newsletter? Evidently, I am too stupid to do something that simple that I have done a million times over the years I've had computers and instead have to allow privileges to an app to do it for me and at the same time obliterate the separateness of my Microsoft account with my user local account for my computer. Plus, a more practical question. What if I don't want the newsletter coming to the email address that I use for my Microsoft account? I would NOT want it to come to that address but apparently Microsoft thinks users have only ONE email address. (Or, to be fair to Microsoft maybe if I did allow the app all these privileges then the app would ask me if I wanted to use a different email address). But why not just let me enter the damn email address and be done with it! Windows 8 and 10 are both too convoluted and take ten times as long to get something done as do earlier versions of Windows and constantly raise the issue of privacy. Another thought that just occurred to me is how can this app run on my computer? I have UAC disabled in the registry so no Windows 8 apps can run. So, why would this one be different and if it is then why can't I run the other Windows 8 apps (if I wanted to do so) with UAC disabled? Fishy, fishy. Maybe if I clicked on it then it would notice that UAC is disabled and then it would say it can't run? If so, how sloppy of Microsoft as they could make the app notice immediately when I clicked to subscribe that I have UAC disabled and returned an error message like any other Win 8 app does if I were to click on it, Actually, there is NO GOOD reason that I can see as to why I would need to link the newsletter to my Microsoft account. Unless it an official Microsoft newsletter that is controlled as to subscribing, unsubscribing, HTML or Plain Text, etc INSIDE one's Microsoft account....like how you subscribe to Microsoft Security Bulletins, or a bunch of other newsletters they offer. If this newsletter is in that list then what the heck is the app needed for? Microsoft should just say go sign into your Microsoft Account and go to the list of offered newsletters, scroll down, find this one and add it. I'd do that. Since you can't do that this must be NOT a REAL Microsoft newsletter. It has a funny webpage...and is secured by GoDaddy not Microsoft Internet or Root Authority. It must be third party! UGH. So, this is probably a MARKETING PLOY and no telling what the heck the GoDaddy website it links to will do with the user's email address after getting their grubby hands on it. Sell it and Microsoft profits? Did you notice that tje ENTERPRISE version is EXEMPT from the offer? Microsoft is creating shit Windows 10 for consumers and decent REAL Windows 10 for Enterprise users it looks like. Plus, what about Pro version vs plain Windows? Why would a Pro version user want to upgrade to what essentially will be a PLAIN version of Windows? I paid for Pro version of Windows 8. Any upgrade should be to the same version I paid for PRO or higher. I'd probably take a free upgrade to Enterprise version. I don't want the plain crap consumer version. Microsoft will make legitimate money off the Enterprise version but will have to make money in a shady way (killing any remnants left of privacy to do so) off the consumer "free" version. |
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 stev32k
Premium Member
join:2000-04-27
Mobile, AL |
to Gone Fishing
One thing I haven't seen mentioned is that the "Free" upgrade is only free for 1 year. There is no mention of what the price will be after that. |
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DavesnothereChange is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada |
to kickass69
said by kickass69:I thought it already was at this rate, regarding Windows 7 being the new XP. I was being polite, and giving them the benefit of the doubt for a while yet - I'm Canadian, you see.  |
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| Davesnothere |
to Mele20
said by Mele20:....Another thought that just occurred to me is how can this app run on my computer?
I have UAC disabled in the registry so no Windows 8 apps can run.... That alone sounds weird. I do not use Win 8.x, but on Vista, when I turned off UAC thru the Control Panel, any app at all is allowed to run, rather than less apps than when UAC was active. Is that a 'feature' of 8, or just of that particular registry tweak ? And is there a way to turn off UAC in 8 in the Control Panel, which has the same effect which I get by doing so in Vista ? |
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Davesnothere
1 edit |
to Mele20
said by Mele20:Actually, there is NO GOOD reason that I can see as to why I would need to link the newsletter to my Microsoft account....
....this must be NOT a REAL Microsoft newsletter. It has a funny webpage...and is secured by GoDaddy not Microsoft Internet or Root Authority. It must be third party! UGH.
So, this is probably a MARKETING PLOY and no telling what the heck the GoDaddy website it links to will do with the user's email address after getting their grubby hands on it. Sell it and Microsoft profits? Wouldn't surprise me one byte ! Info = $$, especially recently. Then again, MS could have outsourced the operation of the newsletter, if that saves them cash. Still, one would expect them to want to keep this sort of thing in-house. Hmmmm....  |
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Mele20
Premium Member
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI |
to Davesnothere
When I got this computer Nov 2012, I left UAC on and it quickly drove me nuts so I googled and found tutorials on how to completely disable UAC (registry setting that many also use on Windows 7) or how to leave it on but tame it...several suggestions. The tutorials pointed out that using the popular Windows 7 registry fix was not a very good idea on Win 8 because then NO Metro app could run. I wasn't interested in the Metro apps so I went ahead and did the registry fix. If I try to run a Metro app (including Microsoft store) I get a popup saying the app can't run with UAC turned off. To be fair to Microsoft, that's a security safeguard in Windows 8 but there for ignorant of computers users and shouldn't have been forced on everyone. I was just recently made aware of Winaero and I installed it on both Win 8 and Win 10 Preview. I can turn UAC on/off in it which is faster and easier than the going into the Registry to change a setting. I actually turned UAC on with it in Win 10 Preview and UAC has been quiet but then I haven't installed any new programs on Win 10. In Windows 8, the UAC slider is there in the control panel and you can adjust it but not turn off UAC. An interesting thing regarding signup for this newsletter is that I decided last night to access my Microsoft account so I could look at the long list of all available newsletters and see if this one was listed and if I could signup that way. I couldn't recall the specific url so I just went to Microsoft.com and clicked on Signin. Gee, I found myself inside the Microsoft store! Even now, my computer tells me Microsoft Store is inaccessible unless I turn on UAC so I am left scratching my head. Are there TWO Microsoft stores? Maybe there are. One is a Windows 8 Metro app and the other is normal access? If that is the case, Microsoft did NOT have this second access when Win 8 was new. Accessing the store was possible ONLY via Metro Store app with UAC enabled. Anyhow, I find myself in this Microsoft store that looks nothing like MY Microsoft Account that I thought I was logging into! This Microsoft store wanted to sell me stuff and has nothing to do with my Microsoft account that I could see. So, I looked through my fat paper and pen file full of login names, email addresses, passwords, etc going back to my first computer in 1999. I found Profile.Microsoft.com. That's what I wanted in the first place and you used to be able to get there by signing in on any Microsoft.com page. It used to be known as Windows Live ID and before that Microsoft Passport. It has nothing to do with buying stuff but is just a link so you can post in Microsoft Help forums and access your profile. So, I went to "Profile.Microsoft.com" and logged in there. Then I looked for the list of Microsoft newsletters and the list of the ones I am currently subscribed to. I went through the long list (tedious to do) and couldn't find any newsletter about Windows 10 free offer or anything about Windows 10. So, that makes me even more suspicious that the newsletter is not from Microsoft. (I also looked at the Microsoft page on Win 10 free upgrade from Fx in Windows 10 Preview. It definitely detects your current OS because it just had a blank space where information should be about upgrading). I really think it odd that at Microsoft.com clicking on login logs one into the Microsoft store rather than into your profile as it used to do. If I go to a Microsoft or Technet support forum and I click on login I get the familiar login to My Account but I no longer get that at Microsoft.com. Very weird. And when did Microsoft make the store available to people like me who have UAC disabled and can't get in the store through the store app? I didn't look around much when in the store because I wanted My Profile. I didn't see any link in the Store for signing up for the newsletter. Apparently, that can ONLY be done by this third party Metro app that might or might not run on my computer with UAC disabled. Maybe some apps that are not shipped with Windows 8 can run with UAC disabled but that is news to me. There must be more than ONE Microsoft account because that app that wanted to run (to sign up for the newsletter) said I could later deny it all privileges on my computer by going to my account and it showed I currently have NO apps that have privileges - makes sense since I don't use Metro apps - but when I finally went to Profile.Microsoft.com and signed in, I couldn't find anywhere there a place where Metro apps with privileges would be listed or where it would say none. |
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to Davesnothere
said by Davesnothere:said by Mele20:Actually, there is NO GOOD reason that I can see as to why I would need to link the newsletter to my Microsoft account....
....this must be NOT a REAL Microsoft newsletter. It has a funny webpage...and is secured by GoDaddy not Microsoft Internet or Root Authority. It must be third party! UGH.
So, this is probably a MARKETING PLOY and no telling what the heck the GoDaddy website it links to will do with the user's email address after getting their grubby hands on it. Sell it and Microsoft profits? Wouldn't surprise me one byte ! Info = $$, especially recently. Then again, MS could have outsourced the operation of the newsletter, if that saves them cash. Still, one would expect them to want to keep this sort of thing in-house. Hmmmm.... Actually, from what I recall of free Microsoft OS upgrade giveaways for qualifying OS versions in the past, Microsoft always outsourced it to some company that made it a hellishly slow, convoluted and generally all around difficult experience. So I wouldn't put it past them to kick the process off early in such a way. However, I don't necessarily expect them to force a disc delivery as the only means to aquire the new OS this time around. So an account approval may this time have the option for a download once Windows 10 is released. This should at least let some people wave the S&H costs of the disc(s). Pricing info should be released soon though because while many people will be eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 10, there will still be many people that won't qualify and still want the option to buy. One also has to wonder if Microsoft will have some initial discount pricing for Windows 10 for early buyers. If it's ~$30, ~$40 or ~$50 for a license I might want to buy a few before sacrificing a Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 license. |
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DavesnothereChange is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada |
said by Octavean:....One also has to wonder if Microsoft will have some initial discount pricing for Windows 10 for early buyers.
If it's ~$30, ~$40 or ~$50 for a license I might want to buy a few before sacrificing a Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 license. You mean that a free Win 10 license will nuke the old OS's one ? What if we later wiped the PC and tried to reinstall the prior OS ? Will the old keycode magically become invalid ? It would take one mother of all databases to track such an endeavour ! And we won't know until someone is able to try rolling back. |
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67845017 (banned)
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL |
to Gone Fishing
This thread is like visiting Bellevue. And I don't mean the one in Washington state . . . |
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to Davesnothere
said by Davesnothere:You mean that a free Win 10 license will nuke the old OS's one ?
What if we later wiped the PC and tried to reinstall the prior OS ?
Will the old keycode magically become invalid ? Microsoft would have a hard time doing a key nuke as they'd need to keep an upgrade re-install to Win10 do-able, they can't invalidate OEM as pre-built PCs use a VL key/SLIC vs the sticker on the machine itself. Another option is they'd re-purpose Win7 OEM sticker keys for Win10 re-install validation to make life easier which could be a "reasonable" solution. At the direction of Microsoft ramming a "Microsoft Account" upon users after Windows 8.1, they are risking turning Windows 7/8 into XP... under Win8 you could individually pick/choose which apps touched the Microsoft Account while using a "Local Account", after 8.1 they required it to use OneDrive/Office sync. On my Thinkpad I just created a separate MS log-in account and a local account for non-MS fluff. I'm not impressed with how Microsoft is handling 8/8.1 & 10, their attitude of being too big to fail like Adobe is only giving incentive for customers to look elsewhere. If/when my PCs break down, I'll only be touching Windows via Parallels/VMWare for the few remaining Windows programs I rely upon. |
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 darciliciousCyber Librarian
Premium Member
join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR ·Ziply Fiber
·Frontier FiberOp..
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to 67845017
said by 67845017:This thread is like visiting Bellevue. And I don't mean the one in Washington state . . . Best post of the day, thanks for the laugh, I had a hearty one!! |
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Mele20
Premium Member
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI |
to Davesnothere
said by Davesnothere:You mean that a free Win 10 license will nuke the old OS's one ?
What if we later wiped the PC and tried to reinstall the prior OS ?
Will the old keycode magically become invalid ?
It would take one mother of all databases to track such an endeavour ! Microsoft has already done crazy stuff with licensing on Windows 8. According to Microsoft, I no longer have a Dell Windows 8 Pro license because I installed Windows Media Center and that "erased" my Dell license and my PC now shows a Microsoft license and I am unable to access the Dell store app because I no longer own a Dell machine. Of course, at the same time Microsoft did NOT take over my extended Dell Warranty for hardware and software (in so far as I need any kind of help with ANY software I put on the computer). The Dell key is still in BIOS but only ONE new keyfinder can find it. I still have the Dell recovery partition and I have a Dell Reinstallation USB key which would have to work because I still have eight months on my extended Dell warranty and plan to purchase two more years before this year is up. My current possible problem is that if I need to roll back, etc. I would have to first uninstall Windows Media Center and then I think everything would be back to "normal" as far recovery, reinstallation of Windows 8, etc. But just think what an utter mess for me if I do upgrade to Win 10. I would first have to upgrade to Win 8.1 Pro and then to 10 Pro? If there is only plain jane 10 and Enterprise 10 then why would I upgrade? I paid for Pro version of Win 8 and I would expect that on any upgrade but Microsoft hasn't said diddly squat about Pro v Home v Enterprise, etc. Let's say there is a Win 10 Pro and a free upgrade to it and I do it. Six months after I get it something awful happens and I call Dell (because the computer is still under extended warranty) and they need me on Win 8.0 Pro to help me so I have to try to revert or I have reinstall which would mean first reinstalling Windows 8.0 Pro, then 8.1 Pro and then Win 10 Pro. This sort of nightmare that I actually experienced with my first computer is why I never upgraded my XP Pro SP2 machine to SP 3 and why I may just stay with Windows 8.0 Pro (even after it goes unsupported by Microsoft). I think the license for Win 10 free upgrade will be superficial if you own an OEM machine like a Dell, HP, etc. I think after upgrade your computer will show via Belarc Advisor and most key finders a Microsoft key for Windows 10 but if the machine was Windows 8/8.1 the bios key will still be there. So, you decide to downgrade back to Win 8/8.1 and reinstall that version and BIOS would offer the key so the install would be valid downgrade. With Windows 7, that is tricker because you would probably need to use the key on the sticker on the side of the computer if you got rid of Win 10 and reinstalled Win 7 but with a Dell the Dell key in bios would be used which is not your key. If you did not use Dell media for reinstallation of Win 7 then you would likely need to use the key on the side of the computer. |
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