Does anyone know the specific licensing details for the free Windows 10 upgrade?
By Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
Manchester, England
August 5, 2015 1:51pm CST
As most users of Windows operating systems will already be aware, Microsoft have offered a free upgrade to Windows 10 for anyone running a genuine copy of either Windows 7 or Windows 8. However, the licensing criteria surrounding this upgrade appears a little uncertain. This may seem superfluous or irrelevant, but could prove critical in time.
Obviously once a system is upgraded to Windows 10 then it will be licensed, but it is unclear whether the licence is in addition to that of the original version of Windows or simply transferred from one to the other. I personally suspect that the licence will be transferred, otherwise people could upgrade then install the original version on another machine.
Windows 10 does contain a downgrade option for those who discover that they were happier with their previous version, which will obviously transfer the licence back to that version. Unfortunately the option is only scheduled to be valid during the first month after upgrading, so if the original licence ceases on upgrade then it would be impossible to reinstall it even with the original disk beyond this point.
11 people like this
8 responses
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
6 Aug 15
I am now convinced that I will NOT be upgrading!
2 people like this
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
6 Aug 15
@Asylum Being somewhat computer illiterate and not a lover of change, I guess I'm just being a coward.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
6 Aug 15
@sparkofinsanity You are certainly alone in that because thousands of people have the same reluctance every time that Windows changes. For me this is not a problem because I have used most Windows versions and several installations of Linux over the years.
2 people like this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
25 Aug 15
The practicality of that would depend on which operating system you are currently using. Windows 8 is still relatively young, but Windows 7 is currently 6 years old.
You could always upgrade for a period of 2 or 3 weeks in order to assess it's suitability for you. Even if you do so and then downgrade, you could still upgrade again at a later date.
Of course you have a full 12 months in which to make a final decision.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
26 Aug 15
@LadyDuck I would certainly be tempted to replace Windows 7 with upgrade, despite it still being a decent version.
If your new computer came with a version of Windows, then you could revert to that and run the upgrade. This would allow you to try Windows 10 before upgrading the old computer and then reinstall Linux.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160949)
• United States
6 Aug 15
Some of this information confuses me. I did install ten. I feel I am losing nothing getting rid of 8.1. I have very little stored here.
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
6 Aug 15
I consider Windows 8.1 to be a very good operating system. I am aware that it is currently unpopular, but this tends to apply to all operating systems initially because people are so reluctant to change.
I remember many friends refusing to move onto Windows 7 because it did not wo0rk in the same way that Windows XP did. Now those same people are saying that they will not waste their time with Windows 10 because it is different to Windows 7.
@owstalaga (4707)
• Philippines
1 Sep 15
Well I don't want to upgrade at all even if it is free. If I get a new computer I would but I don't think that would be anytime soon. 
@owstalaga (4707)
• Philippines
1 Sep 15
@Asylum yeah because it has glitches as far as I know. Or I just don't want to change now. hehe...
@kevin1877uk (36988)
•
25 Sep 15
Good question and I'm not sure, maybe transferred so making the older copy of windows you have useless if you are wanting to put them on another computer if you have one.
@garymarsh6 (23404)
• United Kingdom
20 Sep 15
I have a daily note come up asking me to upgrade to windows 10. I have yet to do so I will wait a bit until all the problems are ironed out.
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
21 Sep 15
This is quite a common approach taken by many people when a new operating system is introduced.
Personally I find it to be a good version.
As it turns out, upgrading to Windows 10 does not affect the licence for the previous version, so you can upgrade then change back at any time.
