Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for all Windows 7 and 8.1 users if done within the first year of release. Today at the WinHEC technology conference in Shenzhen, China, Microsoft’s Terry Myerson revealed that Windows 10 will be a free upgrade to users regardless of whether the current Windows installation is genuine or not. With studies showing that up to 75% of Windows PCs in China are using illegitimate copies of Windows and other PC software, giving Windows 10 away for free is a bold move to fix the rampant piracy problem.
Terry Myerson spoke with Reuters regarding the announcement, stating “We are upgrading all qualified PCs, genuine and non-genuine, to Windows 10.” He continued on to state the plan is to “re-engage” with the hundreds of millions of users in China.
It’s a sweet deal for sure, but with Microsoft focusing less on making money directly from sales of Windows licenses to the sales of services like Office and OneDrive it makes sense to get legitimate software running on as many PCs as possible. However with a note that Microsoft will be working with Lenovo on the rollout, it’s unclear if this offer extends to†illegitimate users outside of China. We suspect it will, given the focus on getting Windows 10 and it’s ability to run universal apps on as many devices as possible.
UPDATE:
Or not? Shortly after this news broke, Microsoft PR released a statement indicating that this may not be as clear-cut as it sounded.
Here’s the statement given to Polygon.com:
The consumer free upgrade offer for Windows 10 applies to qualified new and existing devices running Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1. Some editions are excluded from the consumer free upgrade — including Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise, and Windows RT/RT 8.1. Active Software Assurance customers in volume licensing have the benefit to upgrade to other Windows 10 enterprise offerings.
We have always been committed to ensuring that customers have the best Windows experience possible. With Windows 10, although non-Genuine PCs may be able to upgrade to Windows 10, the upgrade will not change the genuine state of the license. Non-Genuine Windows is not published by Microsoft. It is not properly licensed, or supported by Microsoft or a trusted partner. If a device was considered non-genuine or mislicensed prior to the upgrade, that device will continue to be considered non-genuine or mislicensed after the upgrade. According to industry experts, use of pirated software, including Non-Genuine Windows, results in a higher risk of malware, fraud (identity theft, credit card theft, etc), public exposure of your personal information, and a higher risk for poor performance or feature malfunction.
So what does this mean for pirates? We can’t say for certain as far as China is concerned, since there’s now conflicting information.†For the rest of the world, it simply means that the installer will still upgrade a non-genuine PC, but you’ll still be non-genuine when you’re done.
