[SOLVED] Is Windows 10 FREE?

[PaulDesmond]

Can anyone on this forum please help me. I have been using Windows 7 for decades as I preferred it to the strange design of Windows 10 and my PC was not up to Windows 10. I would buy a DVD and pay £100 or about that for Windows.

Now I buy a laptop with Windows 10 home edition. This is on a 30 day trial period. How do I pay for this. According to Windows it is activated through my Microsoft digital account. Does this mean it is free? I don't believe this. I have asked this question on a Microsoft Windows 10 forum and not received a proper answer. Is it pay monthly / pay every year? How much?

Hope someone here who doesn't work for Microsoft can help me!

 

[Deleted member 14196]

You can use windows 10 for free as long as you like you just won’t be able to change the watermark or the wallpaper

 

[sizzling]

There is no 30 day trial, you either have a license or you don’t. I suspect this trial is for an Office 365 subscription and not your Windows license. When you bought the laptop it should have said whether it included a Windows license or not.

 

[quyens22]

Microsoft allows anyone to download Windows 10 for free and install it without a product key. It’ll keep working for the foreseeable future, with only a few small cosmetic restrictions. And you can even pay to upgrade to a licensed copy of Windows 10 after you install it.

 

[Math Geek]

There is no 30 day trial, you either have a license or you don’t. I suspect this trial is for an Office 365 subscription and not your Windows license. When you bought the laptop it should have said whether it included a Windows license or not.

this is most likely what you are seeing. very unlikely you bought a laptop with no windows key. i don't think it even has a 30 day window if you install win 10 anyway. it's either activated or it is not.

 

[Colif]

screenshots probably help more. Upload to an image sharing website and show link here.

 

[PaulDesmond]

Okay. Thanks for all your answeres. I never heard of Microsoft NOT wanting to charge for Windows.

Just one thing though.
" you just won’t be able to change the watermark or the wallpaper "

AND. I am getting pop up screens telling me to download Windows 11. If I don't want to do this will I get plauged by these pop ups?

 

[Colif]

i think if you keep saying no they should stop.

your PC came with windows, it wasn't free, its part of the purchase price

 

[PaulDesmond]

Thanks everyone for all your help. I have spent days on a Microsoft forum and they could have told me all that.

Can I quote from the Microsoft forum
Upgrading (some would say 'downgrading')


THANK YOU.

 

[Endre]

Can anyone on this forum please help me. I have been using Windows 7 for decades as I preferred it to the strange design of Windows 10 and my PC was not up to Windows 10. I would buy a DVD and pay £100 or about that for Windows.

Now I buy a laptop with Windows 10 home edition. This is on a 30 day trial period. How do I pay for this. According to Windows it is activated through my Microsoft digital account. Does this mean it is free? I don't believe this. I have asked this question on a Microsoft Windows 10 forum and not received a proper answer. Is it pay monthly / pay every year? How much?

Hope someone here who doesn't work for Microsoft can help me!

"Legit" Windows 7 keys work on both, Windows 10 & 11.
If not, you can buy a functional Windows 10 key from eBay or some other site for just $10-$20 USD.

 

[USAFRet]

Can anyone on this forum please help me. I have been using Windows 7 for decades as I preferred it to the strange design of Windows 10 and my PC was not up to Windows 10. I would buy a DVD and pay £100 or about that for Windows.

Now I buy a laptop with Windows 10 home edition. This is on a 30 day trial period. How do I pay for this. According to Windows it is activated through my Microsoft digital account. Does this mean it is free? I don't believe this. I have asked this question on a Microsoft Windows 10 forum and not received a proper answer. Is it pay monthly / pay every year? How much?

Hope someone here who doesn't work for Microsoft can help me!

Win 10 has never been "free".

With buying a new laptop or other prebuilt system (Dell/HP/Lenovo/etc), the Windows 10 license was included in the purchase price.
Unless specified otherwise in what you purchased.

What you're seeing about "30 days" is a trial for Office.
Not your Windows 10.

For the Win 11 upgrade, just tell it "No". It will probably eventually stop bugging you.