News Microsoft Says the Days of Free Windows 7 to 10 or 11 Updates Are Over

[Admin]

Microsoft has issued a statement marking the end of free updates from Windows 7 and 8.X to Windows 10 and 11, but free upgrades from Windows 10 to 11 are still encouraged.

Microsoft Says the Days of Free Windows 7 to 10 or 11 Updates Are Over : Read more

 

[USAFRet]

For all the naysayers that bitch about a Windows license being "too expensive"....

A $100 purchase in 2009 (Win 7 Home) giving you near 20 years or more use (through 10, then 11, possibly 12) is not a bad deal at all.

 

[baboma]

This is fairly irrelevant at this point, as Win 10 is already on the outs, and Win 11 requires hardware that Win 7/8 PCs don't have and can't upgrade to . Win 11 itself is about to exit stage left to make way for Win 12 next year. The people who want to upgrade would've done it long ago.

I doubt MS cares either way. Windows is shaping up to become a service, and the software itself is slated to become the proverbial "free" razor so MS can sell razor blades. Ads are appearing in menus in both Home and Pro editions (but not in Edu or Enterprise ones), along with the bloatware. I can only think that that avenue will be more heavily monetized in the future.

That, and the integration of CoPilot (aka Bing Chat) in Windows itself will allow for yet more ad-placement opportunities. That's where the money's at for MS, not the OS cost.

I've been using CoPilot in Win for a few days. It's useful and convenient to have. But I'm fairly certain I'll strip it out after a while, after the novelty wears off, in favor of web-based chatbots. The convenience isn't worth the privacy loss.

 

[mrv_co]

I'll ride my Win10 (relegated to gaming only nowadays) Pony into the sea and reassess on or at some point after October 14, 2025.

 

[Dr3ams]

For all the naysayers that bitch about a Windows license being "too expensive"....

A $100 purchase in 2009 (Win 7 Home) giving you near 20 years or more use (through 10, then 11, possibly 12) is not a bad deal at all.

In Germany you can buy a Windows 11 Pro license, online, for under 70 Euros. I have several original Windows 10 OEM discs, so I don't have any need to purchase an 11 license.

I do think that Windows 7 was the best OS that Microsoft ever developed though.

 

[USAFRet]

I do think that Windows 7 was the best OS that Microsoft ever developed though.

People have said that about every Windows version since...ever.
OK, maybe not Me.

 

[Colif]

OK, maybe not Me.

no way, ME was amazing /s

I think out there somewhere is someone who thinks windows 2.0 was the best version.

At least no more updates means I won't have to update my VM with a new version ever again.

 

[Dr3ams]

People have said that about every Windows version since...ever.
OK, maybe not Me.

Yeah, been using Windows since 3.0. Of course it's a subjective opinion, but out of all those versions I've used, Windows 7 still remains my favorite.

 

[MoxNix]

M$ keeps giving us more and more reasons to switch to Linux.

 

[USAFRet]

M$ keeps giving us more and more reasons to switch to Linux.

Have YOU made the switch 100%?
If not, why not?

 

[hotaru.hino]

M$ keeps giving us more and more reasons to switch to Linux.

What, because they stopped the free upgrade program for an OS that they stopped selling around 7 years ago?

If you want "free as in beer", you can Windows 10 and 11 indefinitely without activating it.

 

[Colif]

If you want "free as in beer", you can Windows 10 and 11 indefinitely without activating it.

i think its a faint hope that we will see the light and swap to linux.

Win 11 was meant to be what convinced us all to swap... next it will be win 12.

 

[hotaru.hino]

i think its a faint hope that we will see the light and swap to linux.

Win 11 was meant to be what convinced us all to swap... next it will be win 12.

We could say it started with Vista (since Ubuntu got traction back then) or Windows 8.

 

[Colif]

every misstep is a chance

 

[ex_bubblehead]

A word of warning to everyone, discussion of "cheap" keys or methods of bypassing licensing will result in deletion of the message and a permanent ban from this thread.

 

[Math Geek]

Have YOU made the switch 100%?
If not, why not?

took a while but i finally made the switch

i keep a win 10 VM on hand for the few games i want that need it. but day to day is fully linux now. was a big learning curve to passthrough resources to the VM, but finally got dedicated gpu, usb ports and such for the vm so it actually performs well. don't ask me how i did it, but it is def not for the faint of heart!!

 

[littlefooch]

I have no opinion on comparison of OS's, other than the SSD speed issues did not occur for me on latest Ubuntu

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Let's keep the conversation centered on the thread topic. Take all discussions of drive speed etc. to another thread.

 

[Colif]

start a question about ssd speed if you have a problem...

 

[pug_s]

From WindowsCentral,

"Even though Microsoft said the upgrade offer had expired, users found that they could still upgrade from Windows 7 and Windows 8 to Windows 10 without needing to buy a new product key. In fact, Windows 10 would accept Windows 7 and 8 keys with no question asked."

Makes no sense. I stil have a bunch of windows 7 keys from old corp pc's that I can use.

 

[hotaru251]

A $100 purchase in 2009 (Win 7 Home) giving you near 20 years or more use (through 10, then 11, possibly 12) is not a bad deal at all.

counterpoint: Linux exists for free.

if schools and game devs would actually teach linux and support it Windows would die so fast becasue linux is massively better apart from fact its not as quick to learn nor supported by the 3rd party devs who just focus on windows.

 

[USAFRet]

counterpoint: Linux exists for free.

if schools and game devs would actually teach linux and support it Windows would die so fast becasue linux is massively better apart from fact its not as quick to learn nor supported by the 3rd party devs who just focus on windows.

Yes, Linux is free.
I use it almost daily. As well as Android. As well as Windows.

And the Year Of Linux on the Desktop is....

 

[sitehostplus]

For all the naysayers that bitch about a Windows license being "too expensive"....

A $100 purchase in 2009 (Win 7 Home) giving you near 20 years or more use (through 10, then 11, possibly 12) is not a bad deal at all.

I just went from Windows 11 home to Windows 11 pro .....<Mod Edit>

 

[USAFRet]

I just went from Windows 11 home to Windows 11 pro ....

And as mentioned above, discussion of "cheap" licenses is off topic.

 

[CParsons]

M$ keeps giving us more and more reasons to switch to Linux.

A move to MacOS is more likely.