Microsoft has finally pitched Windows 10 in its much anticipated live event. For many of us who were curious about the price of the package, it may come as a pleasant surprise that Microsoft has offered a free upgrade with complete support to anyone using Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or Windows Phone 8.1. Terry Myerson from Microsoft clarified that the free deal is to last one year from the launch of Windows 10.
It’s fair to assume that there might be some hardware limitations involved with running Windows 10 on devices that currently run Windows 7. However, Microsoft has not revealed any specifics as to how the company intends to make this work. Nevertheless, a simple upgrade could be seen as a nice and easy way for Windows users to port to the next version without having to incur costs or deal with different variants.
Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for anyone using Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or Windows Phone 8.1
Making this transition easy for Windows users across PC and smartphone platforms alike also adds to the benefit of Microsoft itself. It’s obvious that the company has struggled in the presence of competitors like iOS and Android.
This could be its ticket to substantially growing its userbase, while possibly gambling on the revenue it may have earned if Windows 7 users were not offered the upgrade plan. It just goes to show Microsoft is thinking long term and not chasing short term gains at this point.
Myerson also marks this as an opportunity for developers to target all Windows devices as they create apps. Thus, he sees it as a much more complete package than the fragmented variants we have today. Do note that inspite of the fact that this makes Windows 7 seem even more outdated, that version of Windows remains the most renowned OS to date. While there is no word on the release date yet, Windows 10 is set to launch later this year.
