Officially the period of free upgrade to Windows 10 was finished six months ago, although there was a user group that continued to update without any problem against Microsoft promises to stop those upgrades out of schedule. Now, one of the editors of ZDNet has verified that it can continue to update without problem.
If he could do it was because the servers were still active. I wanted to upgrade a computer running Windows 7 to Windows 10 and discovered that, because the servers were still running, the process still works perfectly.
To do this you just have to go to the Windows 10 download page, get a copy to create an installation tool and then install it as a system upgrade instead of a clean one. And that’s it, this is how easy it is to get a copy of Windows 10 activated and totally legal without scratching your pocket.
Now: it only serves with official Microsoft licenses. If you use an illegitimate copy you will not have a copy of Windows 10 activated, so this method will not work either. If you have an official Microsoft product key, then serve yourself.
An “official legal vacuum”
Since Satya Nadella arrived things at Microsoft have changed for the better. In a sense there are those who equate him with Steve Jobs, even if he stands on the other side of the spectrum. Perhaps that is why it is so surprising that there is this “official legal vacuum,” whereby any user can continue to get their copy of Windows 10 totally free.
As reported in Extreme Tech, it seems that the update program is still in place for users who need the assistive technologies without trying to validate in any way whether the user needs them or not, so the conclusion is very obvious: Microsoft has finished With its official program updates, but leave this possibility there for anyone who discovers it independently take advantage.
Microsoft put a 12-month limit in the hope that there would be a greater adoption of Windows 10, or maybe it has reached an agreement with the OEMs not to show again the announcement of the free update for a while. Be that as it may, the company has left, who knows if intentionally, this small shortcut to Windows 10 open. After all, each machine that upgrades becomes the system usage statistics.
Windows 10 Insider Preview another way to get it for free
Another way to get Windows 10 without disbursing one euro is to join the Windows Insider Program. With the Insider program you can upgrade your computer with Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 to the new version of the Microsoft operating system, and receive updates before anyone else.
In case you do not know exactly what the Windows Insider Program is, let’s say you will become a Microsoft beta tester for your desktop operating system. What you will receive will never be final versions, but test versions that will have some degree of instability.
To register for the program you will need a valid Microsoft account (just an Outlook account). You will have to log in with it on the Windows Insider website, and when you have done you will be able to download installation images from the Insider Preview.
There are two types: the fast ring and the slow ring. Fast images include many new features, but they are the most unstable. The slow ring takes longer to incorporate new functions, but what you get in return is a much more finished product.
