What happens to those free Windows 10 upgrades after July 29, 2016?

[RV_]

All my sytstems are on 10 and run perfectly despite a driver glitch on one and a BIOS firmware update needed on another. July 29th the free upgrade offer is over.

 

Lots of folks have the mistaken notion that they have all the time in the world because MS will surely extend the free offer. Nope! Just like the October 2012 through January 31st $14.99 offer to buy a license for Windows 8 Pro and a free copy of Media Center. I bought four licenses and still have one I need to use on a new to me system I need to pick for refurbishing in the next week or three. I urged friends then to buy and some really regretted not getting it cheap.

 

So once again I am urging folks to backup their data and upgrade free to 10 now. Then since it tags your hardware with a license once you do, you can revert to 7 if you don't like it and once the free offer is over I doubt they will be forcing it on anyone. And anytime you want to switch to 10 on that system only, you can free.

 

Excerpt:

 

"We're nearing the end of Microsoft's unprecedented free upgrade offer for Windows 10. The offer officially expires July 29, 2016, on the one-year anniversary of the operating system's initial release. But what happens then? [updated]

 

Microsoft's ambitious plan to get Windows 10 running on a billion devices within the next few years depends to a large extent on the success of its free upgrade offer.

 

When the company first announced the terms of that offer in May 2015, it literally included an asterisk and fine print. Those terms have changed slightly over the intervening months, but one element has remained constant: The offer is good for one year after the availability of Windows 10.

 

Here's the actual wording of the offer, as it appears today:

Get the best Windows experience. Ever.

 

Ready for Windows 10? Qualified Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 devices can upgrade for free. Offer ends July 29, 2016.

 

The text that appears in the fine print at the bottom of that page has changed slightly over the past year. Here's how it now reads (emphasis added):

 

The fine print on the Windows 10 upgrade offer, as of June 2016.

 

Here's the lite version if you don't want to keep reading:

 

1. The free upgrade offer ends on July 29 and will not be extended.

2. Any upgrades completed before that date will be valid for as long as the device lasts.

3. There is a possibility that Microsoft will introduce some new upgrade offers after July 29, but don't count on it.

 

In fact, Microsoft's real goal with this upgrade offer isn't just to get its installed Windows 10 base to a billion. The long-term goal is to help close the books on Windows 7 in an orderly fashion before its extended support commitment ends on January 14, 2020.

 

Some of those Windows 7 PCs will simply be retired, of course. But what about those that are only a few years old and have more than four years of usable life ahead of them? For Microsoft executives, the prospect that hundreds of millions of PCs will still be running Windows 7 on New Year's Day 2020 has to bring back unpleasant flashbacks of Windows XP's messy end."

 

Much more details and charts/pics in the full article here: http://www.zdnet.com/article/what-happens-free-windows-10-upgrades-after-july-29-2016/?ftag=TRE17cfd61&bhid=19724681974700635514865380622813