Users will get the free upgrade via Windows Update

May 20, 2015 04:31 GMT  ·  By

Windows 10 is almost here, and since the new OS will be offered as a free upgrade for those on Windows 7 and 8.1, people start wondering how exactly they will be allowed to install it from their current versions of Windows.

In a post on the Microsoft Australia Partner Network detailing the upgrade paths to Windows 10, the software giant also reveals that the free Windows 10 upgrade will be offered through Windows Update, so it will work very similarly to the technical preview that's currently available free of charge, as WSS notes.

Basically, users who'll want to upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 or 8.1 will have to download a small tool provided by Microsoft that will make the new OS available in Windows Update. This downloader is already up for grabs, and it turns out that Microsoft could use it to display upgrade notifications every few hours on computers running Windows 7 and 8.1.

Paid boxed Windows

Once the free one-year upgrade promo comes to an end, users will have to pay to switch to Windows 10, but pricing details are yet to be disclosed.

And yet, the very same blog post reveals that Microsoft is planning to release a boxed version of Windows 10 as well as VL upgrades, all available for a price in case you miss the free upgrade window.

“The free Windows 10 upgrade is delivered through Windows Update; domain-joined machines can manually get the update via Windows Update. The upgrade cannot be deployed through WSUS,” Microsoft explains.

Windows 10 will be offered as a free upgrade only for consumers, so enterprises will still have to pay to move their computers to the new operating system. Again, details regarding pricing are not yet available, but Microsoft is expected to share more information on this in the coming months, as we get closer to the rumored June/July RTM launch of the new OS.