Redmond shares more info on Windows 10 in Barcelona

Oct 28, 2014 13:19 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President Joe Belfiore presented the new Windows 10 Technical Preview at the TechEd Europe conference in Barcelona, and while many of the demoed features are already available to users, the company exec also provided a few more unknown details about the way the upgrade from older operating systems would work.

Belfiore explained during the conference that users running Windows 7 Service Pack 1 on their computers would be allowed to upgrade to Windows 10 straight from within their operating system, without the need to install any other solution.

Some patches that will be delivered via Windows Update are very likely to make this upgrade possible, as this is already happening with the Technical Preview. Users who want to download and install Windows 10 TP on Windows 7 are allowed to do this all automatically using a patch shipped through Windows Update.

No other specifics were provided by Belfiore even though everybody expects to find out whether the upgrade will be free or not.

Windows 7 to Windows 10 upgrade could be free of charge

Word has it that Microsoft is planning a completely new approach for the release of Windows 10 in terms of pricing, with the upgrade to be free of charge for a number of existing Windows users.

At this point, it appears that Windows 8.1 users are the most likely to benefit from this offer, but some sources familiar with the matter explained that Windows 7 customers could also get some sort of discount after the launch of Windows 10.

Obviously, it’s too early to discuss any details, but expect Windows 10 to be offered to Windows 7 users not necessarily with a free license, but at least with a hefty discount.

Convincing Windows 7 users to upgrade, a priority

Microsoft tweaked Windows 10 in such a way that it would mostly appeal to Windows 7 users, as the desktop is very similar and also includes the famous Start menu that was removed in Windows 8.

What’s more, Microsoft also implemented a number of new features, such as multiple desktops and a notification center, all of which are supposed to make the desktop more appropriate for Windows 7 users where the mouse and keyboard are still playing a vital role.

That’s going to be a really hard mission, though, as Windows 7 is currently installed on nearly 50 percent of the world’s PCs, so it remains to be seen if a very affordable Windows 10 upgrade can do the trick.