14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 is no longer offered as a free upgrade to users running Windows 7 and 8.1, so Microsoft's aggressive push for everyone to install this new operating system finally comes to an end.
And the company is making several changes accordingly, as it no longer needs such an aggressive tactic to push Windows 10 on computers powered by Windows 7 and 8.1.
One of these changes concerns the way Windows 10 is offered to PCs that were eligible for the upgrade, so the new operating system is no longer listed as a recommended update in Windows Update.
Microsoft previously offered Windows 10 as a recommended update through Windows Update, which means that the new OS was automatically selected whenever users wanted to patch their systems.
As a result, the necessary installation files, as well as all the other items needed to get Windows 10 running, were downloaded together with other patches, so the only thing left to do was to initiate the installer.
Get Windows 10 app not yet gone
Starting July 29, Microsoft is also no longer showing Windows 10 upgrade notifications on Windows 7 and 8.1 computers. The Get Windows 10 app, often referred to as GWX, will continue to be available on these PCs, but no upgrade notifications will be displayed, so the nagging is finally over.
Additionally, GWX will only show that the free upgrade window has ended, but only when opening the app. Users can remove it by uninstalling KB3035583, and Microsoft says that, at some point in the future, it’ll do that itself anyway, so it’s up to you to decide whether to do it right now or wait to have it removed automatically.
Other than that, the only way to upgrade to Windows 10 legitimately is to purchase a license, obviously, if you didn’t perform the upgrade before July 29. The most affordable version is Windows 10 Home, which costs $119.99 in the United States.