14 DAY TRIAL // Back in 2015 when it officially launched Windows 10, Microsoft also released a campaign, inviting Windows 7 and 8.1 users to upgrade to the new OS version at absolutely no cost.
The only condition was for these Windows 7 devices to be using a genuine product key, with Microsoft explaining that it wanted everyone to benefit from the improvements that were bundled in Windows 10 without paying.
In other words, starting with mid-2016, the free upgrades were supposed to end, so whoever wanted to upgrade to Windows 10 just had to pay the full price of the license.
And yet, upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10 at no extra cost not only was possible even after the one-year promo came to an end, but it also works today, as discovered recently.
Microsoft apparently hasn’t changed anything about the way the free upgrades work, so if you want to do it, all you need is the Media Creation Tool from Microsoft to perform an in-place upgrade. It all takes a while because it needs to download the Windows 10 installation media and prepare all files for your device, but when the process comes to an end, you should be running an activated copy of the new OS.
All Windows 7 computers should be able to run Windows 10, though support for some features might not be available because they require new hardware. Microsoft too says getting a new PC is the right way to go for anyone on Windows 7.
“While you could continue to use your PC running Windows 7, without continued software and security updates, it will be at greater risk for viruses and malware. Going forward, the best way for you to stay secure is on Windows 10. And the best way to experience Windows 10 is on a new PC. While it is possible to install Windows 10 on your older device, it is not recommended,” the company explains.
Getting back to the free upgrades, in case you’re wondering how come they still work after all these days, it’s because Microsoft itself wants you to upgrade to Windows 10. According to a company employee who turned to reddit some time ago, the free upgrade promo launched in 2015 was just a campaign supposed to push more people to Windows 10 as quickly as possible, but on the other hand, Microsoft intended from the very beginning to allow the free upgrades even after the one-year campaign came to an end.
“That whole "free" upgrade for a year was fully marketing fluff. After the cut off happened, the direction given was that it requires a paid license HOWEVER, this was brought up by the brick and mortar stores that they were doing simple clock changes on customer devices during the upgrade challenge to get around it and then ultimately it was clear two years later that anything Windows 7 and up would go to 10 fully activated and still to this day,” the claimed employee said.
“WDG didn't care pretty much at all because Terry Meyerson at the time cared more about his upgrade stats than license revenue as Windows isn't Microsoft's cash cow anymore. It's the same stance back in the day where Microsoft would allow Windows Updates on pirated copies of Windows 7 as the bigger picture was to thwart security threats based from those copies.”
So there you go, Windows 7 is no longer supported, but you can always upgrade a computer to Windows 10. All at absolutely no extra cost.