Windows Insiders to be upgraded to Windows 10 RTM regardless of licens

I got an email today that told me I should upgrade to 8.1 (I am running 8.0) so that I can get the Free Upgrade to W10. The rest was all marketing sparkle. No details about versions and levels like Pro/core etc..

dencal said:

Are not Windows 8.1 and W7 activation keys tied to either your mobo or bios?
This would if true only allow bona fide customers to upgrade to W10.

Also again if true those who have clean installed 10071 from earlier W7 or W8.1 on the same computer should have no problems upgrading, but pirated copies would not be able to upgrade.

For Windows 8 PC's with OEM installs, the product code is in the BIOS. If its an off the shelf motherboard though, there is no Windows 8 product code in the BIOS. My laptops have a Windows 8 code in the BIOS, my two desktop PC's don't. I'm not sure if the Windows 10 even looks at the Windows 8 code, not yet anyway with the Insider preview. They could easily read it out if they wanted too though. If you had installed a Retail version of Windows 8 and then clean install Windows 10, Windows 10 isn't going to know what code was used for Windows 8.
Windows 7 OEM PC's use a SLIC table in the BIOS. It has OEM activation info, but does not contain a product code. If you clean install Windows 10 on a Windows 7 PC, Windows has no way of knowing what key was used originally, or what version of Windows 7 was installed from the factory. The OEM Windows 7 install media determines that. Windows 7 OEM installs don't activate online, and all use a generic Manufacturer product code. Same deal here if the original install was with Retail media. Windows 10 isn't going to know what key was used for that install if you've wiped it and clean installed Windows 10.
It's not as easy to keep track of as you think. Some activation info is stored at Microsoft, but what and how much is any bodies guess. They aren't saying.

MilesAhead said:

I got an email today that told me I should upgrade to 8.1 (I am running 8.0) so that I can get the Free Upgrade to W10. The rest was all marketing sparkle. No details about versions and levels like Pro/core etc..

I got an email yesterday saying I need to upgrade to 8.1 to get the free offer

I am running 8.1 though, so not sure if this is just a generic email

Davy49 said:

Hi All,
I also received that e-mail message about updating to windows 8.1, as I remember it also included some kind of link so you could check and see if you already had 8.1 installed. It said if you had the magnifying glass image showing on the modern tile page, 8.1 was already installed on your computer.
David

Looks like Win10 is getting ready to make a full appearance soon. :)

Davy49 said:

Hi All,
I also received that e-mail message about updating to windows 8.1, as I remember it also included some kind of link so you could check and see if you already had 8.1 installed. It said if you had the magnifying glass image showing on the modern tile page, 8.1 was already installed on your computer.
David

I got the same E-mail and everything on my W8.1 install is apparently good to go!