Windows Insiders will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 RTM for free

Wynona said:

Me too, Dave. In fact, I have never done twitter at all. My kids forced me onto Facebook and that's enough for me.

Seems to me that everyone who's testing Windows 10 is most likely on Win 7 or 8/8.1, so it's a given that Insiders would get the free upgrade. Not that I'm trying to rain on anyone's parade. It would be really nice if that were true, because I want it on all my computers, including the old, old HP laptop with only Windows 10 on it.

A little (personal )puzzle for me is. Apparently MS/Abe assume everyone is using Twitter. I, for one, do not unless something is drawn to my attention, like this topic. Surely, an announcement, or comment such as being discussed here, would be 100% more appropriate on the insider pages, and in more depth?

I need more clarification on this, how exactly will the upgrade be handed out? I'm planning on a new PC build when school ends and I need to know whenether I can use this free upgrade to get a genuine copy on my new pc build installed since OS license.

EDIT: I think that what MS meant was that people didn't have to reinstall win7 first in order to be eligable for the upgrade

UltimateAntic said:

I need more clarification on this, how exactly will the upgrade be handed out? I'm planning on a new PC build when school ends and I need to know whenether I can use this free upgrade to get a genuine copy on my new pc build installed since OS license.

EDIT: I think that what MS meant was that people didn't have to reinstall win7 first in order to be eligable for the upgrade

We all need more clarification, Antic. Because from the get-go, things haven't been adequately explained. All we know for sure is that everyone with a valid license to Windows 7 or Windows 8.x will get a free license for Windows 10 RTM and that we will have one year to "upgrade" to Windows 10 RTM.. That's it!

Contrary to what some have come to believe, one year doesn't mean we'll have a one year license to Windows 10. It will be for the life of the machine (whatever that turns out to be) and will be updated and patched the same as prior Windows versions.

We don't know how that "upgrade" will happen; whether we will be allowed to clean install or if we must upgrade the current OS on the machine. [I feel sure that one of the authors of Windows Tutorials will come up with a way to clean install if Microsoft doesn't "allow" it.]

We've been told the upgrade will be for the life of the machine; however, we haven't been told what the life of the machine is according to Microsoft.

From what I've gathered, there will be one version of Windows 10 for consumers; one size fits all, whether it be a tablet, laptop or desktop.

EDIT: I think that what MS meant was that people didn't have to reinstall win7 first in order to be eligable for the upgrade

There are several trains of thought on this, and most think you will be able to use your Win 7 or 8.x key to install Windows 10. However, there are a whole lot of pirated keys that allow Windows 7 & 8 to be installed, so that would have to be covered. It could also be that Microsoft plans to "check the BIOS" for a prior key, which would leave those whose machines are more than a few years old, or those who built their machines more than a few years back kinda laying in the dirt. I'm sure there are other ways too, but I'll leave that for those far more knowledgeable than I to surmise on . . .

That's all the "further information" I know for sure, and it's not much, I'll admit. :)

@Wynona

How will Microsoft do keys that are OEMSLP for Windows 7 & 8? Windows 7 users will have access to the key on the back/bottom of the machine. Some Windows 8/8.1 from what I read won't have access to Oem key it is not listed anywhere. When OEMs use those pre-activated key, that internal key is used on more than one machine. I just hope Microsoft doesn't kill the OEMSLP key. For example one OEMSlp upgrade to windows 10 and the other user decided to keep windows 7. If Microsoft kills that key it would show legit systems as not legit.

groze said:

@Wynona

How will Microsoft do keys that are OEMSLP for Windows 7 & 8? Windows 7 users will have access to the key on the back/bottom of the machine. Some Windows 8/8.1 from what I read won't have access to Oem key it is not listed anywhere. When OEMs use those pre-activated key, that internal key is used on more than one machine. I just hope Microsoft doesn't kill the OEMSLP key. For example one OEMSlp upgrade to windows 10 and the other uses decided to keep windows 7. It Microsoft kills that key it would show on legit systems as not legit.

Ya got me, Groze. Like I said, I'll leave that for those who know a lot more than I do to figure out. :)

It really wouldn't be that difficult to do. If you do a clean install Windows 10 can check to see if a valid key is available in the bios. If a key isn't found then Windows 10 could ask you to type in a valid key. If the key is valid then Windows 10 can install and activate. If the key is invalid the install can stop until a valid key is typed in. I think what Gabe meant was for those who installed Windows 10 over Windows 7 or 8.1 or a clean install will be able to update to Windows 10 final without reloading the earlier version of Windows. This way you could keep everything and not have to start over.

I'm running W10 in VMWare on W7 as I'm sure lots of other insiders are - so we will presumably have to delete that after a certain date and MS will update W7 to 10 if we want it. Personally, I'll stick with W7 at least for a while and see how W10 progresses.
There's nothing in it that I want at the present time - except Edge/Spartan doesn't seem bad.

They provide a key in the Insider Group. If you use that key then you would have a valid licensed OS.

Gary said:

They provide a key in the Insider Group. If you use that key then you would have a valid licensed OS.

That KEY is for the preview, and in fact, there are threads here that list the different keys. But, these are only for the Preview.

Mark Phelps said:

That KEY is for the preview, and in fact, there are threads here that list the different keys. But, these are only for the Preview.

Read The Insiders Hub. If you are using an Insiders Build, you can upgrade directly to the final release. Also know that not every build that shows up on WU is an Insiders Build.