New
#140
Microsoft has been pretty consistent that a free upgrade requires going from 7 or 8.x. The notion that insiders were going to get a freebie from them is a relatively new development and it sure appears to me that Gabe put some things out there that he apparently shouldn't have. Time will tell, but the shift away from activation strikes me as pretty significant.
Maybe it was written poorly, and for doubters, it should have been written like this:
Windows Insiders running the Windows 10 Insider Preview (Home and Pro editions) with their registered MSA connected to their PC will receive the final release build of Windows 10 starting on July 29th. This will come as just another flight. I’ve gotten a lot of questions from Windows Insiders about how this will work if they clean installed from ISO. As long as you are running an Insider Preview build and connected with the MSA you used to register, you will receive the Windows 10 final release build. Once you have successfully installed this build, you will also be able to clean install on that PC from final media if you want to start over fresh.
For All Other Machines Not Running PreviewIt’s important to note that only people running Genuine Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 can upgrade to Windows 10 as part of the free upgrade offer.*
My guess is that there are two slightly different sets of rules:
- What the lawyers want to allow you to do, and
- What the software will actually allow you to do.
I'm guessing the original blog post reflected (2) and it was amended to reflect (1).
But insiders could end up with a machine where the software says it's activated, but according to the EULA (which probably doesn't exist yet) it isn't legal.
Cyber, the first post by Brink (#1) in this thread gives us an official Microsoft document. Within that document, we're told that all Insiders who are using their registered Microsoft account will be updated to Windows 10 as if it were just another build. Once the RTM, GA, whatever, is installed on our computers, we will have the option to continue as an Insider or drop out of the program.
If we upgrade from Genuine Windows 7 or 8.1, we will most likely be activated with the Windows 7 or 8.1 information within our computers. Or not. :)