Microsoft Will End Final Free Windows 10 Upgrade Program On December 31

Microsoft offered Windows users a free upgrade to Windows 10 back when the operating system was released. In fact, Microsoft was so insistent people take the free upgrade it came under fire for essentially tricking people into installing it. The official free upgrade offer has been over for more than a year, but now Microsoft is ending the final workaround that let you get Windows 10 by telling a little white lie.

The ongoing free upgrade offer was implemented for anyone who wanted Windows 10 for its enhanced accessibility features. All you have to do is go to the landing page and promise that you are upgrading specifically because you need these features. Of course, Microsoft has no way of knowing if that’s true. You won’t be able to get the free upgrade to Windows 10 this way after December 31, 2017. The upgrade offer is valid for anyone willing to make the above pledge and is already running Windows 7 or 8.1.

Hopefully, anyone who genuinely does need these technologies takes advantage of the update. Windows 10 did make some important improvements to accessibility features. For example, the screen reader can process up to 800 words per minute (up from 400 per minute previously), and it supports many more languages. Many system apps also have better contrast and larger DPI modes. The on-screen keyboard in Windows 10 has been revamped with accessibility features in mind as well.

Microsoft obviously knew people were using the upgrade without any intention to use assistive technologies. Nevertheless, it kept the free upgrade offer going about 18 months longer than the general upgrade offer. During that time, Windows 10 adoption has advanced slowly but steadily. Some sources claim Microsoft is still struggling to increase Windows 10’s market share past that of Windows 7, but Microsoft itself says that hurdle has already been cleared. New PCs run Windows 10 out of the box, so that’s probably the bulk of future growth at this point. Anyone who’s going to upgrade probably already has.

Should you need a Windows 10 upgrade after the December 31st cutoff, you’ll probably have to pay for it. A license for the Home edition starts at about $75 for a system builder OEM copy that is tied to a specific PC. Retail copies with less restrictive licensing are a bit more expensive, as is the professional version of the operating system. However, Microsoft is reportedly planning to increase prices for Windows on some devices. That makes the decision to end the free upgrade just a little suspicious.

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