Sometime last year, Microsoft released the current version of its popular desktop OS, Windows 10. Windows 10 brings with it a shift in strategy for Microsoft and that is why the company made so much noise about it. Even though Windows 10 brings with it a lot of changes, one of them that got many people interested in it has to do with the regular release of updates and not the three-year release cycle of new OS versions.
Back to Windows 10, the company is reporting that it is installed in over 300 Million devices at the moment. Windows 10 has been around for less than a year so this number is huge. Microsoft’s plan is to have that number reach 1 billion within the next 2 years so the company may be on the right track given that it has been able to reach the 300 million in less than a year.
End of the road for the free upgrade offer
As Microsoft announced that Windows 10 is now running on over 300 million active devices, the company also announced the free upgrade offer is ending soon. As you may know, when Microsoft announced Windows 10, the company said that those who own genuine Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 for free within the first year. After the first year, it will cost you will have to purchase the full version of Windows 10 for $119.
The free upgrade offer ends on July 29 and after that you will have to pay to upgrade. Keep in mind that you need to have a genuine version of Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 to be eligible for the free upgrade offer.
Microsoft did not say anything about how future Windows 10 upgrades will work and if it will charge for those updates. In a YouTube video, the company’s marketing manager, Bryan Roper said, “If you upgrade today, not only will you get your hands on a ton of new awesome stuff that will work as soon as you upgrade, upgrading now means you’re going to get all future updates for free, like the Anniversary update that’s coming soon.”
Microsoft also went ahead to share some interesting stats as listed below:
- Over 63 billion minutes were spent on Microsoft Edge browser in March alone.
- Cortana has helped answer over 6 billion questions since launch.
- Apps that come with Windows 10, including Photos, Groove Music, and Movies & TV are seeing millions of active users each month, including more than 144 million people using Photos.
- Windows 10 has seen 9 billion hours of gameplay on Windows 10 since launch.
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