Does Microsoft send you the same message? (details inside)

It is an official thing. You can indeed get a free version of win10.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2873214/windows-10-will-be-a-free-upgrade-for-windows-7-and-8-users.html

Yes, it’s legit, and yes, tell them you want to reserve.

I think it is their way of apology for the crap versions they are releasing

Yes – on my Windows 7 computer. I won’t even consider it until we see how 10 works, since Win 8 was a disaster. Even then, I doubt I will “upgrade”.

I got it too and I’m on Windows 7 which i am quite happy with. I’ll give it a try though.

It is legitimate (and surprisingly generous for Microsoft.) I’m currently using Windows 8.1 and I reserved my upgrade copy very shortly after the Windows logo appeared in my System Tray.

@flutherother, be sure to check the fine print. You may not be able to go back to Windows 7 if you decide you don’t like the new version. Microsoft and others have prevented this in the past.

well, i bought a win8 license to upgrade to win10. if it sucks, i can always go back to my pirated win7ultimate, which was fully functional, updates and all.

@Inara27 Thanks for that tip. I will be careful.

Huh. I’m on Windows 7 (I almost always run Linux on my Windows 8 machine) and I haven’t seen this yet.

I’ve little interest in doing free beta-testing for Microsoft, and since I actually like Windows 7 and hate Windows 8, I’m not about to mess with my nice working Windows 7 system.

If people like Windows 10 for reasons I agree with, I might shift the Windows 8 computer to Windows 10 after it’s stable. I just got through making the Windows 8 computer behave relatively well though, so I’m in no hurry.

So many things in Windows Vista and 8 (and the new subscription editions of Office, and the new hieroglyphic-based Office UI) were so abhorrent to me, that I have had little interest in any new offerings from Microsoft for years now.

@Zaku Just in case you’re interested, here’s Windows’ website that the icon ultimately links to.

I got the notification. I’m leery of “free” stuff from Microsoft. I was hoping you would get a definitive answer here.

@Yetanotheruser Thanks. I’m still laughing at how that page starts by saying “DO UNEXPECTED THINGS!” LOL! Also laughing at how they skipped calling anything “Windows 9” and the reason why seems to be a mystery.

9 is one of my favorite number, but apparently there are countries where it’s considered a bad number… and one MS dev is quoted as saying they were concerned with “legacy programs” with code to check for “Windows 9” assuming it was Windows 95 or 98… as if Microsoft doesn’t declare their own APIs deprecated all the time…

Hey, are they planning to stop having Win 10 upgrades be free later?

I did confirm from a friend in the computer business that once you upgrade to 10, you cannot go back to your previous version. There are ways to run it in trial mode, but you must be careful not to click “install”. He said that there is a possibility that the upgrade will overwrite your data, so be sure to back up your files.

@Inara27 – not really true. If you hang onto your W8 CD/DVD install disks, you can go back any time and reinstall.

It’s a pain in the ass, but it’s completely doable.

@elbanditoroso – that is true if you get copies. My last computer did not come with install disks, so for me it would be problematic.