UPDATED 00:09 EDT / MAY 09 2016

NEWS

Windows 10 won’t be free after July 29, and the nagware’s gonna stop too

Microsoft has been busy reminding all and sundry this weekend that its year-long free upgrade to Windows 10 offer is about to expire. After July 29 passes, those who suddenly remember they want to upgrade will have to pay $119 for the privilege, assuming its just the Home edition you need.

That news probably won’t be so relevant to most people. Those who wanted to upgrade to Microsoft’s latest OS are most likely to have already done so, while those who haven’t upgraded no doubt have very good reasons for not doing so. In fact, for those who haven’t downloaded Windows 10 already, the news its no longer free will be welcomed, because crucially, it also means an end to Microsoft’s extremely irritating and controversial “Get Windows 10” nagware and other mischievous tactics it’s been using to try to get people to dump their older OS’s.

No doubt Microsoft will give it all its got with one last push to get people to upgrade before July 29 arrives, but in any case Redmond’s Windows 10 marketing bods can be pretty pleased with their efforts so far. The company says that more than 300 million devices are now running Windows 10 (though that’s still some way off the one billion devices claim), which holds a market share of between 15 and 20 percent, depending on who’s stats you believe. The biggest loser is Windows 8, but even Windows 7 is losing market share among business users.

Microsoft said in a statement that its nagware will be slowly killed off starting this August.

“Details are still being finalized, but on July 29th the Get Windows 10 app that facilitates the easy upgrade to Windows 10 will be disabled and eventually removed from PCs worldwide,” a spokesperson said. “Just as it took time to ramp up and roll out the Get Windows 10 app, it will take time to ramp it down.”

Once that day passes, users of Windows 8 and below will either have to stump up some of their hard-earned readies in order to upgrade, or (far more likely) jump around the room in delirious celebration that they’ll no longer be pushed to do so every single day.

Further good news too. For those who don’t upgrade, Microsoft has reiterated that it will continue to provide security patches for Windows Vista until April 11, 2017; Windows 7 until January 14, 2020; and Windows 8 until January 10, 2023.

Photo Credit: WolfGrid via Compfight cc

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