Microsoft has at last revealed how it intends to roll-out Windows 10 to the masses when it launches at the end of the month.

The company already said it plans to ship the complete OS to Windows Insider program testers on July 29. But yesterday, Microsoft OS boss Terry Myerson penned a blog post saying that not everyone will be able to get their hands on Windows 10 on that date.

“We want to make sure all of you have a great upgrade experience, so we’ll roll out Windows 10 in phases to help manage the demand,” Myerson explained. He also reminded people that Windows 10 will effectively be delivered “as-a-service”, which means Microsoft will roll out regular updates after its launched.

“In this world, Windows 10 is continuously improved and keeps getting better and better — for our consumer and business customers,” Myerson said.

Microsoft is planning to give Windows 10 away for free to the vast majority of Windows 7 and Windows 8 users. The offer will be available for one year, and is designed to help the company realize its dream of landing Windows 10 on one billion devices in the next three years.

A phased release

So Windows 10 testers will get there first, but what about everyone else? Well, the good news is you won’t have to wait that long…

“Starting on July 29, we will start rolling out Windows 10 to our Windows Insiders,” Myerson wrote. “From there, we will start notifying reserved systems in waves, slowly scaling up after July 29th. Each day of the roll-out, we will listen, learn and update the experience for all Windows 10 users.”

So essentially Microsoft is saying that those who’ve expressed an interest will get the OS first, while the rest will have to wait for an undetermined amount of time.

One stumbling block could be that not every PC or device is ready to upgrade straight away, Myerson warned. In some cases, PCs might need additional support from third-parties.

“If your system is not ready yet for your upgrade to Windows 10, we will provide more details during the upgrade experience,” Myerson explained. “In some cases, we will include contact information so you can follow up directly with an application provider or device manufacturer to learn more.”

However, most people will be able to upgrade anyway, though they made need to download extra software from the Windows Store afterward to get the ‘full experience’.

Let’s get down to business

Myerson notes that enterprise customers will also be able to download Windows 10 from July 29, though its Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Education versions won’t be ready until August 1. Of course, there will be plenty of businesses that don’t want to install Windows 10 right away, and lucky for them Microsoft has penned another blog post explaining how to stop the OS from automatically installing itself. In a nutshell, admins will need to kill a process called GWX.exe, which was installed with the KB3035583 security update to fetch Windows 10. Admins can simply remove that update, which will remove GWX.exe and prevent any automatic downloading.

One thing Microsoft hasn’t made clear is whether or not we’ll be able to buy PCs pre-installed with Windows 10 when the rollout begins. It’s unlikely many stores will do so, but Myerson did say the company is planning to deliver copies of the OS to OEMs ahead of the public launch, so they can start certifying it on their current models.

To begin with, most PCs and devices that have been pre-certified will come with Windows 8.1, but of course users will then be able to upgrade to Windows 10 for free.

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