Microsoft: Windows 10 Will Remain Free For People With Accessibility Needs (betanews.com) 78
Reader Mark Wilson writes: The free ride is coming to an end. Windows 10 was always going to be free for the first year after release, and this year is up on 29 July. There are, of course, still ways to get your hands on Windows 10 for free beyond this date. One way is to buy a new PC with Windows 10 installed, although not many people would regard this as a free upgrade. But Microsoft has also confirmed that people with accessibility needs will still be able to upgrade to Windows 10 for free after the deadline. Writing on its Accessibility Blog, Microsoft points out that the 29 July cut-off point does not apply to people with accessibility needs.From Microsoft's blog post: As you may have heard, the free Windows 10 upgrade offer for customers running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 is set to end on July 29, but we want to clarify that that deadline will not apply to customers who use assistive technologies. We are continuing to deliver on our previously-shared vision for accessibility for Windows 10 and we are committed to ensuring that users of assistive technologies have the opportunity to upgrade to Windows 10 for free as we do so.
Microsoft cares! (Score:1, Troll)
Glad to see they will still allow those who were unable to correctly click the update now button another chance!
Re: (Score:1)
Then they should have fixed the accessibility bug I filed six months ago.
Thanks for filing. But, apparently not, according to all the complaints I see on their blog. And here's a semi humorous touch.. BEcause I have my font so large I nearly missed that submission altogether. Was off the screen (!)
Re:Microsoft cares! (Score:5, Funny)
Are they not merciful? All hail Microsoft!!
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Yup... I've taken to calling Windows 10 a CTD, think STD for computers... I retired in 2010 from supporting/using MS products starting in 1991, and decided I was done with using MS products on my home systems. After seeing what a privacy nightmare 10 is, I couldn't be happier with my decision.. Since I'm retired, I have become the defacto "tech support" for my neighborhood, and recommend those who ask, and are running Windows 7 or 8/8.1 to STAY where they are, and I provide that wonderful little "GWX Toolbo
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This doesn't change the fact that even beginning to compare this behaviour to the atrocities committed by Daesh is- quite rightly- going to be seen as the cheapest of arguments coming from an utterly insulated, out of touch and borderline sociopathic basement dweller intent on exploiting human tragedy for some navel-gazing argument.
MS win here, because by making yourself soun
Or, pretty much anyone (Score:1, Troll)
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I'm more concerned about how they're going to determine who gets it and who doesn't? Doctor's note?
Re: Or, pretty much anyone (Score:5, Funny)
proof of recent psychiatric admission.
Sounds like a good start. Require a psychiatric evaluation for anyone wanting Windows 10.
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during the upgrade check, it collects your medical data for better serving you.
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Definitely. However, if you're already using Windows 10, then there is no need to upgrade to it, isn't there?
Will the forced upgrades stop? (Score:1)
Does this mean the forced-upgrades arms race will finally come to an end?
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No. Starting July 29th, Microsoft will assume that anyone not on Windows 10 is blind and therefore could not see the "upgrade now" popup. As a service to the blind community they will provide all of them with an automatic free upgrade to Windows 10.
Finally stop the forced upgrades? (Score:1)
Will this mean the end of the stupid forced, fuck-you-user, upgrades then?
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Nah. Your machine will still be forced to upgrade, but after reboot, the machine won't operate until you enter a valid credit card number.
Win 10 Upgrade is NOT free. (Score:1, Informative)
The Windows 10 upgrade is NOT free. This is just basic economics. It requires that you trade in a license of win 7, 8, 8.1, which means that the upgrade costs you the current market value of the OS you are trading. If a Win 7 Pro license currently sells for $50, then upgrading to Win10 costs you $50, even though no money leaves your bank account. If you went into a car dealership and traded in your old car for a newer car of equal value, the dealer did NOT give you a free car. You paid for it with your old
Re: Win 10 Upgrade is NOT free. (Score:1)
Slashdot is no place for "facts". Get out of here you troll.
Leave us real Slashdotters to repeat our anti-Micro$oft (I made a funny!) rhetoric ad nauseam.
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I have debated if it is worth backing a machine up, upgrading to W10, then rolling back, so the BIOS ID is with MS and will auto-activate if I ever want to actually move to W10 for good.
On the other hand, a new copy of W10 Pro is two C-notes, likely less, and if I actually bother to get a VLK + SA, the point is completely moot.
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except your previous license can still be used. so no, it's not a trade. you will never see a license key for windows 10 when you upgrade and you keep the option to roll back at your desire.
Yes, it's a trade (with some caveats) You can roll back, sure, but you can't use your Windows 7 license on a computer, upgrade that computer to Windows 10, then install your Windows 7 license to a different computer, for example.
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How? After a month your bits and bytes of Windows 7 installation media are useless. They won't activate anymore. It's dead weight.
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It is an upgrade *if* the new car/OS is better.
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It requires that you trade in a license of win 7, 8, 8.1, which means that the upgrade costs you the current market value of the OS you are trading. If a Win 7 Pro license currently sells for $50, then upgrading to Win10 costs you $50, even though no money leaves your bank account.
Wrong. It doesn't matter what a new copy of Win 7 costs, it's what you could get for your own copy of Win 7. If you could sell your copy of Win 7 for $50 then the upgrade has a(n) (opportunity) cost of $50. Now, it looks like depending on your situation it is legal to resell a Win 7 license, but with new copies going for $50 or less, a used key would probably net you $25-30 at best. But in the end, the upgrade did not cost you money. It simply cost you the opportunity to make (very little) money. You
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That's one reason why the upgrade is not free. Another reason is that you will loose many hours if not many days in productivity by botched upgrades, newly introduced bugs, features like advertisements or Cortana that slow down your PC and make you less productive, forced OS updates that come at the wrong time, and so on.
Additionally, you will likely loose the equivalent of a 30% price increase with every application purchased from the Windows store, since professional developers have to take into account t
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If you want proof that Windows 10 is not free: try to upgrade a computer that is still running Windows XP.
And yes, for those who like to nitpick arguments to death, that computer is more than capable of running Windows 10. It's called a custom build.
Interested to know the mechanism (Score:3)
Does this imply a specific build of Windows 10 that has accessibility options permanently enabled? That would seem unlikely unless it just enforces 1 option to be active at all times.
I am guessing if that were the case, the "hold ctrl to find the mouse cursor" option would not count...
The solution would have to be automated though, right? I mean, MS isn't going to make a huge amount of work for themselves by verifying doctor's notes or something like that...
Interested to see how this will work and how long it lasts (since it seems like a pretty easy system to "game").
Perhaps MS is just creating a glaring loophole and giving everyone a "wink and a nod" to allow them charge for Windows 10 at the same time as making it "free" for anyone who wants it...
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Re:Interested to know the mechanism (Score:4, Informative)
I dont think they are really leaving a loophole, its because they dont want to have to backport features. There are a huge amount of accessibility requirements that came down from the FCC for all manner of electronics and software that has to be implemented by the end of this year (thats why there have been multiple accessibility articles as of late, companies using this for free good press as they push out their solutions). So Im guessing MS does not want to have to backport features to win7/8/etc to keep those who need them happy and would rather they just upgrade for free
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Why would MS have to backport those features?
Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 are no longer being sold.
Windows 10 isn't a free upgrade from Vista, and it isn't being sold any more than Windows 7 is.
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For one OEM installations are still being sold. [zdnet.com] Retail license sales are not their only sales.
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OEM installs of Windows 8.1 will end in October, 3 months before this law goes into effect.
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Perhaps MS is just creating a glaring loophole and giving everyone a "wink and a nod" to allow them charge for Windows 10 at the same time as making it "free" for anyone who wants it...
Why am I getting the mental image of a pig-faced prostitute with too much makeup, that nobody wants to bang, winking and and nodding from a street corner.
Windows 10 Downgrade Still Free! (Score:2, Interesting)
Good news everyone! Downgrading your OEM install of Windows 10 Professional to Windows 8 Professional or Windows 7 Professional/Ultimate is still free! And will still be free after 29 July 2016.
https://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/licensing/sblicensing/Pages/what_to_do_downgrade_rights.aspx [microsoft.com]
https://www.microsoft.com/OEM/en/licensing/sblicensing/Pages/downgrade_rights.aspx [microsoft.com]
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Good news everyone! Upgrading your OEM install of Windows 10 Professional or Windows 8 Professional to Windows 7 Professional/Ultimate is still free! And will still be free after 29 July 2016.
There, fixed that for you.
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does this mean that if i upgraded my win7 to win10, I can downgrade to 8.1?
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Your product key won't work for 8.1 once Microsoft "flags" it as being upgraded from 7 to 10. You will, however, be able to freely downgrade to 7 again (I would imagine they leave that alone for machine rebuilds from the original source media).
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"Bear trap will be free to unsuspecting victims.." (Score:1)
"Bear trap will close when your leg is inactive for a period of time."
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"Bear trap will close when your leg is inactive for a period of time."
Of course the leg may be damaged, but thats ok, its the bear arms that are valuable
Many of us didn't want it to begin with.. (Score:3)
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So, does this mean MS will stop trying to force feed that bloated piece of spyware now?
Does it also mean that they will remove that copy of W10 that they installed on my Windows 7 setup?
Interesting watching Microsoft adjust their game (Score:5, Insightful)
Forget all the "Windows 10 is spyware" stuff for a second; the interesting thing to watch is the tactics they're using. In my opinion they're pursuing a good strategy (for them) but it's going to really anger most "prosumer" users and smaller business users.
The interesting thing about Windows 10 is that it's not a "free upgrade," it never was "free," The consumer versions (Home and Pro) of Windows 10 use data mining to pay the bills with Web 3.0 bubble money. From an IT perspective, the only option these days is Enterprise if you want full control over the machine. You only get Enterprise if you sign a Software Assurance agreement, meaning you basically are paying on an ongoing basis for the OS. The big difference is with Windows 7 and 8, small to medium shops would usually just re-use the Professional license that the OEM obtained when they built the PC, without having to re-license it, because the Professional version gave enough control over the computer. With Windows 10, you can't disable the Store or the telemetry on anything except the Enterprise version, nor can you access the Long Term Servicing Branch (LTSB) which is the closest thing you can get to the old RTM + Service Pack update cadence.
Honestly, it's just semantics. Since it's still a "product," Microsoft still needs to tout a free upgrade as the stepping stone from the previous OS versions. They're just taking a one-time revenue hit pulling everyone up onto the same version of the operating system much the same way Apple has been trying to do. In return, they get all the "grandma PCs" running ancient versions of Windows out of the ecosystem and can redeploy all those development resources doing legacy stuff to the new versions. Windows 8 is basically in the coffin, and Windows 7's end-of-support date is constantly being moved up in such a way that they don't violate any promises, but they do make it hard to deploy new copies of it. In reality they're going to be offering whatever channels they can for free upgrades to Windows 10; there's no upside for them not to at this point.
Borg (Score:2)
Won't Help (Score:1)
Win10 is hard enough to use as a non-disabled person.
i never wanted to do this (Score:2)
Oh, I'm a retard, and I'm okay,
I sleep all night and I work all day.
CHORUS: He's a retard, and he's okay, ....
He sleeps all night and he works all day.
now free retardation with your acceptance of win10 EULA
Thank god (Score:2)
Now I can get back to using Windows 7 without wondering every day whether MS has tried to backdoor Windows 10 onto my machine.
The slow and natual death of Windows (Score:1)