Back in 2015, when Microsoft released Windows 10 to the public, Windows 10 was offered as a free upgrade to users running genuine copies of Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1. Millions of PC users around the globe availed this offer to upgrade their PCs to Windows 10 for free.
The free upgrade offer officially ended in July 2016. Unofficially, the offer is still going on even today. Microsoft actually never stopped activating Windows 10 on PCs upgraded from Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 to Windows 10.
Even today, users can upgrade to Windows 10 for free of cost. This is because Microsoft has been officially allowing PCs with assistive technologies to upgrade to Windows 10 for free but there is no system as such in place to check if a PC is using assistive technology before activating the Windows 10 on that PC for free. Users have been using this loophole to upgrade to Windows 10 for free even today.
Can I upgrade to Windows 10 for free in 2018?
It looks like this offer will be withdrawn on January 1st, 2018. Microsoft, on its Windows 10 upgrade page has declared that PCs with assistive technologies will not be eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 10 from January 1st, 2018. This means that users can avail the free upgrade offer until 31st December 2017.
That said, PC users might be able to upgrade to Windows 10 even after December 31st, 2017 if Microsoft decides to extend this deadline or if Microsoft ignores its deadline as it did before.
If you have a computer running Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1, we recommend you upgrade to Windows 10 right-away to avail the free upgrade offer.
As you likely know, Microsoft has released four major updates (feature updates) to Windows 10 so far to add hundreds of new features and address all issues. So you have no reason to keep on using the old Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 unless you have a program that cannot run on Windows 10.
Again, almost all Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 programs are compatible with Windows 10 and PC that are running Windows 7, or Windows 8/8.1 can run Windows 10 without issues. You can even downgrade to Windows 7/8.1 if you encounter issues after upgrading to Windows 10.
If you are still on Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1, do let us know why you are still sticking to Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1.
