In an effort to reach out to customers faster, Microsoft has announced to offer free Windows 10 up-gradation for all existing customers, running Windows 8 and 7 (in second phase). Vice President, Microsoft Operating Systems; Terry Myerson announced on Wednesday that the free update will be extended to all devices running Windows 8, followed by Windows 7 devices and Lumia running Windows 8.1.
Free upgrade: A head ‘Start’ for Windows 10 and much more
At the Windows 10 launch event at Microsoft headquarter Redmond, Washington, Myerson went on to say that they perceive Windows as a service, rather than a standalone product. He went on to emphasize that with a huge number of customers upgrading to Windows 10 promptly, app developers can have a head start in developing apps that can run on all Windows devices.
At a time where average users are still ruing the absence of ‘start’ button and a lot of traditional menus in Windows 8, twenty percent of desktops worldwide still running on unsupported Windows XP; this comes as effort to retain loyal yet disgruntled customers.
Window 10 free to upgrade to for the first year, then what?
Myerson has announced that anyone running Windows 8 (followed by Windows 7 users) can upgrade to Windows 10 within a span of one year, but what will happen after that is yet to be announced. Yet to reveal the detailed pricing strategy, Microsoft did announce that up-gradation for Windows 10 will continue forever, till the lifetime of the device; something previously unheard of. As Myerson went on say, perhaps it’s time to do away with ‘which version you running’ thing. With an expected release date of fall 2015, Microsoft is in-fact following the footsteps of Apple, whose iOS and Mac continues to receive free updates.
Among the other new features unveiled, Microsoft showcases Touch-first (revamped Word, Excel, and Powerpoint suite), lighter and cross-platform supporting Spartan browser, universal apps and first-of-a-kind holographic computing platform.
Is this enough to win over customers, grossly disappointed by Windows 8? What do you think? Feel free to put in your comments
Windows 10 upgrade: Microsoft to offer free existing Windows 8 and 7 customers