If you upgrade to Windows 10 you have 30 days to change your mind

by Mark Tyson on 2 July 2015, 15:06

Tags: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Windows 10

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We have talked a lot about the upcoming release of Windows 10 and about the free upgrade program which is open for a year, following the Windows 10 general availability date of 29th July 2015. Some HEXUS readers seem happier than others about upgrading to a newer OS and some are even relishing the chance to take the plunge. But what if you do accept Microsoft's upgrade offer and feel like you've made a mistake? Can you go back?

German computer magazine ComputerBase claims to have some answers to this very big concern for many a PC user. It starts by reminding us that once you upgrade to Windows 10 you will have no valid license to the earlier retail or OEM version of Windows that you upgraded from. The upgraded version of Windows 10 will correspond to the oem/retail one you have upgraded from with the Pro/Home SKU allocation as shown in the previously published table, embedded below for reference.

ComputerBase reports that upgraders are basically able to test the new Windows 10 OS for 30 days before their downgrade rights are lost. During this 30 day grace period the license you lost for the old OS, because you transferred it to the new Windows 10, can be transferred back.

Pricing in Germany was also uncovered by the computer magazine. It says that Windows 10 Pro will sell for 279,00 Euro, Windows 10 Home for 119,00 Euro and the Windows 10 Home to Pro upgrade pack for 159,00 Euro. There aren't any special offers planned for Windows XP and Vista users, claimed ComputerBase. Also while it mentioned the buyer decision between 32- or 64- bit disk versions of Windows 10 there was no information about the rumoured USB flash drive distribution.

Please remember that this 30 day upgrade grace period information comes from a third party source so might not prove to be entirely accurate.

HEXUS Forums :: 46 Comments

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Posted by lumireleon - Thu 02 Jul 2015 15:29
windows 10 has DX12 right? this means my aging celeron with HD2000 graphics will play NFS Rivals or BF4 maxed out at 1080p?
Posted by Platinum - Thu 02 Jul 2015 15:30
lumireleon
windows 10 has DX12 right? this means my aging celeron with HD2000 graphics will play NFS Rivals or BF4 maxed out at 1080p?

Not sure if joke or not?
Posted by Saracen - Thu 02 Jul 2015 15:48
If this proves to be correct, it ensures I will NOT risk any of my existing licences. I KNOW my existing licences are and will continue to remain useful to me, for a long time, as they are. I'm not convinced I can be sure Win10 will be within that period.

The value to me of a Win10 upgrade is highly speculative, even if free, and if I risk sacrificing existing licences, it's of no interest.

And before anyone says it, yes, I know all I have to do is revert within 30 days, but aspects of my life mean I am never sure where I'm going to be, can end up going away at very short notice, for anything from a day or two, to a couple of months. And if an urgent trip comes up at short notice, I don't want to worry about reverting licences.

So, free or not, “upgrades” are of no interest to me if this limitation proves to be correct.

The mere fact that MS would even seek to invalidate current licences also annoys me. Invalidating a current licence WHILE you have a valid upgrade, fine, but I can see no acceptable reason to preclude people deactivating a, say, Win7 licence, if they (irrevocably) abandon the Win 10 upgrade in the process.

Instead, it smacks (yet again) of the theme that has worried me for a while, which is MSs apparent desperation to get everyone on their “changed monetisation” platform, without detailing precisely how they are, AND AREN'T changing it.

There needs to be much, MUCH more clarity from MS about the future of a “last version” of Windows before there's any chance I'd risk existing licences.

Right now, I might be prepared to buy Win7 licences, if I could be SURE they were legal and valid, but I'm not taking Win10 upgrades on that basis, even if free.

A Linux-flavoured future for my personal computing just got one step closer.
Posted by Tattysnuc - Thu 02 Jul 2015 16:33
I think MS have been a bit sneaky if you think about it - Windows 7 Retail licensing rights allowed you to install that OS on a single device at a time. It was a concurrent device license. Windows 8 started the move to 1 license per device and that license was TIED to the device. I'm guessing that Win 10 will continue that trend and thus any users taking advantage of upgrading from Win7->10 will effectively forfeit their “roaming” right and have to buy a new license when devices are replaced.

Sneaky beggers…
Posted by jag272 - Thu 02 Jul 2015 16:40
Well this is slightly better than how it appeared previously, personally I don't feel there should be any need for such a requirement at all though. It's entirely possible issues with the OS will arise further down the line or some significant errors may take a while to arise, all so that Microsoft can irreversibly lock you into their new OS and as Saracen says, not give us any info about the actual monetisation of this new monetisation platform. What they do beyond those 30 days is anyones guess.

Whatever the case I won't be upgrading immediately, no matter how easy they make it. I'm waiting at least a few months for it to mature, if not longer. I only upgraded from XP to 7 due to support being dropped, I was perfectly happy on XP. Unless DX12 really blows DX11 out the water (which it might, we'll see) I don't see myself upgrading any time soon, especially from the build of the tech preview i had time to try (10074 or something I believe). Only installed that on a VM ofcourse.

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