Microsoft to close free Windows 10 upgrade loophole

[Danielx64]

Quote

Free upgrades to Windows 10 officially came to an end on 29 July, but there are ways to continue upgrading without purchasing a license. The easiest method is to take advantage of a scheme that Microsoft has in place for users of assistive technologies.

As detailed here, Microsoft created a web page that allows users with accessibility needs to continue to upgrade to Windows 10 for free, but because it doesn’t require users to prove they use assistive technologies, anyone can take advantage of the free extension.

When I wrote about it, I said things could go one of two ways. If the offer was abused by able-bodied customers, Microsoft might choose to end the free extension early, or the company might just keep it running for a while and allow people who were aware of the loophole to upgrade for free, and rack up some additional users.

Source: http://betanews.com/2016/08/03/microsoft-to-close-free-windows-10-loophole/

[adrynalyne]

6 minutes ago, Danielx64 said:

Source: http://betanews.com/2016/08/03/microsoft-to-close-free-windows-10-loophole/

And the idiots of the world ruin it for those who it was meant for.  

[LimeMaster]

Well, I guess I was wrong. I didn't think a lot of people would actually use it.

[Danielx64]

7 minutes ago, adrynalyne said:

And the idiots of the world ruin it for those who it was meant for.  

IMO it was bad enough that Neowin didn't put a disclaimer about using/abusing this loophole in its article the other day. This is quite said if you ask me. Microsoft tries to do the right thing and everyone just destroys it.

6 minutes ago, LimeMaster said:

Well, I guess I was wrong. I didn't think a lot of people would actually use it.

I was waiting for this to happen.

[+Warwagon MVC]

At least for the moment you can clean install and cash in.

[LUTZIFER]

Now MS has just gotta stop supporting anything lower than Windows 10.

Then people will really wish they upgraded.

Personally I think MS has all rights to stop supporting older products of theirs.

[Circaflex]

Wonder why anyone was using the loophole to begin with, you had a year to claim your upgrade. Strange, I keep being told here, that millions of users were upset with Microsoft and explicitly did not want Windows 10, or that 1000's of every day clients did not want anything to do with 10, yet here we are with a loophole. I thought those millions were clear that anyone who wanted 10 claimed it, those still on 7 or 8 were fine with that.

[Jack 0Neill]

8 hours ago, LUTZIFER said:

Now MS has just gotta stop supporting anything lower than Windows 10.

Then people will really wish they upgraded.

Personally I think MS has all rights to stop supporting older products of theirs.

Look at MSFN there's people over there still hung up on using Windows 98 and those old systems. Whining about how the forums are "broken" when they're the ones using outdated crap.

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

8 hours ago, LUTZIFER said:

Now MS has just gotta stop supporting anything lower than Windows 10.

Then people will really wish they upgraded.

Personally I think MS has all rights to stop supporting older products of theirs.

They do, however doing so would loose them any credibility in Business / Enterprise environments.

 

Vista support ends next year, then you have Windows 7 support until 2020 and Windows 8 until 2023.

 

Most hardware running 7 or 8 could probably take Windows 10, i'd imagine if your on 7 or 8 too you have already migrated from legacy software which only works on XP, or have it running in a VM.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

Can someone explain to me why someone who uses assistive technology should be allowed to upgrade for free after July 29th, seeing as they have had just as much time as everyone else to do so?

[Danielx64]

2 hours ago, Nick H. said:

Can someone explain to me why someone who uses assistive technology should be allowed to upgrade for free after July 29th, seeing as they have had just as much time as everyone else to do so?

The biggest problem for anyone that has a need for assistive technology is one of those 2 things:

 

- Upgrading hardware/software can be really expensive. Now I used to rely on ZoomText and to buy a full license it would cost about $600. Upgrades starts from $99 for a minor upgrade or $199 for a major upgrade. Now that's only an example. I think JAWS cost just as much if not more. Now disabled people may not have the funds lying around and it could take then a long time for then to save or get the funding that's required.

 

- The second issue is that those vendors can (and do) take a long time to bring out support for new major OS updates/versions. With ZoomText I believe that it was quite a while before they even added support for 64bit OS. So while many were enjoying the perks of what 64bit OS bring, those who rely on ZoomText were left behind. Also unlike Adobe and such those screen readers and such are really well tested before being released to the public.

 

So in 3 words: Cost and compatibility.

 

 

One last thing, Just discovered that a different version of ZoomText costs $1K to start with then could move to $1.5K: http://www.zoomtext.com/products/zoomtext-fusion/

 

 

[DConnell Member]

On 8/5/2016 at 7:02 AM, Danielx64 said:

The biggest problem for anyone that has a need for assistive technology is one of those 2 things:

 

- Upgrading hardware/software can be really expensive. Now I used to rely on ZoomText and to buy a full license it would cost about $600. Upgrades starts from $99 for a minor upgrade or $199 for a major upgrade. Now that's only an example. I think JAWS cost just as much if not more. Now disabled people may not have the funds lying around and it could take then a long time for then to save or get the funding that's required.

 

- The second issue is that those vendors can (and do) take a long time to bring out support for new major OS updates/versions. With ZoomText I believe that it was quite a while before they even added support for 64bit OS. So while many were enjoying the perks of what 64bit OS bring, those who rely on ZoomText were left behind. Also unlike Adobe and such those screen readers and such are really well tested before being released to the public.

 

So in 3 words: Cost and compatibility.

 

 

One last thing, Just discovered that a different version of ZoomText costs $1K to start with then could move to $1.5K: http://www.zoomtext.com/products/zoomtext-fusion/

 

 

AiSquared actually recommended that my cousin upgrade to 10 because Zoomtext Fusion supported it better than 8.x. Not as far as I can see, but as long as she can get work done ...

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

On 8/3/2016 at 9:42 PM, LimeMaster said:

Well, I guess I was wrong. I didn't think a lot of people would actually use it.

You have not been around long enough, people will do anything to get anything for free.

[erpster3]

On 8/5/2016 at 1:24 AM, InsaneNutter said:

Vista support ends next year, then you have Windows 7 support until 2020 and Windows 8 until 2023.

 

Most hardware running 7 or 8 could probably take Windows 10, i'd imagine if your on 7 or 8 too you have already migrated from legacy software which only works on XP, or have it running in a VM.

Minor correction: Windows 8.1 (NOT Windows 8 as in 8.0) support ends in mid-January 2023.  Support for Windows 8 ended January 12, 2016.

 

Did the folks at Betanews.com read this Aug. 3 ZDNet.com article?

http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-free-upgrade-is-still-available-using-windows-7-and-8-product-keys/

I actually did a Win10 upgrade on my father's Toshiba based Win8.1 laptop this past Sunday 8/7 using a USB Flash drive that had the Win10 installation files and it went smoothly and activated automatically once I updated the WiFi/WLAN drivers on the laptop.  Granted, I used the Win10 v1511 ISO image and not the Win10 v1607 one that had the anniversary update.

[LimeMaster]

3 hours ago, Gary7 said:

You have not been around long enough, people will do anything to get anything for free.

It's been free for an entire year & they only jump to get it now through a loophole. You can see why I'm surprised.

[Danielx64]

3 hours ago, DConnell said:

AiSquared actually recommended that my cousin upgrade to 10 because Zoomtext Fusion supported it better than 8.x. Not as far as I can see, but as long as she can get work done ...

I haven't dealt with AiSquared for at lease 4 years so I can't comment on how things are today.

[chrisj1968]

On 8/4/2016 at 4:40 PM, Circaflex said:

Wonder why anyone was using the loophole to begin with, you had a year to claim your upgrade. Strange, I keep being told here, that millions of users were upset with Microsoft and explicitly did not want Windows 10, or that 1000's of every day clients did not want anything to do with 10, yet here we are with a loophole. I thought those millions were clear that anyone who wanted 10 claimed it, those still on 7 or 8 were fine with that.

I think honestly in passing that, MSFT is doing exactly what you are saying in reverse mode. People haven't (up to a point) been forced during the free upgrade days, and waiting out the clock, sticking with their current OS. Now that MSFT is kind of, forcing the upgrade to 10, and many of my friends on FB are hesitant due to the telemetry and spying aspects (irregardless true or unfounded), people are NOW chomping at the bit to get it to move forward.

[Aokromes]

On 8/5/2016 at 10:24 AM, InsaneNutter said:

Most hardware running 7 or 8 could probably take Windows 10, i'd imagine if your on 7 or 8 too you have already migrated from legacy software which only works on XP, or have it running in a VM.

A lot of people with laptops using broadcom wifi can't update and they where waiting for a fix to be allowed to install windows 10 (it hangs after 1st restart, only removing the wifi from the mobo or having a bios allowing to disable allows you to install windows 10 on those laptops).

[DavidM]

1 hour ago, LimeMaster said:

It's been free for an entire year & they only jump to get it now through a loophole. You can see why I'm surprised.

You must not be a student of human nature, if you push something upon someone they will refuse, but try and hide or keep something from someone and they want it even more.

[Gone]

On 8/4/2016 at 7:32 PM, LUTZIFER said:

Now MS has just gotta stop supporting anything lower than Windows 10.

Then people will really wish they upgraded.

Personally I think MS has all rights to stop supporting older products of theirs.

Sounds like somebody has security issues and I'm not talking about computers.

 

What do you care if MS supports Windows 7 or 8.1? What do you care if people didn't upgrade? Who do you think you are, people's parents? I'm pretty sure the majority of computer users know how they use their computers better than you do for them.

 

I'm sick of the Windows 10 or nothing people.

[LimeMaster]

8 hours ago, DavidM said:

You must not be a student of human nature, if you push something upon someone they will refuse, but try and hide or keep something from someone and they want it even more.

Ah, so you took advantage of the loophole?

[DavidM]

No, but I waited until July because I wanted Windows 10 to mature, but mainly I heard that little voice saying, "You only have a month, you only have a month!"

[DConnell Member]

20 minutes ago, DavidM said:

No, but I waited until July because I wanted Windows 10 to mature, but mainly I heard that little voice saying, "You only have a month, you only have a month!"

That's funny, I heard the same voice. Did yours sound vaguely like Orko from He-Man, too?

[DavidM]

6 hours ago, DConnell said:

That's funny, I heard the same voice. Did yours sound vaguely like Orko from He-Man, too?

No, mine was more like the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of OZ, "I'm going to get you my pretty and your little laptop too!"

[Mando]

On 8/5/2016 at 0:32 AM, LUTZIFER said:

Now MS has just gotta stop supporting anything lower than Windows 10.

Then people will really wish they upgraded.

Personally I think MS has all rights to stop supporting older products of theirs.

aint gonna happen due to supporting enterprises using W7 and 8.1. Never mind embedded SKUs. thats just a pipe dream buddy.