Microsoft Announces That Windows 10 Will Launch On July 29
by Brandon Chester on June 1, 2015 4:51 AM EST- Posted in
- Operating Systems
- Microsoft
- Windows 10
Today Microsoft formally announced the release date for Windows 10, the latest version of their Windows operating system. Up until this point, all Microsoft had said was that they were aiming for a summer release. Today's post on the official Windows blog states the release date for Windows 10 has now been set for July 29, less than two months from now.
According to the blog post, Microsoft will be simultaniously launching Windows 10 around the globe to some 1.5 billion Windows users that currently reside in over 190 different countries, making it the widest Windows has ever been released at once. Windows 10 is Microsoft's chance to win back users who didn't embrace the changes made in Windows 8, and they have a lot riding on its success. Offering it as a free upgrade to existing Windows users will certainly help in gaining adoption.
Even with the free nature of the upgrade, the promise of a July release date for such a monumental update is quite a bold move on Microsoft's part. The less than optimal state of the current Windows 10 testing builds means that Microsoft has a great deal of work ahead of them as they squash bugs and improve the stability of Windows 10 in the two months between now and release. As a user who is keen on upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10, I really hope they succeed.
Finally, Microsoft has revealed a few more details about how Windows 10 distribution will work. Starting today, users can "reserve" Windows 10 on Windows 7/8.1 machines. Reserving Windows will in turn flag a machine for pre-loading, with Microsoft distributing most of Windows 10 ahead of time as to get it in to customers' hands more quickly to better balance the expected load on their server backend. According to Microsoft's FAQ, reserving/pre-loading Windows 10 only downloads it, and users will still manually confirm the installation, or for that matter users can cancel the reservation entirely. Pre-loading has not started yet, and while Microsoft doesn't say when it will start, I expect it won't be until very near July 29th.
Windows 10 Upgrade Paths | ||||
Win10 | Win7 | Win8.1 | ||
Windows 10 Home | Windows 7 Starter | Windows 8.1 (Core) | ||
Windows 7 Home Basic | Windows 8.1 (Country-Specific) | |||
Windows 7 Home Premium | Windows 8.1 w/Bing | |||
Windows 10 Pro | Windows 7 Professional | Windows 8.1 Pro | ||
Windows 7 Ultimate | Windows 8.1 Pro for Students | |||
Windows 10 Mobile | N/A | Windows Phone 8.1 |
Along with detailing the reservation process, Microsoft has also confirmed the upgrade paths for various versions of Windows. As expected, all Pro/Ultimate versions of Windows 7 and 8.1 will get upgraded to Windows 10 Pro, while all other versions of desktop/tablet Windows will get upgraded to Windows 10 Home. And of course, Windows Phone 8.1 devices will upgrade to Windows 10 Mobile.
Source: Microsoft (via re/code)
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iniudan - Monday, June 1, 2015 - link
Same here, in a optimal situation I would do it yearly. Now if only my dept didn't keep me from affording a proper NAS, would make the whole process less fiddly.chizow - Monday, June 1, 2015 - link
Bigger issue is how they treat your old keys, so annoying how Microsoft forces you back to step 1 with your key rather than updating it or making it compatible with newer ISOs.I am not optimistic, I know I am going to have to capture like 5 sysprep'd images for each of my existing machines, after that who knows for new builds.....
Frangelina - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link
Fresh install, update your drivers, upgrade for free, AND clone. Backup your clonenathanddrews - Monday, June 1, 2015 - link
I just did fresh installs of all my machines with 7 Pro. Just to be safe, I'm going to clone my drives and then do the 10 upgrade on different drives. If it goes to sh!t, I can just plug the old drives back in and stick with 7.chizow - Monday, June 1, 2015 - link
I'm going to capture images right after upgrade actually. I still have grandfathered TechNet MAK Win7 keys, so no threat of ever running out of Win7 activations. After that first year however, that Win10 free upgrade path may get closed down though.Ancillas - Monday, June 1, 2015 - link
I'll buy copies of Windows 10 for my machines if they don't supply keys/isos. I don't want any part of this upgrade nonsense.Morawka - Monday, June 1, 2015 - link
lol i'm sure they are happy to take your moneychizow - Monday, June 1, 2015 - link
I will too if they offer them cheap ($20-30) like they did with Win8.1, just to have them after that first year expires.spikey27 - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link
MS knew what a dog W8 was in advance, which is why it was priced accordingly.I wonder if W10 has a similar scenario....
djc208 - Monday, June 1, 2015 - link
Love to know how that works if you want to do it as a clean install. Most of my machines have been running long enough I'd rather do this as a fresh install vice just "upgrading" in place.