Earlier on in the year, Microsoft had stated that both genuine and non-genuine users of Windows 7, Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 8.1 will get an upgrade to Windows 10 free of charge during the first year since its release. But now Microsoft is stating that the upgrade will not be available free of charge to those who are using non-genuine versions of Windows.
“While our free offer to upgrade to Windows 10 will not apply to Non-Genuine Windows devices, and as we’ve always done, we will continue to offer Windows 10 to customers running devices in a Non-Genuine state.”
This could either mean two things. Either they will allow non-genuine users of older Windows versions to upgrade to Windows 10 but again will be a non-genuine version and will get a watermark as well as reminders telling them that it isn’t genuine. The upgrade will be for free but the Windows 10 they receive will not be genuine.
The other possibility is that despite the users having non-genuine versions of Windows, they will still be offered a chance to shift to a genuine version of Windows 10 but at a price. They will need to pay for the software but will be able to upgrade to a proper genuine version of Windows 10.
Whatever option they opt for, it still is bad considering that Microsoft has gone back on what they said earlier in the year.