Windows 10’s free upgrade period is ending, and it now has a cash value…

When it launched last year, Microsoft raised a few eyebrows by announcing that Windows 10 would be free to anyone with copies of Windows 7 and 8 already on their systems. The reasoning behind the move was pretty transparent: get a solid market share on Windows 10, rather than have consumers split between different versions of Windows.

To that end, Microsoft has been pretty aggressive in its attempts to get people to upgrade to its latest operating system, regularly pushing out reminders… sometimes at the most inopportune of times as this TV weather presenter found out:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=IfntRXYusI0

Microsoft has always claimed this is a temporary offer, but has been vague about just how temporary they mean. Now they’ve offered some clarity, announcing that Windows 10 will cease to be free from July 29.

In a

blog post, Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Windows and Devices Group, announced that Windows 10 is now running on 300 million devices around the world, along with some other interesting – but not hugely revealing – statistics. For example, did you know that people spent over 63 billion minutes on Microsoft Edge in March? Of course you didn’t – why would you?

The most interesting point of the blog post comes at the end, when Microsoft revealed the price. After July 29, Windows 10 will cost $119 to buy. That’s just over £80 in our money, though that is, of course, a quick conversion unconfirmed by Microsoft.

It will be interesting to see how much the install base jumps now last orders has been called on the free upgrade period. Clearly some people – including the weather presenter above – are holding out. Will this sway them?

READ NEXT: 21 Windows 10 problems… and how you can solve them forever!

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