Windows 10 will be free for Insiders, grab your Preview copy now and update to RTM later

[clifford_cooley]

http://www.techspot.com/news/61054-windows-10-free-insiders-grab-preview-copy-now.html

Microsoft has finally committed to something I suspect they intended to do all along. Windows 10 Insiders (anyone who is currently using the Windows 10 Preview builds) will receive a direct upgrade to the final release of the operating system and that copy will remain valid indefinitely. Even if you decide to clean install later, you get your free copy of Windows 10. Thanks, Microsoft.

The only requirement is that as part of the Insider program, your Preview build needs to be connected to a Microsoft account, and then the final copy of Windows 10 will be associated to this account. There will be one or two additional Preview builds before the OS goes RTM and launches next July 29th, so it's likely signing with the MSA (Microsoft Account) will be made mandatory in one of those builds, as hinted in the company's official blog post:

Windows Insiders running the Windows 10 Insider Preview (Home and Pro editions) with their registered MSA connected to their PC will receive the final release build of Windows 10 starting on July 29th. This will come as just another flight. I've gotten a lot of questions from Windows Insiders about how this will work if they clean installed from ISO. As long as you are running an Insider Preview build and connected with the MSA you used to register, you will receive the Windows 10 final release build and remain activated. Once you have successfully installed this build and activated, you will also be able to clean install on that PC from final media if you want to start over fresh.

It's crystal clear Microsoft is serious about moving as many people as possible to its latest platform and as soon as possible, even if that means giving it away. At this year's Build conference, the company forecasted 1 billion devices would be running Windows 10 in three years and that becomes easier to accomplish now that the free offer is not limited to valid Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 users.

The Windows Insider Program will continue after Windows 10 is launched. Insiders will continue to receive future updates, there will be a fast and slow ring, and according to the Redmond they will begin to work on the next release of Windows immediately after Windows 10 ships. Also note that Windows Enterprise edition customers are excluded from the offer since they need to activate using the Volume Licensing Service Center.

 

[Jim Brown]

http://www.techspot.com/news/61054-windows-10-free-insiders-grab-preview-copy-now.html

Readers, please take note, Mr Micro shaft has done it again.
Read This;
Must stay with Insider program to get activated releases.

Microsoft has changed tack after it indicated last week that millions of participants in its Windows Insider program could obtain a licensed and activated copy of its upcoming Windows 10 operating system for free.

The company's general manager for the operating system group, Gabe Aul, has now apologised for the confusion caused by his initial blog post and scotched the notion that triallists would get a genuine Windows 10 copy simply by taking part in Windows Insider.

He made it clear that Windows 10 had to be installed on "Genuine Windows" devices - requiring either an OEM or retail Windows 10 license, or an upgrade from Windows 7 or 8.1.

If not installed on a Genuine Windows device, Windows 10 will go into what Microsoft calls a non-genuine state, and display a watermark, encouraging the user to obtain a license.

Aul said if users opt out of the Windows Insider program, they will be subject to the same upgrade offer as those who possess a valid Windows 7 or 8.1 license.

If they install the final release of Windows 10 when it lands on July 30 Australian time, it must be done over a genuine copy of Windows 7 or 8.1.

"This is not a path to attain a license for Windows XP or Windows Vista systems," Aul wrote.

Should Windows Insider participants agree to stay within the program, they will continue to receive pre-release software activated with pre-release keys, Aul said.

The pre-release builds will expire as new software appears, and Aul said Microsoft will provide ISO disc images for recovery purposes if significant problems strike.

Copyright © iTnews.com.au . All rights reserved.

 

[Dipsy]

It used to be that if you purchased an "upgrade" version of Windows you were asked to insert a qualifying CD as proof you were authorized to upgrade. For those of us who have been using Windows 10 on a daily basis this option would be preferable to having to revert the system to a previous version. Having endured the bugs and glitches of beta testing for the last 9 months I don't wish to continue the process by upgrading my Windows 10 install with a RTM version that requires me to install preview updates.

 

[BigFeet]

It used to be that if you purchased an "upgrade" version of Windows you were asked to insert a qualifying CD as proof you were authorized to upgrade. For those of us who have been using Windows 10 on a daily basis this option would be preferable to having to revert the system to a previous version. Having endured the bugs and glitches of beta testing for the last 9 months I don't wish to continue the process by upgrading my Windows 10 install with a RTM version that requires me to install preview updates.

And that's why I threw an old hard drive in my old gaming PC, and did a clean install of Windows 10 preview. If I decide not to participate in their preview updates, I just throw the other hard drive back in (it's actually still in the PC).

 

[Dipsy]

And that's why I threw an old hard drive in my old gaming PC, and did a clean install of Windows 10 preview. If I decide not to participate in their preview updates, I just throw the other hard drive back in (it's actually still in the PC).

That's what I did too. However I have accumulated quite a bit of stuff and it would just be simpler to run the upgrade from inside Windows 10. I don't necessarily mind doing a clean install but if I can just upgrade and still have a functioning, error free system I'd prefer doing it that way. I have a lot of hours playing a video game and a clean install would necessitate starting over and losing everything, again not a big deal but just an inconvenience.

 

[Jim Brown]

That's what I did too. However I have accumulated quite a bit of stuff and it would just be simpler to run the upgrade from inside Windows 10. I don't necessarily mind doing a clean install but if I can just upgrade and still have a functioning, error free system I'd prefer doing it that way. I have a lot of hours playing a video game and a clean install would necessitate starting over and losing everything, again not a big deal but just an inconvenience.

I have an absolute gut feeling from many years of dealing with Microshaft that they are going to F**k this up totally as they did with Windows Vista, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 which caused me, after purchasing a copy of Windows 8 Pro in 2012 to give up battling with it and consequently revert to Windows 7. It would appear that Mr Gabby Aul in his absolute wisdom thinks that he can set up Windows 10 in such a fashion that we will all be TOLD what we CAN or Cannot do with this operating system. If Microsoft thinks that we are all lambs for the slaughter, that will not work! Microsoft will be sitting on their arse in the dust while Apple and Linux pick up all the pieces. When is Microshaft going to learn that we, as a client base DO NOT want to be dictated to and have shit forced down our throats. We, as computer user with many many years of experience going back to Windows 95 and beyond (feeling old now), DO NOT want to have updates to the OS or driver updates pushed down our throats? There are those amongst us that absolutely know which drivers will work for us on our given system setup! I personally think that Microshaft are going to loose here. Windows 10 Insider Preview at Build 10130, which is the build I am currently running on both a desktop and a laptop is full of bugs and problems ( check the Windows Feedback app) but I've not received an upgrade or any serious updates for a month?
I very seriously doubt that the boys at Microshaft can put this thing on it's wheels by 29th July.

 

[davehc]

0130 is not, of course, the final build. They are currently on 0157, which, from the action on it, would appear to be the potential RTM.
It is history, now, but Vista was OK, but the hardware developers di not comprehend, fully, that it would need a major rewrite of drivers, etc., although they had the developing editions to hand, in order to prepare. This was, as you suggest, a disaster for MS/Vista.
Windows 8, after being updated to 8.1, runs 100% perfectly for me. Windows 10 is, at the present time, not showing that it can perform any better, but equally so. I will, probably, finish up with Windows 10, in the interests of adapting to new hardware.
I have always accepted updates from MS, but chosen when it will be convenient to install them. This will be the same procedure (for me) with Windows 10. I understand that the facility to NOT upload drivers, will be returned in the RTM.

fwiw. I am sitting on 0130 at the moment. What bad bugs are you experiencing.

It will, as you know, remain your option not to upgrade. It is not being forced on you.

Don't blame Aub to readily. To use your own words, I suspect he may be the MS chosen Lamb for the slaughter.

See my comment in post #6, here
https://www.windows10forums.com/threads/windows-feedback-app.669/#post-2878

 

[Jim Brown]

0130 is not, of course, the final build. They are currently on 0157, which, from the action on it, would appear to be the potential RTM.
It is history, now, but Vista was OK, but the hardware developers di not comprehend, fully, that it would need a major rewrite of drivers, etc., although they had the developing editions to hand, in order to prepare. This was, as you suggest, a disaster for MS/Vista.
Windows 8, after being updated to 8.1, runs 100% perfectly for me. Windows 10 is, at the present time, not showing that it can perform any better, but equally so. I will, probably, finish up with Windows 10, in the interests of adapting to new hardware.
I have always accepted updates from MS, but chosen when it will be convenient to install them. This will be the same procedure (for me) with Windows 10. I understand that the facility to NOT upload drivers, will be returned in the RTM.

fwiw. I am sitting on 0130 at the moment. What bad bugs are you experiencing.

It will, as you know, remain your option not to upgrade. It is not being forced on you.

Don't blame Aub to readily. To use your own words, I suspect he may be the MS chosen Lamb for the slaughter.

See my comment in post #6, here
https://www.windows10forums.com/threads/windows-feedback-app.669/#post-2878

Hello Dave,no
I went from Build 10122 to 10174 in quick time but now I'm bogged on 10130 for a month with no indication of forward progress.
I had some major issues through these three builds with the drivers for my AMD video card, whereby I would install the correct drivers that worked flawlessly only to have Windows 10 overwrite my drivers with a version that caused me major issues but that appears to have been sorted now by an update from M/soft that fixed the issue. The "people" app has not worked for me at all through three builds and opens briefly then dies. I like to get good value on screen realestate so I enabled "auto hide the taskbar" and it did work ok for one day then gave up and I've gone to disable then re-enable but no joy. I do have a valid M/soft key that I purchased for Windows 8 Pro and when it comes to the crunch I'm hoping that key will allow me to get the final build for Windows 10 without having to trash my system by installing my ISO for Windows 8.1 and then upgrading that to Windows 10. What's your thoughts?
Regards
Jim.

 

[yodap]

fwiw. I am sitting on 0130 at the moment. What bad bugs are you experiencing.

I thought I'd chime in here.

I have the same issues as Jim with the taskbar on 2 10130 builds. My nvidia drivers are fine but I don't mess with settings much. I'd like to be able to choose my driver version though. Maybe not a problem in the RTM.

One machine has been getting into a nasty reboot loop trying to do an update but I don't know which one. I need to shut down, reboot into W7 for a minute and reboot W10 again to get back to the desktop. During this 2nd reboot I still get the update failed message but at least it doesn't go into the loop again. And on both machines I get a message when shutting down that DDE server is preventing shutdown.

I have update settings for the fast-track builds and have been sitting for a while on 10130.

That's a few of the issues that have me wondering what's going on with this huge release. There are others as well.

 

[Jim Brown]

I thought I'd chime in here.

I have the same issues as Jim with the taskbar on 2 10130 builds. My nvidia drivers are fine but I don't mess with settings much. I'd like to be able to choose my driver version though. Maybe not a problem in the RTM.

One machine has been getting into a nasty reboot loop trying to do an update but I don't know which one. I need to shut down, reboot into W7 for a minute and reboot W10 again to get back to the desktop. During this 2nd reboot I still get the update failed message but at least it doesn't go into the loop again. And on both machines I get a message when shutting down that DDE server is preventing shutdown.

I have update settings for the fast-track builds and have been sitting for a while on 10130.

That's a few of the issues that have me wondering what's going on with this huge release. There are others as well.

Thanks for the feedback. Please try shutdown or re-boot by right clicking the start menu logo and choose Shutdown or sign out, and if that doesn't do it then try setting your page file/virtual memory to 4098 minimum and 4098 maximum.
Regards
Jim.

 

[Dipsy]

My taskbar and auto hide works just fine until the computer goes into sleep mode. When I wake it up the taskbar is nowhere to be found and only a reboot will get it functioning again. At every reboot I have to open sound settings and reset my speakers from 5.1 to stereo in order to get any sound at all. Don't know if this is a Windows or Creative Labs problem. Sound system will do some rather odd things at times, e.g. I put in a music CD and I was getting sound from the center speaker and the right and left rear speakers. No sound from the right and left front speakers. Closing Windows Media Player returns the sound to the left and right front speakers with the left speaker being louder than the right one. I've tried on board sound and it is fubar also. If I open the Solitaire game from the taskbar icon it will open in a small window. Close it with the X button, reopen with the taskbar icon and it will open full screen. Seems to be a myriad of odd behaviors in 10130 and it seems to be taking Microsoft a long time to get the next build out to us.

 

[davehc]

I would suggest it is Creative. There are several reports regarding their sound systems with with Windows 10. I am sure they will sort it - too much at stake to ignore it.

 

[Jim Brown]

It would appear to me that we are seeing lots of minor bugs in several areas but nothing really major. It seems that the amount of small bugs that have to be fixed is slowing down the release of the next build past 10130.
One annoying problem that I have, is the fact when I run System File Checker (sfc /scannow) on my desktop PC it finds problems but cannot repair them. When I run the same on my Toshiba Qosmio laptop running the same build 10130 but with different hardware, sfc finds no problems. I have tried running DISM with my Build 10130 disc in the DVD drive (possibly with the wrong command parameters) and it tells me that it has completed its work, but when I run sfc again it finds the same issues that it can't fix.

 

[Bruce Banks]

Readers, please take note, Mr Micro shaft has done it again.
Read This;
Must stay with Insider program to get activated releases.

Good to know - Problem is - Loaned my insider PC to a guy in my son's nursing home (Myatonic Dystrophy) until I could order him a replacement ( Staples Refurbished) . Sadly he passed away and his son (in law ?) refuses to return my PC

 

[Dipsy]

I would visit him with a .357 cal plainly visible in a holster and demand my computer be returned. It might help the guy change his attitude.

 

[Trouble]

NO good deed goes unpunished.
I lost a laptop and a very expensive set of Golf Clubs. Both relocated about 1500 miles away. Neither worth the trip to possibly retrieve them.
You'd think I'd learn a lesson.

 

[Saint2300]

My Windows 1703, build 15063.540, is it preview or what?

 

[Trouble]

My Windows 1703, build 15063.540, is it preview or what?

Nope.
That's a public release.
One update short of the latest generally available build which is 1703, build 15063.608

 

[Saint2300]

Thank you, I can get it here,
http://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB4038788

 

[Saint2300]

Indeed, I had updated my Win 10, but I did not know what's the difference between before and after.
Everything looks the same.