Will it? Won't it? Plenty of water has flown under the bridge as the talks surrounding whether Microsoft will allow users who have pirated copies of its OS to upgrade to Windows 10 for free rage on.
With Windows 10 expected to hit the shelves by this summer, users who are deploying pirated copies of the older version of the OS, especially Windows XP, are twiddling their thumbs if they would be eligible for free upgrades like legitimate users.
Microsoft has now spilled the beans and revealed to Reuters that it will indeed be upgrading both genuine and non-genuine PCs that are eligible to its latest Windows 10.
"We are upgrading all qualified PCs, genuine and non-genuine, to Windows 10," said Terry Myerson, Microsoft's EVP of OS.
In the perfect PR ploy, while Microsoft has gone ahead and "clarified" its intentions for users who have non-authentic Windows copies, cleverly enough, the company has chosen to stay ambiguous. The wordings do not let on whether a fee will be charged or not charged for the non-genuine users.
Microsoft let on to The Verge that while the non-authentic versions will get updated to Windows 10, their copies of the OS will however, be considered unofficial.
So basically, users who want to make their version official will need to do it via the Windows Store. It is a catch 22 situation for users with a pirated version of the OS as they either take the update route via the Windows Store or purchase a copy of Windows 10 if they have older versions that don't' have any way of being upgraded.
"We will provide a mechanism for non-genuine Windows 10 PC devices to 'get genuine' via the new Windows Store, whether they are upgraded versions of Windows or purchased," a Microsoft spokesperson says. Microsoft notes that its upgrade practice will be consistent globally.
So even if non-genuine PCs will be eligible for a Windows 10 upgrade, their license will not change to genuine, which basically means that Microsoft or a trusted partner will not support them. The company reveals that if a PC has been "considered non-genuine or mislicensed" before the upgrade, it will continue to be considered so even post the upgrade.
However, whether the pirated version which stays non-genuine post the free upgrade will expire or not, or become unstable post a certain period of use has not been clarified by Microsoft.
It only let on that they will have a system which will aid in addressing the non-genuine status of the devices. This suggests that Microsoft may eventually charge a fee to alter the status of these mislicensed users so that they can install updates meant for genuine Windows 10 users.
