Microsoft Confirms 2 Free Offers—Windows Users Must Now Choose
Decision time for 700 million users.
Microsoft's sudden decision to kill its own October deadline for Windows 10 was many things — but above all it was a surprise. But now for the reality check. Doing nothing is not an option. This reversal means half of all Windows users must now decide. There are now two options on the table — both free — from which to choose.
These numbers are stark. There are around 400 million Windows 10 users eligible to upgrade to Windows 11 — that means a PC with the right security hardware onboard. A further 240 million can't upgrade because their PCs fail that eligibility test.
All told, that's at least 700 million users with three options to stick to Windows 10. Use Microsoft's cloud backup and extend support for free until october 2026. Use some of the company's rewards points to do the same. Or cough up $30.
There is a fourth option of course. Those 400 million users should really take the free upgrade to Windows 11 that's still on the table. Windows 10 retaining security updates for 12-months might be table stakes, but Windows 11 is much more secure.
In the same blogpost Microsoft used to confirm its u-turn, it also emphasized the free upgrade point. 'Security is at the heart of Windows 11... Windows 11 is secure by design and by default, with layers of defense enabled on day one to enhance your protection without the need to first configure settings.'
I've said before that this u-turn is a mistake. The free 12-month extension should have been limited just to users with PCs unable to upgrade to Windows 11. The threat now is inertia — users that would otherwise have upgraded not bothering until next year.
The irony is that those upgrades had finally started to accelerate just as Microsoft issued its surprising news. The danger is that this acceleration will now rapidly slow back down to the crawl it was beforehand. That's not good for users or for Microsoft.
So go ahead, upgrade to Windows 11 if you can and have not done so already. And if you can't, use the extended support wizard as soon as it's available. It's currently only available for Insiders, but that will change soon at it hits all PCs.
For the rest, the best advice is to see what new PC bargains might crop up through the rest of this year. The Microsoft news will have disappointed PC m akers who want the refresh cycle to continue unabated. You should see some good bargain hunting through the shopping season in the fall as all that inventory chases an unexpectedly soft market.
As for all those Windows 10 users, there are now two free offers on the table. Upgrade an eligible PC to Windows 11 or extend support for a year. No excuses for falling off support anymore, making the fared cyber nightmare a reality.
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