back to article Windows 10 still free, even the Anniversary Update, if you're crass

Microsoft's year-long Windows 10 free upgrade offer ended over the weekend, but it's still possible to secure Redmond's finest – even the new Anniversary Update - for the low low price of 0.00 in whatever currency you prefer. The free upgrade is reserved for those who use assistive technologies, the many features that magnify …

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  1. David 138

    Are the people dodging nagware the same people who where complaining about eol on Windows XP the other year :P

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Windows XP was EOL'd in accordance with the policy that MS announced.

      Windows 7 will be fully supported until 2020. The "free upgrade" offer is MS' desperate attempt to bring this forward because of all the resources it has to devote to securing the browser built into the operating system. But they're basically pissing in the wind: desktop OS's will be the minority by 2020.

      1. bombastic bob Silver badge
        WTF?

        desktop OS's will be the minority by 2020 (?)

        "desktop OS's will be the minority by 2020"

        I disagree. More recent phone sales statistics tend to suggest that smartphones. like slabs, have had their "bubble". Also, you can't use sales statistics to judge the size of the user base for desktops and notebooks. Assuming you mean operating systems, and not devices, you'll ALWAYS have a need for something more powerful than a phone OS, and you'll need a desktop or notebook computer to run it on. Putting a phone OS (like Win-10-nic? "Ape"?) onto a desktop is just REDONKULOUS. And there's only "just so much" that you can do on a 4 inch screen... (and I don't see VR headsets becoming all that popular within 4 years to replace relatively large and easier-to-read laptop/notebook screens).

        And, if you consider ACCESSIBILITY, old eyes can't see tiny screens very well...

        1. Charlie Clark Silver badge
          Headmaster

          Re: desktop OS's will be the minority by 2020 (?)

          More recent phone sales statistics tend to suggest that smartphones. like slabs, have had their "bubble".

          The stats only show that growth has peaked: 3.5 million per day seems to be the limit. Meanwhile PC sales are in terminal decline and are lucky to get 20 million a month, with lower margins.

          High-end smartphones are now as powerful as desktops from a couple years ago and catching up fast (Intel has better process but ARMs need less silicon): adding keyboards and extra screens is easy. Convergence is going to happen, just not necessarily the way Microsoft would like.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: desktop OS's will be the minority by 2020 (?)

            First, the serious business. Reality dictates that a desktop and a mobile device cannot serve the same function. So there will never be convergence, except where our need do. So most will get that, as most just want to browse or watch.

            However I doubt my phone will ever have 4 usb ports, or parts I can swap out in 3 mins at £20 a pop.

            Second, non-serious, phones do not have an "OS" they have a "SOC", "System of Control [of the user]". ;)

            1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

              Re: desktop OS's will be the minority by 2020 (?)

              However I doubt my phone will ever have 4 usb ports, or parts I can swap out in 3 mins at £20 a pop.

              Firstly, I said dominant. Notebooks overtook desktop PCs (the ones with replaceable parts) a few years ago. Nowadays you can only really swap the drive and RAM. But in a couple of years it may be really hard to find anything with replaceable parts.

              Most phones will happily run a USB hub via an OTG cable

          2. Ropewash

            Re: desktop OS's will be the minority by 2020 (?)

            "Convergence is going to happen"

            Interesting concept. How's my theoretical phone of the near future going to handle being asked to run something like Fallout4 ?

            Is the docking station going to come with an SSD? The game is 30GB. Will there be a seperate processor and cooling system? Even with liquid nitrogen a phone's circuitry isn't going to handle the task. Perhaps there'll be an nvidia GTX1080 in there too to support high framerate, high resolution displayport/HDMI2 output?

            At that point where's the convergence? Your docking station would be a desktop with a phone plugged into it for no reason at all.

            Give me a proper desktop and a fast USB port to sync my phone and I'll have all the "convergence" I'll ever need.

            Wait... We already have that?

            Viva la future.

            1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

              Re: desktop OS's will be the minority by 2020 (?)

              Interesting concept. How's my theoretical phone of the near future going to handle being asked to run something like Fallout4 ?

              It probably won't be able to. But what about Fallout VR running either from a console or over a network and streaming to a fairly dumb viewer? This is at least the theory behind one of nVidia's products. By 2020 flash memory will be have all but replaced the magnetic stuff and Samsung's already pimping next-gen (hi-density, fast I/O) parts. Hi-end phones in 2020 might easily come with 256 GB storage or more and 16 GB RAM.

              As noted above I said that the PC will no longer be the dominant hardware platform in 2020, but PCs will still exist. However, I don't think it will be long before we see game development budgets moving towards the mobile devices: Pokemon gives an idea of the potential size of the market (yes, I know it doesn't need anything like the processing power of Fallout). Here, it's led to a bridge being closed to traffic so that people can hunt.

      2. Pompous Git Silver badge

        Windows 7 will be fully supported until 2020.

        Not according to the pop-up window nagging me to upgrade to w10 after installing w7 in a VM a week ago. It told me that security updates would only be available for w10 from now on.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          The popup was trying to trick you. What it meant was that updates were no longer available for Windows 7 without SP1.... and you'd not yet installed SP1. A bit like a garage trying to sell you a new car because you forgot to fill the last one with petrol.... which is EXACTLY why I don't trust Microsoft.

    2. HAL-9000

      @David 138

      In all probability, almost certainly yes ;)

      1. VinceH

        Speaking as a nagware dodger, I can safely say the answer is no.

        You should have questioned whether it was some of the same people.

    3. Pascal Monett Silver badge

      Re: the same people who where complaining about eol on Windows XP

      Not all of them.

      I was happy to move to Windows 7, and very happy with the 64-bit version. So many things are a lot better on 7 than on XP that you'd really have to be stuck on XP to stay there.

      I have no desire to surrender my PC to Microsoft. It works the way I want it to, and I really, really do not want MS to fiddle about with it because I just know that they'll stuff something up at one point or another.

      And I do not trust any company with access to my disks, especially not US-based ones.

    4. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      "Are the people dodging nagware the same people who where complaining about eol on Windows XP the other year"

      Why shouldn't they be? If they weren't happy about being forced off one version why do you think they'd be pleased at being frog-marched onto yet another?

    5. Simon

      No, we're the ones without a touchscreen and enough sense to know that nothing is free, I do not want to trade my privacy for an "upgrade".

    6. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Brings a whole new meaning to the term "Window Licker"...

  2. alain williams Silver badge

    Missing option in survey

    * No, I am using a superior, non MS, operating system

    1. Naselus

      Re: Missing option in survey

      "* No, I am using a superior, non MS, operating system"

      Could we not drop the 'superior' part, so that Mint users can use that option too?

      1. James 51
        Joke

        Re: Missing option in survey

        You forgot the joke icon.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Missing option in survey

        Could we not drop the 'superior' part, so that Mint users can use that option too?

        Why? As far as I can tell, ANY OS is superior to Win 10 so it doesn't matter much what your alternative is, even the programming language found on Casio FX calculators about 3 decades ago :)

        1. bpfh

          Re: Missing option in survey

          Even Windows ME ?

      3. itzman
        Paris Hilton

        Re: Missing option in survey

        Could we not drop the 'superior' part, so that Mint users can use that option too?

        A low blow as I use mint. But upvoted anyway because its funny.

      4. Chika
        Mushroom

        Re: Missing option in survey

        Could we not drop the 'superior' part, so that Mint users can use that option too?

        Oh for f***s' sake...

        LINUX IS NOT MINT!

        (On behalf of CentOS, Ubuntu, SUSE, Debian, Arch, even RedHat users or if I missed you out, insert your distro name [here]).

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Missing option in survey @alain williams

      How does the screen narration work in your superior OS?

      AFAIK there are some blind people roaming these forums, have they got any input on this?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Missing option in survey @alain williams

        "How does the screen narration work in your superior OS?"

        Apparently asking these sort of things is verboten here and must be downvoted. 'We'll just see about that...Nope, it's airtight. Can't let this little doozy get out'

        1. Steve Todd

          Re: Missing option in survey @alain williams

          "How does the screen narration work in your superior OS?"

          Since its been part of OS X since version 10.4 (VoiceOver, which is also included in iOS), and it hooks in to Braille displays at a system level also, then apparently quite well.

      2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: Missing option in survey @alain williams

        "How does the screen narration work in your superior OS?"

        I haven't had the need to use this myself fortunately but, as you'd expect, there's quite a lot of assistive stuff in the repositories, largely, I think, based on speech-dispatcher. See it put together in http://www.knopper.net/knoppix-adriane/index-en.html

      3. Sebby

        Re: Missing option in survey @alain williams

        AFAIK there are some blind people roaming these forums, have they got any input on this?

        Yes: even the fairly rudimentary improvements to Narrator (which is still no match for the commercial screen readers on Doze) are not enough of a reason to upgrade. My privacy, as with many of you, is too important for such trifles. Moreover, the "upgrade" seriously degrades accessibility in many ways. Redmond know this; they’ve had to extend the offer precisely because their lacklustre accessibility wasn’t adequate. Example: you can’t use Edge in third-party screen readers. It’s great that they’re willing to acknowledge that much, but perhaps not so great that they’re still willing to help people get a worse experience. I guess it’s good PR, it’ll give more people the opportunity to “upgrade” (and everybody should make use of assistive tech if they need it) and people who really don’t want it can now stop being forced onto it. But as a blind person I don’t want it.

        As to the alternatives, I use the Mac most of the time, and have done since 10.5 or so. The experience started out very promising, got better, really great, became the benchmark for the AT industry, and then, as many Mac users are finding about the whole OS, got gradually worse as the iOSification set in and iOS itself became the priority. Including the screen reader in the OS was a masterstroke, but it only works when you’re keeping that screen reader on par with the competition, and sadly Apple aren’t even trying to hold the ball at the moment. I’ve been thinking about going back to Windows 8.1 with Classic Shell and tweaks with a commercial reader more and more (I never really had any great love for versions of Windows past 2000 or maybe XP classic), and have decided that if Apple don’t pull their finger out very soon that’s what I’ll do. People certainly deserve better than what Apple’s sanctimonious PR bullshit conveys they should be getting from their screen reader. It will be a shame: I really prefer OS X overall, it’s a much more rational desktop experience (menus, not ribbons, no touch fetish), and it has great first-party support for apps (including the browser) and third-party support for its Cocoa toolkit. Even the installer works with sound support, so I can do independent system maintenance. But I have the hardware to last until 2023 with Windows 8.1, so that’s what I’ll do if need be. The bugs in Windows screen readers actually get fixed more than once a year, and I can use themes and tweaks to hide the ugliness and use alternative browsers, etc. Desktop Linux isn’t really feasible—the work just hasn’t been done, and while I don’t fault the volunteers, the fact is that a freshly installed system has a good chance of not working even with the necessary software installed as part of the base system. Accessibility really does require some commitment, however little. ChromeOS is still a bit rough, but it’s getting better quite rapidly; no doubt their entry into education had something to do with that. iOS is always preferable to Android, while Google continue to make only a half-hearted effort. And no, the source won’t help if you have to be using it to improve it, obviously. No platform preference can change that, alas ( not even if you downvote this post :) ); I’d use desktop Linux and hardened Android if I could. I do use textmode Linux quite a bit in a VM with braille support and use Linux on servers, of course. That’s great. But on the whole I think blind people are just choosing the least worst option, with Windows being the most mature, but yucky and exclusionary, option that can be fixed somewhat to be a pretty ruthless and efficient option, and Mac being the nicer one that gives the user more independence, a technically superior and inclusionary design and a largely pleasant experience, but fewer choices of software and no choice of screen reader, and maddening bugs to boot. There’s maybe hope for the Mac, a dead end for people who care about privacy in contemporary Windows, and degradation either of the overall experience on Windows (touch, ribbons, busy UIs) or the screen reader (long-lived Mac OS and VoiceOver bugs). Most people just go on price, and therefore Windows, but a lot of the blind people I know have the dual-boot scenario on a Mac, or a Windows VM. I’ll continue to recommend and use Macs for now, but if the next release of the system doesn’t stamp out some bugs, I’ll make the switch to the dead-end platform.

        JMO; HTH.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Thumb Up

          Re: Thank you Sebby!

          For your post. I hope MS don't mess up too many peoples systems with their forced changes. Especially those who depend on those computers and assistive technologies!

        2. Shadow Systems

          @Sebby, Re: Accessibility.

          First off, thank you for your post. Enjoy a pint on me. =-)

          I would just like to add that the very "we can force the updates on you & there's nothing you can do about it" aspect is Not Workable. Since there's no Screen Reader Environment (SRE) during POST, BIOS, Boot Menu, nor Safe Mode, that means we have no way to repair our computer once an update cripples the SRE. Not being able to vet the updates to see if others have issues with one, especially if said update cripples the SRE & should not be applied, means it is *Guaranteed* to cripple the SRE at some point. Since there's no way to recover from such crippling, there's no way we can risk even starting down that road.

          At least the update process for pre-Win10 allows a SRE user to wait & see (metaphoricly speaking) if the update is to be avoided until/unless MS fixes the screw up. If they don't then we don't apply the update & the SRE keeps working. If MS releases a patch to fix the update, & that patch works as intended, THEN (and only then) can we go ahead & apply it. If something goes wrong with the update process, we at least have the option of getting help to go to the previous Restore Point or System Backup. This is impossible under Windows 10.

          I, too, value my privacy & thus will not install Windows 10. I've got Win7Pro64 until 2020 & then I'm done with MS. My next computer will be a Linux machine. The SRE may be inferior to that of Apple, but it's infinitely superior to the unacceptable trade off one has to make if one decides to install Win10.

          TL;DR: Blind users can't risk using Windows 10, MS will cripple our machines & make it impossible to use our computers any more. =-\

        3. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

          Re: Missing option in survey @alain williams

          Blocking Windows 10 updates.

          Late to the party, but this may be of some help...

          I've not tried because I didn't bother with Win10, but might be worth a look for those who have or are considering a Win10 "update".

          http://www.thewindowsclub.com/block-unwanted-windows-updates-in-windows-10

          "Microsoft has released a tool that allows Windows 10 users to hide or block specific unwanted Windows Updates or Driver Updates. Using the Show or Hide Updates Tool, you can stop it from downloading specific updates.

          Windows 10 for home users, will always download and install Windows Updates automatically, so as to keep your device always up-to-date, with the latest features and fixes.

          There is no option to turn off Windows Updates using the Control Panel or Settings app in Windows 10, as it used to be with earlier versions of Windows. There is a workaround to disable or turn off Windows Update in Windows 10. But you don’t want to do that, if your objective is to block only unwanted Windows Updates, which may be known to be causing trouble. In such instances, it is better to use this tool from Microsoft instead."

      4. jtaylor

        Re: Missing option in survey @alain williams

        "How does the screen narration work in your superior OS?"

        I know a few blind people. They all use iPhones because VoiceOver is wonderful. Personal computers are usually Macs, work computers are sometimes Windows. (Macs are actually cheaper than Windows after you add the cost of JAWS or Window-Eyes.)

        Apple has been integrating accessibility into their products for years. They are very good at it.

      5. Alan Brown Silver badge

        Re: Missing option in survey @alain williams

        "How does the screen narration work in your superior OS?"

        Very well and has done for a couple of decades.

    3. PNGuinn
      Facepalm

      Re: Missing option in survey

      Agreed.

      For the rest of 'em: "What is it about slurp that you don't understand?"

    4. Adair

      Re: Missing option in survey

      * No, I am using an OS that does not treat its users as if they are irresponsible infants.

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Joke

      Re: Missing option in survey

      * No, and don't ask me ever again.

      Come on, El Reg, you're as bad as Microsoft. ;)

    6. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Windows 10 still "free,"* even the Anniversary Update, if you're that gulible

      * Of course you can do it: That's why it's effin there!

      Come on Reg, shirley you didn't believe M$ was actually going to pull the plug on its 'FREE' 'upgrade' push to sucker the sheeple onto its spyware, merely because the 'limited* time' aspect of the obvious marketing ruse had supposedly come to an end??? How long have you been watching this shit? Have you learned nothing?

      *The 'limited' 'upgrade' offer will really expire no sooner than when we've prized the last existing W7 licence from your cold, dead, hands.

      1) OSaaS

      2) SPYWAREaaOS

      3) $$$PROFIT$$$

  3. jaduncan

    Missing option in survey

    * Yes, I require/use assistive technologies.

    Hurrah for unintentional ableism!

    1. DavCrav

      Re: Missing option in survey

      "Missing option in survey

      * Yes, I require/use assistive technologies.

      Hurrah for unintentional ableism!"

      I came to the comments to post exactly that. Thank you.

    2. BinkyTheMagicPaperclip Silver badge

      Re: Missing option in survey

      No, it's not ableism, because the whole article is about 'taking advantage' of a policy intended to benefit others. If assistive technologies are genuinely needed, it's using the policy as defined.

  4. taxythingy

    Fair's fair

    It's probably more ethical than some of the shit MS threw out there trying to get people to upgrade.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    tell em a tree

    so t'all andicapped can now eggspect tailored ads for reading glasses, cataract operations and hearing aids?

    1. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Trollface

      Re: tell em a tree

      "so t'all andicapped can now eggspect tailored ads for reading glasses, cataract operations and hearing aids?"

      I'd much rather have the ability to configure things SUCH AS the window borders, making them thicker (and 3D looking) so I can see them and resize windows WITHOUT using the 'magnifier', or at LEAST pick colors that are "more readable" to *ME*... in the name of ACCESSIBILITY if nothing else.

      And while we're at it, give me back the OTHER personalized 'appearance' settings. And a 3D skeumorphic appearance in general, because it makes the various components EASIER TO RECOGNIZE ON THE SCREEN (i.e. 'Accessibility). And no more nagware, adware, spyware, and pre-loaded CRAPware (it's distracting, and MAKES IT HARDER TO USE THE COMPUTER). And make ALL of the configuration stuff available through the CONTROL PANEL, and WITHOUT invoking the 'Settings' app(sic) to do it (you know, so I don't have to RE-LEARN to use my own computer after an "up"grade, for ACCESSIBILITY reasons). And how about an actual 'start menu' like 7 has... wait, am I now describing 7?

      I guess I'll stick with 7, then.

  6. Carl D

    Apparently you can still get the 'free' downg... oops, upgrade if you set the clock on your computer back to July 28th. For now, at least.

    http://www.winbeta.org/news/windows-10-free-upgrade-change-clock

    To me, this suggests that MS hasn't really removed the W10 'free' offer - they've just put it aside for the moment while they work out their next devious plan to get W10 onto even more PC's.

    They claim to have 350 million W10 users already. I believe they will be lucky to get 500 million by this time next year unless they go back to the shenanigans we've put up with over the past 12 months.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Their timescale possibly covers many home users' hardware renewals that will have to use the bundled W!0. In my support experience many consumer grade IT devices tend to break physically within three years due to fatigue or accidents. Batteries are often not user replaceable. Sometimes the reason is that accretions are causing the software to load/run slowly.

      That doesn't mean they are unrepairable - but shop/factory repairs tend to appear uneconomical.

      The attitude of many lay users is to throw it away and buy a new shiny one. It is a sign of our times.

      1. James 51

        The power switch gave out on my base unit at the weekend, the plastic clip holding it in place had snapped. Put the reset cable in the power switch jumper and it worked.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Joke

          You have a power switch?

          I touch the two pins with my fingers... ;)

          1. This post has been deleted by its author

          2. Chika
            Happy

            Re: You have a power switch?

            By the power of Greyskull...

  7. DanceMan

    assistive technology

    I could have used some kind of assistive technology while I was trying to navigate around Win 8.1 to do the "upgrade."

    I think they call it a start menu.

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