Microsoft experiments with making it easier for pirates to upgrade to Windows 10

Many people have been upset by Microsoft's attitude to Windows 10 upgrades. Not content with secretly downloading the setup files, there have been numerous reports of forced upgrades to Windows 10, and confusion about the upgrade process. Yesterday, Terry Myerson penned a blog post explaining how upgrading to Windows 10 will be made easier.

This is something that has been written about across the web, but the focus has been on how Windows 10 will made an optional update through Windows Update, how rollback will be possible, and how to kill upgrade notifications if you're simply not interested. What has not been talked about much is Myerson's revelation that it will be made easier for pirates to upgrade to Windows 10.

It has long been known that Windows 10 would be a free upgrade for anyone with a genuine copy of Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. But in his blog post, Myerson says that Microsoft has been intrigued by the "creative efforts which non-Genuine customers have gone to, to initiate the upgrade process on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1". Perhaps what is more surprising is "how many have purchased Genuine Windows 10 activation through the Windows 10 store".

Microsoft may be celebrating 110 million installations (or whatever number you fancy plucking out of the air), but the company is hungry for more. While not going as far as allowing non-genuine users to upgrade free of charge, things are being made as easy as possible.

[...] we are going to start an experiment soon in the United States, which we will then evaluate before extending to other countries, to ease the upgrade of non-Genuine Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. We'll offer a one-click opportunity to get Genuine via the Windows Store or by entering an activation code purchased elsewhere. If this turns into a path for most customers to get Genuine, we will expand the experiment. We’d like to welcome as many of these customers as possible to the legitimate Windows ecosystem.

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