End of free updates. Microsoft has made the decision

Microsoft no longer allows free upgrades of Windows 7 and 8 operating systems to newer versions of Windows 10 and 11. This means that it will no longer be possible to purchase a key to activate the older system in order to update it to the new one.

As we read on the Thurrott portal, "Microsoft has quietly announced that it is discontinuing support for free updates to Windows 10 or 11". As we read further, the Redmond giant initially offered free updates to Windows 10 until July 29, 2016. However, in the end, the installation of a newer operating system was possible even until today. Users could completely go for free to update Windows 7 and 8 even to version 11.

The disabling of free upgrade capability for the operating system bearing the Microsoft logo applies to older versions of Windows, namely 7 and 8. The first of these, "seven," was released in October 2009, while "eight" appeared on the market three years later, in 2012.

Both systems are not popular today, as evidenced by statistics presented by the Stat Counter portal. They show that globally, about 3.5 percent of users are still using Windows 7, while its subsequent release is only installed on 0.3 percent of computers worldwide. The most popular Windows system is the previous version, numbered 10 – about 72 percent of users use it. Windows 11 comes in second with about 23 percent of users.

The fall update of Windows 11 ("Windows 11 Fall Update" or "Windows 11 Moment 4") was released in recent days. It introduces a refreshed Outlook, but also several new features in Paint (AI features), Photos, Snipping, and Notepad. To carry out the update, make sure you are using the version of Windows 11 marked as 22H2. You can carry out the entire process of installing the new version of the system in settings.