End of support for Windows 10: The free upgrade to Windows 11

It sounds good: “Upgrades from Windows 10 to Windows 11 are free.” At least that’s what Microsoft writes in an FAQ about the end of support for Windows 10. But just a look at the absurdly high hardware requirements for Windows 11 makes it clear that this is the case can’t always be right. The Windows 10 successor doesn’t run on many PCs, and then you either have to upgrade or (more often) buy a new one, and that costs a lot of money. This article is about something different: the question of whether upgrading to Windows 11 is really free if you use Windows 10.

The promise from the Microsoft FAQ ultimately means that you will receive a free upgrade license for Windows 11 if you already have a valid Windows 10 license. However, certain requirements must be met for this to happen. In short: Either your Windows 10 installation was activated with a “digital license”, but then you are not allowed to change the hardware and certainly not move to another PC. Or you have an installation key that Microsoft considers to be valid and that is specifically intended for Windows 10. Only in this case can you assume that Microsoft will keep its promise.

But what exactly is a “digital license” and what is a “valid” key “expressly for Windows 10”? Explaining this requires the long form, and that revolves around licenses, installation keys, activation and the predecessor of today’s free upgrade from 10 to 11. After all, something like this has existed before, namely with Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 to 10. But first things first.

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