As Windows continues to come under attack from all quarters, be it Russian hackers, the exploitation of zero-day vulnerabilities in Windows itself, or newly reported FastHTTP high-speed password hacking threats, keeping your operating system secure has never been more vital. Yet for hundreds of millions of Windows 10 users, security support will come to a crashing halt sooner rather than later as Microsoft stops providing it on Oct. 14. If you are quick, however, there’s a way of upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11 entirely legally and free of charge. Here’s what you need to know.
How To Upgrade From Windows 10 To Windows 11 For Free
There are, truth be told, many ways to get hold of a copy of Windows 11 free of charge, but not free from cost. Let me explain. These methods all involve illegality in some shape or form, mostly cracked copies of the operating system. If your moral code is OK with that, then you might wonder where the cost comes from. Well, quite apart from the risk of prosecution, however small, there’s the security angle, which is much more significant: such copies of Windows often come with an unwelcome malware surprise. Do you really want to be using Microsoft’s most secure operating system with added rootkits and malware to spy on you and steal the credentials to your valuable accounts? Nope, didn’t think so. But as the end of support date for Windows 11 fast approaches, with less than nine months left, making the upgrade is becoming a pressing issue for many who might be tempted by money not changing hands.
Which is where Microsoft comes to the rescue, albeit rather quietly and without fanfare. A Jan. 21 posting to Microsoft’s Windows release health support pages, yeah, who knew, revealed that there is a way to get a legal upgrade to Windows 11 free of charge.
“Starting this week,” Microsoft said, “we are expanding this latest Windows version’s phased rollout.” That version being Windows 11 24H2. “We are gradually offering this update also to eligible devices running Windows 10, version 22H2,” Microsoft confirmed.
Is Your Windows 10 Computer Eligible For The Free Windows 11 Upgrade?
Microsoft advised that to check if your Windows 10 device is eligible for the free Windows 11 operating system upgrade then you must head for Settings|Windows Update and then select the check for updates option.“If your device is ready for the update,” Microsoft said, “you’ll see the option to download and install Windows 11, version 24H2.”
Why is this such a critical upgrade from the security perspective? As I’ve already mentioned, from Oct. 14, Windows 10 will have reached what’s known as end-of-support, and millions of users will no longer get security updates unless they pay for extended security support or upgrade to Windows 11. Unless that is, you check for that free upgrade opportunity now. Keep an eye on that stealthy support page as well, as Microsoft has said that it will “regularly share more information on the Windows 11 2024 Update rollout.”
