Windows 10, as you may know, will be a thing of the past by the time October 14 rolls around. That’s when Microsoft will no longer be supporting the operating system. It’s just launched a new tool to help move people on, and it’s free, unlike a previous alternative option.
If you can upgrade your current PC to Windows 11, Microsoft would like you to do that, and preferably as soon as possible. But what if your computer doesn’t support Windows 11? As Windows Latest reports, there are now two options.
“You can use Microsoft’s paid OneDrive service and save everything to the cloud, which is restored when you set up a new Windows 11 PC. Or you can use a new Windows Migration feature, which comes with a free “PC to PC” transfer feature,” it says.
The new feature is part of Windows 10 KB5061087, which will be live in the next few days for all users. “Microsoft is testing a feature within the existing Windows Backup. While it’s not exactly a new app, since it’s been on Windows 10 and 11 for almost two years now, it’s getting a Migration tool,” the report adds.
It means that there’s now an option withing Windows Backup to transfer information to a new PC, so you can use it right away. Right now, it’s for internal testing, and is similar to Windows Easy Transfer, which dates back to Windows 7. While it’s in “user testing stage,” as it says in Windows, “Full version coming soon,” it goes on.
That’s when it will become clear exactly how it will work. Both PCs need to be on the same network, but it’s not clear if it will only work with wireless networks, or if a wired connection will also do the job.
Microsoft had teased a feature like this in May, without going into detail.
And since Microsoft wants everybody on Windows 11 sooner rather than later, this new tool makes a lot of sense. “If you can’t get Windows 11, you’ll be asked to replace your old Windows 10 PC and migrate to a new PC. In that case, you can use the new Windows Backup app’s Migration feature,” the report says.
The move to Windows 11 is inexorable, even if there are many millions of users who haven’t made the jump yet.
