That will buy you a USB key with the Windows 10 software installed, which you can then insert into your PC and perform the necessary upgrade. That means paying $200 for Windows 10 Pro, or $140 for Windows 10 Home (which has increased from Microsoft’s original price of $120 when it first launched). Unfortunately, that window has closed-maybe. Second, you can upgrade your existing PC with a new Windows 10 license.Īt press time, Microsoft’s charging the same amount for a copy of Windows 10 Home that it can send you on a USB, as well as downloading it over the Internet.Īt one point, upgrading to Windows 10 was as simple as clicking a button and signing up for the free upgrade. Office 2010 and the newer standalone Office suites will be “supported,” too-but only if the problem is specific to Office, and not to the interaction between Office and Windows 7. But you won’t receive any new Office 365 features, which are one of the reasons for buying Office 365. If you subscribe to Office 365 and run Windows 7, you’ll still receive security updates for Office 365 for the next 3 years, until January 2023. One exception? Oddly enough, it’s Office. There will be no technical support for Windows 7. But Microsoft won’t upgrade any of its browser software, and if a vulnerability is discovered for Windows 7, it won’t be patched. Third-party antivirus software, apps, utilities, games and other software will still work. Essentially, at least where Microsoft is concerned, your PC will simply cease to exist. We wouldn’t recommend the first option: ignoring the deadline altogether. Microsoft would like you to migrate to Windows 10, too-it has an entire page devoted to it. Note that these options also apply to Windows 8.1, whose support ends in 2023.

Buy a new Windows 10 PC and migrate your existing files over to the new machine.

Hope that the free upgrade loophole still exists.Buy a new copy of Windows 10 ($140 from Microsoft Remove non-product link), and install it.

Ignore the deadline, including the popup warnings you’ve probably already received.

Windows7 upgrade