When Microsoft launched Windows 10, the company made a very important change in its update policy, and that is that, instead of forcing users to pay for the new license (as was done until then), everyone who had a key of Windows 7 or Windows 8 could upgrade to the then new Windows 10 completely free of charge. This promotion was going to last one year, until summer 2016, and although Microsoft announced that the promotion had officially ended, it was still possible to update Windows for free. Until today.
All good things come to an end, and as of today, Microsoft no longer allows you to continue updating to Windows 10 or 11 using old Windows 7 and 8 licenses. This means that, if we are using a computer with one of these last two systems ( something we shouldn’t, since they no longer have support and we would be in the hands of hackers), the only way to make the jump to the new systems will be to buy a new license for them. And, remember, they are not exactly cheap.
We can also resort to purchasing a resold OEM license for 12 euros as we can find in many keys, much cheaper and 100% original that will allow us to save when activating the system. Of course, we must make sure that they are not Windows 7 or 8 keys, or we will not be able to use them after 23H2.
All users who have updated their licenses in the last 8 years (from the launch of Windows 10 until yesterday) will be able to continue using the new licenses generated to activate the system, and even to install it from scratch (if they recover the converted key generated Microsoft after the process). Furthermore, since the key is linked to the Microsoft Account, if we install it without a key, after logging in the license will be validated and the operating system will also be activated.
Microsoft has also blocked the Hardware ID trick, using it to leverage the activation of any old system to use it for the new system. And, although this trick will work until version 22H2 of Windows 11, starting with this fall’s update, 23H2, this trick will no longer be available.
Of course, users will still be able to upgrade from Windows 10 to 11 for free if they want to make the jump to the new Microsoft system, something important considering that, in two years, Windows 10 will become part of the operating systems without support .
One less incentive to update Windows
We don’t know why Microsoft has been allowing this to be done for 8 years (although initially it was only valid for the first year) and suddenly decided to turn off the tap and leave the few users who haven’t taken advantage of this trick without being able to do so. update.
If right now we download a Windows 11 22H2 ISO, and activate it using the Win 7 key, this method will continue to work. But when the ISO offered by Microsoft is 23H2, we will no longer be able to use said key, unless we first go through 22H2 of the operating system. Of course, taking into account that to do so you have to go through Microsoft servers, at any time they could change the rules of the game and block this method as well.
