Microsoft: Windows 10 devices will get Windows 11 for free, but not until 2022

Microsoft’s Windows 11 launch news has been something of a mixed bag. On one hand, the latest version of Windows looks promising with big improvements to its UI and under the hood enhancements said to deliver 40 percent better performance. On the other hand, there has been a lot of confusion and disappointment among some users with relatively new machines who don’t appear to be eligible to upgrade at all due to strict new requirements. Prepare yourself for more disappointment.

Microsoft has just revealed the timeline for the free Windows 11 upgrades it promised to existing Windows 10 users with compatible machines and it is not good news. At the launch, the company announced that Windows 11 will be launching later this year which people naturally assumed to mean that those free Windows 11 upgrades would also begin to roll out too. This is not the case. Instead, Windows 11 will only start rolling out to existing Windows 10 users in 2022, and even then, the rollout will be staggered.

According to a post from Microsoft’s official Twitter account, the rollout of Windows 11 to existing users of Windows 10 will start in the first half of 2022 “and will be delivered over several months”. The only devices that will feature Windows 11 will be new devices launching in Q4. There is no word yet on whether Microsoft will sell Windows 11 through retail channels, but there is the real possibility that if you want Windows 11 on your existing Windows 10 machine in 2021 it will mean an additional retail purchase.

Of course, there’s the Windows 11 Beta that is rolling out in the coming week that you can download to get a good taste of what Microsoft has in store. However, once Windows 11 rolls out officially, all Windows 11 Beta privileges will be revoked until the official rollout begins in 2022. There’s no doubt about it, it is certainly disappointing. But on the plus side, it is a free upgrade if you can hold out for a few months once the Beta period ends.

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