Windows 10 is here. After nine months of public beta testing, the final version is rolling out to machines across the world. You can now upgrade to Windows 10 free of charge if you have Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 on your existing PC. While not every single machine will get the upgrade instantly, Microsoft is rolling out the install to millions of devices. All you have to do is register for the upgrade from the taskbar, and Microsoft will alert you once it's ready to be installed. See our guide for full Windows 10 upgrade instructions.
If you upgrade today you'll get a shiny new Start menu, built-in Xbox app with Xbox One game streaming, Cortana integration, a new Microsoft Edge browser, and a host of new built-in apps. Should you upgrade to Windows 10 or wait a little while?
System Requirements
Processor:
1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor or SoC
RAM:
1 gigabyte (GB) for 32-bit or 2 GB for 64-bit
Hard disk space:
16 GB for 32-bit OS 20 GB for 64-bit OS
Graphics card:
DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver
Display:
800x600
Microsoft will start upgrading Windows 7 and Windows 8 machines to Windows 10. The software giant is preparing for this big release, at 12AM ET on July 29th (9PM PST on July 28th), by pre-loading the final version of Windows 10 on PCs eligible for the upgrade. A number of Windows 7 and Windows 8 users who have registered for the upgrade have started noticing that the full installer files for Windows 10 have been downloaded to C:\$windows.~BT as Microsoft gets ready for release.
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Microsoft will unlock and activate the Windows 10 install at midnight tonight, allowing some Windows 7 and Windows 8 users to upgrade. Not everyone will get access to the Windows 10 upgrade initially, though. Microsoft is rolling the upgrade out gradually to compatible systems, and the company is creating a queue to distribute the update in waves. Windows 10 testers have already been testing the final bits and they will be the first to receive a Day One patch that Microsoft is developing. The software maker has also been rolling out daily hotfixes to existing testers, fixing issues just days and hours before the final release.
