Windows 10 S to Pro upgrades free for accessibility technology users
Microsoft announced today that Windows S users who use accessibility technology will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro for free.
You may remember that Microsoft announced a similar program back when the official offer to upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 or 8.1 devices expired. Microsoft back then announced that users who use assistive technologies would still be able to upgrade to Windows 10 free of charge.
Note on the side: Windows 10 upgrades from Windows 7 or 8.1 are still free. You can check our guide to find out how to benefit from Microsoft not stopping the free upgrade system completely.
The company revealed today on the Accessibility blog that it runs that upgrades from Windows 10 S to Windows 10 Pro will also be free for customers who use accessibility technologies.
Microsoft is committed to meeting the needs of people with disabilities and providing choices for devices and modes for operating Windows. We will provide assistive technology users with a switch to Windows 10 Pro from Windows 10 S at no charge as we continue to improve our built-in assistive technology and bring more assistive technology apps to the Microsoft Store.
Assistive technologies users are not the only ones who get a free upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. Customers in education will also get a free upgrade, at least in the year of release of Windows 10 S.
Windows 10 S is a new edition of Windows 10 that Microsoft unveiled a couple of weeks ago. The operating system shares similarities with Windows RT, as it will only run apps from the Store and apps that ship with Windows 10, but not Win32 programs.
One core difference to Windows RT is that Windows 10 S systems may be upgraded to Windows 10 Pro for a small fee (apparently for $49 unless you get the upgrade for free).
The lack of support for Win32 programs, which includes drivers that don't ship with Windows or are offered by Microsoft, is probably the main reason why Microsoft is offering upgrades to users of accessibility technologies for free.
Considering that most accessibility tools and utilities are only available as Win32 applications, it is fair to say that users might have difficulties using Windows 10 S because of that. If you cannot install the software you need, and don't have any alternative options as Windows Store is not exactly filled to the brim with accessibility apps, you may be stuck with an operating system that you cannot use. Thanks to the free upgrade offer, that is not the case as Windows 10 Pro supports Win32 programs.
Microsoft notes in the release that accessibility improvements are coming to the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. It mentions improvements to narrator, low vision, and reading & writing improvements. You can check out what is coming on the linked blog.
It is unclear how Microsoft will identify users who are eligible for free upgrades. Microsoft set up a web page for the free upgrade offer to Windows 10, and it is likely that the company will use the same option when it comes to upgrades from Windows 10 S to Pro. All you are required to do there is to click on the upgrade now button to start the process.
What mental age of reader are you targeting with the first sentence? 10?
Why not write an article on how to *avoid* upgrading from W10 to W11. Analogous to those like me who avoided upgrading from 7 to 10 for as long as possible.
If your paymaster Microsoft permits it, of course.
5. Rufus
6. Ventoy
PS. I hate reading these “SEO optimized” articles.
I used Rufus to create an installer for a 6th gen intel i5 that had MBR. It upgraded using Setup. No issues except for Win 11 always prompting me to replace my local account. Still using Win 10 Pro on all my other PCs to avoid the bullying.
bit pointless to upgrade for the sake of upgrading as you never know when you’ll get locked out because ms might suddenly not provide updates to unsupported systems.
ps…. time travelling?
written. Jan 15, 2023
Updated • Jan 13, 2023
This happens when you schedule a post in WordPress and update it before setting the publication date.
Anyone willing to downgrade to this awful OS must like inflicting themselves with harm.
I have become convinced now that anybody who has no qualms with using Windows 11/10 must fit into one of the following brackets:
1) Too young to remember a time before W10 and W11 (doesn’t know better)
2) Wants to play the latest games on their PC above anything else (or deeply needs some software which already dropped W7 support)
3) Doesn’t know too much about how computers work, worried that they’d be absolutely lost and in trouble without the “”latest security””
4) Microsoft apologist that tries to justify that the latest “features” and “changes” are actually a good thing, that improve Windows
5) Uses their computer to do a bare minimum of like 3 different things, browse web, check emails, etc, so really doesn’t fuss
Obviously that doesn’t cover everyone, there’s also the category that:
6) Actually liked W7 more than 10, and held out as long as possible before switching, begrudgingly uses 10 now
Have I missed any group off this list?
You have missed in this group just about any professional user that uses business software like CAD programs or ERP Programs which are 99% of all professional users from this list.
Linux doesn’t help anyone who is not a linux kid and apple is just a fancy facebook machine.
Microsoft has removed KB5029351 update
only from windows update though
KB5029351 is still available from the ms update catalog site
1. This update is labaled as PREVIEW if it causes issues to unintelligent people, then they shouldn’t have allowed Preview updates ot install.
2. I have installed it in a 11 years old computer, and no problems at all.
3. Making a big drama over a bluescreen for an updated labeled as preview is ridiculous.
This is probably another BS internet drama where people ran programs and scripts that modified the registry until they broke Windows, just for removing stuff that they weren’t even using just for the sake of it.
Maybe people should stop playing geeks and actually either use Windows 10 or Windows 11, but don’t try to modify things just for the sake of it.
Sometimes removing or stopping things (like defender is a perfect example) only need intelligence, not scripts or 3rd party programs that might mess with windows.
Windows 11 was a pointless release, it was just created because some of the Windows team wanted to boost sales with some sort of new and improved Windows 10. Instead, Microsoft cannot support one version well let alone two.
Windows 11 is the worst ugly shame by Microsoft ever. They should release with every new W11 version a complete free version of Starallback inside just to make this sh** OS functionally again.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released a statement regarding the “unsupported processor” blue screen error for their boards using Intel 600/700 series chipsets & to avoid the KB5029351 Win11 update:
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/MSI-On–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–Error-Message-of-Windows-11-Update-KB5029351-Preview-142215
check out the following recent articles:
Neowin – Microsoft puts little blame on its Windows update after UNSUPPORTED PROCESSOR BSOD bug:
https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-puts-little-blame-on-its-windows-update-after-unsupported-processor-bsod-bug/
BleepingComputer – Microsoft blames ‘unsupported processor’ blue screens on OEM vendors:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-blames-unsupported-processor-blue-screens-on-oem-vendors/
While there may be changes or updates to the Windows 10 Store for Business and Education in the future, it is premature to conclude that it will be discontinued based solely on rumors.
My advice, I left win 15 years ago. Now I’m a happy linux user (linuxmint) but there is Centos, Fedora, Ubuntu depending on your needs.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released new BIOS/firmware updates for their Intel 600 & 700 series motherboards to fix the “UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR” problem (Sept. 6):
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/Updated-BIOS-fixes-Error-Message–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–caused-BSOD-on-MSI-s-Intel-700-and-600-Series-Motherboards-142277
I try to disable the Diagnostics Tracking Service (Connected Devices Platform User Services) but it wont let me disable it, any help will be greatly appreciated.
Tank you for your help