Fire up your Windows 7 or 8 PC, and you might notice a new icon in the notifications tray in the bottom right-hand corner. That little Windows flag is your passport to a free Windows 10 upgrade.
Although we're still a few months away from the final release, Microsoft is seemingly drumming up interest in Windows 10 by asking current Windows users to register for their free upgrade. Click on that tiny Windows flag and the following screen appears:
Although step 2 of the process suggests you're going to be installing Windows 10, don't get too excited: all the Wizard is doing at this stage is collecting your email address, so that Microsoft knows where to reach you when the operating system is finally released.
Microsoft has confirmed in a blog post that Windows 10 will be released on 29 July. That gives the company until mid-June to finalise the code and get it to PC manufacturers, in time for them to validate the new operating system and get it pre-installed on PCs to meet the release date. Judging by the number of bugs still loitering in the Windows 10 code, that's going to be a very tall order indeed.
The Microsoft wizard warns that the Windows 10 download will take around 3GB of space when it finally arrives, although you will need at least 10% of your hard disk/SSD space free to install the operating system. Windows 10 will be an in-place upgrade for those already running Windows 7 or 8, meaning you won't need to reinstall all your software and files. Those running earlier versions of Windows, such as Vista or the now defunct Windows XP, don't qualify for the free upgrade.
