July 29 has come and gone and maybe you’re sitting there smacking yourself for not upgrading to Windows 10 for free while you had the chance. If you don’t want to spend $120, there’s still hope for you yet.
Microsoft’s offer for the general public to upgrade for free officially ended, but the company left a bit of a loophole open, as LifeHacker notes: if you use assistive technologies, upgrading is still free for now. If you don’t use assistive technologies, well, there’s no verification process involved.
All you have to do is go to Microsoft’s accessibility site, sign up for a free upgrade, and check a box that says you use assistive technologies.
This might not last — Microsoft told LifeHacker in a statement that the tool isn’t supposed to be a workaround for anyone who doesn’t use assistive technology and missed the deadline. But again, there’s no indication on whether or not Microsoft verifies such designations, at least not at this point.
There’s no end date for the upgrade extension in place now, and when it does remove the free upgrade for assistive technology users, the company will let the public know.
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist