Windows 10: Microsoft gives users their last chance to upgrade before massive price hike

The upgrades can cost up to £190, once the free deal stops

Terry Myerson silhouetted against the backdrop at the Windows 10 launch event (Microsoft)

Microsoft is about to stop its free upgrades to Windows 10 – potentially costing people up to £190.

Friday is the last day that Windows users can upgrade to the newest version of the software for free. If they don’t do so, then they could pay up to £189.99 for each computer to be upgraded.

The offer – which has run since Windows 10 was launched – comes to an end just ahead of an “Anniversary Update” that’s set to be released on 2 August.

That upgrade will be free to anyone running Windows 10.

"We are committed to delivering continuous innovation to you," Microsoft said of the Anniversary Update, which features the Windows Ink tool that enables users to note-take and draw on any screen with a stylus and improvements to its virtual assistant, Cortana.

"Features that bring Windows Ink and Cortana to the mainstream; a faster, more accessible and more power-efficient Microsoft Edge browser; advanced security features for consumers and enterprises; new gaming experiences and new tools for the modern classroom.

"Everyone running Windows 10 will get these new features for free."

Microsoft has offered the free upgrade to anyone running Windows 7 or 8.1 since it launched Windows 10 a year ago.

It has been criticised for pushing that upgrade too hard to its existing users. People have complained – and even been given money in return – about the pop-ups and other nagging notifications that Microsoft sends them to tell them to upgrade.

Those pop-ups often intruded into normal tasks in an effort to get as many computers upgraded as possible. That has led to the notifications appearing in the middle of TV broadcasts that were using the computers to run weather reports, for instance.

And others have complained that their computers have automatically downloaded the software even when they haven’t asked for it.

The company says that more than 350 million people have upgraded to the software already.

Microsoft said when Windows 10 was launched that it hopes to have it installed on a billion devices by 2018. But it has since walked back that commitment, admitting that it will “take longer” than it had hoped to get o the target.