Ensuring that I can upgrade to Win10 later?

[mikeymikec]

From what I've read here, upgrading to Win10 during the free upgrade period and then downgrading again should allow one to then upgrade for free later. Is there an official line somewhere that agrees with this?

Also, the way I'm thinking of doing this is to use the Win7 backup utility to do a full image backup, then do the upgrade, then downgrade and reinstate the image if necessary. Is there a quicker/nicer way?

 

[thewhat]

From what I've read here, upgrading to Win10 during the free upgrade period and then downgrading again should allow one to then upgrade for free later. Is there an official line somewhere that agrees with this?

There is this post from a Microsoft employee:
https://twitter.com/GabeAul/status/605899873360019457

Also, the way I'm thinking of doing this is to use the Win7 backup utility to do a full image backup, then do the upgrade, then downgrade and reinstate the image if necessary. Is there a quicker/nicer way?

For system images I'd recommend just about anything over the built in backup utility, for example Macrium Reflect Free.
But, at least if you have a simple setup (one partition, one drive), the backup utility might work fine too.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I'm lovin' 10 these days even though the initial upgrade was very troublesome until I uninstalled several 3rd party utilities. Redstone is just around the corner with more improvements so making the upgrade happen before the free period expires is a wise move unless you just want to give MS money in the future.