Windows Insiders Getting Free Windows 10

If you've been helping Microsoft test Windows 10, then the company has a free gift for you. No, it's not a T-shirt, mug, or bobblehead Nadella. Instead, Microsoft is giving you what you've been playing with for some time now—Windows 10.

As you undoubtedly know, Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for all Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 users come its July 29 release. It will also be free to anyone who helped the company test Windows 10, with a few important caveats. Make sure your Microsoft Account (MSA) is connected to the Windows 10 build you're testing. And, obviously, this should be the same Microsoft Account that you've been using for the Windows Insider program, which granted you access to Windows 10 preview versions in the first place.

"If you already have your MSA connected to your account on your PC, then you're all set. We're introducing new infrastructure in Windows Update to help us deliver new builds more effectively to Windows Insiders, and ensure that we're flighting builds to people who have registered and opted in to the program. Connecting your MSA also allows seamless access to Windows Insider-only functionality in the Windows Feedback app and Insider Hub too," reads a blog post from Microsoft.

Once July 29 hits, anyone who is on the latest build of Windows 10 prior to the final release will be upgraded, sans issue, to the retail iteration of Windows 10. It should be as seamless a process as it is to currently update the Windows 10 Preview to a new build.

"I've gotten a lot of questions from Windows Insiders about how this will work if they clean installed from ISO. As long as you are running an Insider Preview build and connected with the MSA you used to register, you will receive the Windows 10 final release build and remain activated. Once you have successfully installed this build and activated, you will also be able to clean install on that PC from final media if you want to start over fresh," wrote Insider program head Gabe Aul.

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It's still unclear just whether Microsoft will let users create a clean installation ISO file for Windows 10 (or offer one itself), so anyone can reinstall the OS from a disc or flash drive at a moment's notice. You could always create your own, but it's a bit of a process. Still, we'd much prefer to have a downloadable ISO of Windows 10 than to have to install Windows 7 or 8 and update our way up to the latest OS (or hold on to a Windows 10 preview ISO).