I have images for both win 8.1 and win 10 for my computer. Does anyone know if Microsoft will indefinitely allow one to go back and forth between those images, or at some point down the line will they say that your win 8.1 license is no longer valid since you have been using win 10 for a period of time? (or vice versa) The reason I ask is that win 10 is slightly sluggish at times on my computer, so I am considering reloading my win 8.1 image, but I am not sure how the end of life issue for win 8.1 might play into the picture down the line. It would not surprise me if MS gets very aggressive about trying to terminate the service life of previous operating systems in order to move forward with the new model they have come up with. Unlike what they did with windows XP
No-one knows the answer to this, just Microsoft knows. Microsoft says in their EULA that they reserve the privilege to change any policy they have in place at anytime and without prior notice. Their current policy is that you can go back and forth between W8 and W10 on the same PC as often you like. This is the license entitlement policy they introduced with the free upgrade to W10. As you have images for this you are not tied to the 30 day fallback rule. There is no indication that they will terminate W8 extended support before 2023. There is a lot of speculation that they will mostly due to the declining number of W8 users, but it is still considered a low probability due to possible legal action. They have officially made it very clear that they will not extend support in the same manner in which they did for XP. It is more than likely you will be badgered with ads to buy W10 after July 29, 2016. You will probably get scare messages (security security security) as 2023 looms closer. It is all a matter of how ballsy MS wants to get. They are definitely taking more risks with user sat. these days.
Ok, thanks. I think I will stay with 8.1 until I hear that they are going to change that policy. I will have to re-evaluate when, or if that happens.
