You have until the end of today to upgrade to Windows 10 for free

Windows 10 has been a free upgrade for Windows 7/8.1 users for the past year, but the deadline for that freebie is about to expire.

So if you've been on the fence, and you've not upgraded yet, be aware that you've only until the end of today (July 29) to hit that update button and find out what all the fuss is about.

After that, you'll have to pay for Windows 10, and the operating system will set you back £100 (or $120 over in the US and AU$179 down under).

Boosted adoption

Windows 10 has been picking up users at a decent pace, and we expect that the figures for July will prove to be a big boost, given that a fair number of those who have been mulling the upgrade over the past year will likely pull the trigger to avoid having to fork out a later date.

Microsoft's newest OS has already proved particularly popular with gamers, because it offers DirectX 12 support which is a major boon. Indeed, almost half of PC gamers on Steam are now running Windows 10.

And following the cessation of the free upgrade, Microsoft will be pushing out the big Anniversary Update on August 2. It comes complete with many new features including bolstered security and a host of improvements to the Edge browser.

Should you upgrade?

If you still haven't made your mind up about upgrading to Windows 10, check out our recent articles that detail everything you need to know about Microsoft's latest operating system.

If you're already running Windows 10, check out our OS-specific tutorials below:

This article is part of TechRadar's Windows 10 week. Microsoft's latest operating system turns from a free to a paid upgrade on July 29, and we're looking to answer the question of whether it's good for you.

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).