If you have a .edu email address or attend a participating school, you might get Windows 10 Education—which is virtually identical to Windows 10 Enterprise, not Home. But some schools also offer Windows 10 Home.

Elias handed him a battered laptop from 2011. "The sticker on the bottom. That’s your ticket."

– Microsoft once provided a free upgrade for customers using assistive technologies. This offer expired in 2017.

In late 2023, Microsoft officially disabled the ability to use old Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 product keys to activate fresh installs of Windows 10 or 11.