Microsoft
A technician adjusts a spotlight at the exhibition stand of Microsoft in preparation for the CeBIT computer fair in the northern German town of Hanover March 12, 2007. Reuters/Christian Charisus

The initial launch of Windows 10 for PC is in less than two weeks from now. Microsoft has just announced some of the details on its update policy.

The new operating system will start rolling out to PCs worldwide on July 29 and Microsoft has just unveiled new information so users can get a better idea of what to expect from the new operating system. The company just updated its fact sheet for the Windows support life cycle to include the upcoming Windows 10.

The updated fact sheet reveals that Windows 10 will be included from updates for the next 10 years, until October 2025. To be more specific, the mainstream support for the operating system will be halted on October 13, 2020, while extended support will last till October 14, 2025.

This means that Windows 10 will be supported and updated by Microsoft for the next decade, according to PC World. The 10 years are broken down into a five-year mainstream support stage while the next five-years will be for the extended support phase. The updates will be for free during the supported phase and Microsoft will not require a subscription fee.

"Updates are cumulative, with each update built upon all of the updates that preceded it," Microsoft stated, adding that "a device needs to install the latest update to remain supported." Microsoft explains further that future updates may or may not include various security or non-security fixes, new features or both, but not all devices will be able to support or run the new features in an update. The device needs to have the proper hardware and drives. Also, devices no longer within the OEM support period, will not get any updates. Update availability is also subjected to changes depending on region, country, network connectivity and hardware capabilities.

Windows 10 is expected to ship with an array of new features and improvements over Windows 8.1. These features include a new browser called Edge; which was previously called “Spartan,” a desktop version of Microsoft’s Cortana, better storage capacity management and better integration with mobile phones.

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