Free Windows 10 Upgrade won’t validate pirated versions

During the Windows Hardware Engineering Community (WinHEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, Microsoft revealed their partnership with Chinese investment company, Tencent, and that they would be offering free upgrades to Windows 10 for Windows 7 and 8.1 users. This free upgrade will be coming available to those that own a genuine version of Windows and those that have a pirated non-geniune version.

If that news felt too good to be true, that's because it is. It appears the statement  to Rueters from Microsoft's operating system chief Terry Myerson on the Windows 10 upgrade wasn't all that it was made out to be. 

The upgrade won't magically turn pirated versions of Windows into genuine versions. Sorry, pirates. Microsoft has released a full statement on the subject, officially drawing the line with pirates:

"The consumer free upgrade offer for Windows 10 applies to qualified new and existing devices running Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1. Some editions are excluded from the consumer free upgrade — including Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise, and Windows RT/RT 8.1. Active Software Assurance customers in volume licensing have the benefit to upgrade to other Windows 10 enterprise offerings.

"We have always been committed to ensuring that customers have the best Windows experience possible. With Windows 10, although non-Genuine PCs may be able to upgrade to Windows 10, the upgrade will not change the genuine state of the license. Non-Genuine Windows is not published by Microsoft. It is not properly licensed, or supported by Microsoft or a trusted partner. If a device was considered non-genuine or mislicensed prior to the upgrade, that device will continue to be considered non-genuine or mislicensed after the upgrade. According to industry experts, use of pirated software, including Non-Genuine Windows, results in a higher risk of malware, fraud (identity theft, credit card theft, etc), public exposure of your personal information, and a higher risk for poor performance or feature malfunctions."

[Polygon]