Microsoft has officially announced to offer pirate amnesty to all qualified PCs, genuine and non-genuine, with free upgrades to Windows 10. Earlier, Microsoft has offered cheap Windows 8 activations for $14.99 to gain traction for the newly released OS, but this time it's absolutely free for all. The offer will be available worldwide and would also means that anybody during the first year of Windows 10 release can pirate Windows 7 or Windows 8.x and then upgrade to Windows 10 for free.

Microsoft has now also clarified that PCs with pirated copies of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 will be allowed to get free upgrades to Windows 10, but will remain in a 'non-genuine' status and Microsoft will not support them. Microsoft spokesperson further said - "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."