Microsoft has quietly revealed more information about how long it will provide updates for Windows 10, saying in a PowerPoint presentation that free refreshes will last between two and four years. The Redmond, Wash. company revealed the timeline in a slide deck (download here) it posted on its investors website June 26.

In other words, people will be able to keep updating Windows 10 for as long as they want, for free, well beyond 4 years, with no fee ever coming into sight. The only thing that will ever prevent an upgrade is if they eventually release a version that is fundamentally incompatible with hardware. Like, something akin to the OS X cut-over to x86-only. There was no 'fee' a user could pay Apple to make Snow Leopard work on their PowerPC.