Microsoft has silently raised the price of Windows 10 Home on the official Microsoft Store. The full version of Windows 10 is now available for $139, where the operating system could previously be purchased for $119. The price increase is the first since the introduction of Windows 10.
In the Microsoft Store, the company sells both a download version of Windows 10 Home, and an version that is physically shipped on an USB drive. The latter is currently sold-out online, but could still be available in brick-and-mortar stores. A license for Windows 10 Home can be used on 1 PC.
Windows 10 Home is still much cheaper than Windows 10 Pro, which is sold at $199. Windows 10 Pro for Workstations, which adds some business features to Windows 10, sells for $309. European users pay €145 for Windows 10 Home, €259 for Windows 10 Pro and €439 for Windows 10 Pro for Workstations.
Most users however, will never purchase any of the Windows 10 versions, usually the operating is pre-installed on a newly purchased computer, like a laptop or desktop PC. Other users have upgraded from Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 to Windows 10. This was possible for more than a year after the release of Windows 10 in July 2015. Microsoft offered all Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users the possibility to upgrade to Windows 10 completely free.
Another option to not pay the full price for Windows 10 is to purchase an OEM license. These licenses are widely available on sites like Ebay or Amazon and are meant to be shipped together with hardware. Nevertheless, there are many sellers and purchasing them usually means only receiving a single license key. With an OEM license users are not eligible to receive customer support.
Windows 10 is currently installed on about 40% of all desktop computers, Windows 7 holds a similar share, and it's expected that in the coming months Windows 10 will finally overtake Windows 7. It took Windows 10 more than 3 years to reach the 40% and the majority of its market share was gained during the free introduction period, where Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users could upgrade to Windows 10 for free.
