Microsoft has extended the carrot. Later it will brandish the stick.

Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for the first year after its release. But once those 12 months are over, users will have to purchase a retail copy of the OS or license it through a volume deal, according to a briefly-available blog post by Microsoft’s Australian arm.

For just a few hours this week, a blog post — first pulled, then restored but without the previous content — spilled a few details that, while assumed, had not been officially revealed by the Redmond, Wash. developer.

“After the first year, upgrades will be paid via boxed product and VL [volume license] Upgrades,” the blog stated.

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