Microsoft confirmed today that the new Windows 11 operating system will be offered as a free upgrade for existing Windows 10 licensed users. That means if you have an activated version of Microsoft's current operating system and a PC that can handle it, you are already in line to get the new version. the release date for Windows 11 will be in time for the holiday season.

Here is the official announcement from Microsoft's website:

"Windows 11 will be available this holiday season through free upgrades to eligible Windows 10 PCs and new PCs. To find out if your current Windows 10 PC is eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 11, visit Windows.com and download the PC Health Check app. We are also working with our reseller partners to ensure that you can purchase a Windows 10 PC that is ready for the Windows 11 upgrade. This free upgrade will be made available to eligible Windows 10 PCs gradually from the end of this year through 2022.

There is no guarantee that the free upgrade will be available indefinitely, as it is not known how long this grace period will last. However, Microsoft has stated that it will continue at least until 2022.

To avoid such concerns, you can always upgrade on day one, but our advice is to give any new OS a little time in the wild before leaving your full-time gaming PC to the whims of new software.

Windows 10 is not without bugs that can break systems and games with even small update releases. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that Windows 11 started out as just another big update to Windows 10, and hopefully its close relationship will help Microsoft avoid the worst excesses of buggy release software.

The downside of this, shiny new UI aside, is that Windows 11 looks an awful lot like the Sun Valley Windows 10 update we thought we were getting. And that kind of takes some of the shine off the release of what purports to be a whole new version of the Windows operating system.

Still, the pain will be eased somewhat by the fact that Microsoft is basically offering it to existing users.