Microsoft has just played its joker card twice in a week, forcing upgrades on millions of Windows PC owners. This will raise serious alarm bells for hundreds of million of users who may now need to upgrade their PCs with no alternative options.

With Windows 10 support shutting down in less than 10 months, Microsoft is now on a mission to get users to switch to Windows 11. In fact, the Redmond firm's latest alert is telling millions to "upgrade immediately".

Come Patch Tuesday in February 2025, Microsoft will be tightening down even further. According to BetaNews, February will usher in a new phase in Outlook’s migration where Windows 10 users will be forced to install the new Outlook app on their PCs.

If your PC has the correct system requirements, you can move to Windows 11 for free - although Microsoft says this offer is only available for a "limited time". If you can't update to this latest OS due to the age of your current laptop then you do still have some options.

Last January at CES, Microsoft chief marketing officer Yusuf Mehdi declared 2024 the “year of the AI PC.” And whether you believe that prediction came true or not—many new PCs come with AI-accelerating neural processing units onboard, but far from all of them—you can't deny that Microsoft did try very hard to make it happen.

Microsoft keeps adding upgrade roadblocks, but there are workarounds for many models. Here's how you can find out whether your Windows 10 PC can bypass the latest restrictions and safely upgrade to Windows 11 - for free.