User is king and Microsoft seems to have found it now. The company’s Windows 10 operating system will be available for free upgrade for pirated copies of earlier Windows OS. Except for minimum requirements for computers and mobile devices to run Windows 10, everything else is open.  Earlier, Microsoft had announced that current users of Windows 7 and 8 would get a free upgrade to Windows 10.

Microsoft's operating systems unit Executive Vice-President Terry Myerson, speaking about the new software at the Windows Hardware Engineering Community (WinHEC) summit in Shenzhen (China), revealed that the free upgrade will be available to illegal copies of the software too. In this model free software comes with the expectation that money can be made on premium levels of functionality (users wanting premium services pays).

Even though the move is expected to benefit China with major piracy factor, India too will join the free brigade in a big way.  Microsoft also revealed that Windows 10 will launch in 190 countries in October.  The company is going to upgrade "all qualified PCs, genuine and non-genuine, to Windows 10," Microsoft confirmed on Wednesday.

Minimum requirements for running Windows 10:

Desktop PCs will need at least 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage to run the 32-bit version of Windows 10. Screen size should be bigger than 7 inches for Windows Pro, or bigger than 8 inches for the consumer version.

The minimum amount of RAM required for mobile devices is 512MB, the same as Windows Phone 8.1. The amount of memory required largely depends on the screen size. Mobile devices running the new software will range in screen size from smartphone-sized 3 inches to a tablet-sized 7.99 inches.

Windows Phone devices will contain at least 4GB of space.  That may get consumed by the firmware, hence one may need SD card storage space to save movies, music and photos.