And the Release Date for Windows 10 Is…

Microsoft revealed this morning that Windows 10 will be released to customers on July 29, 2015 as part of a free upgrade offer and with new PCs. The software giant also started deploying a software-based reservation system so that current Windows users can automatically register to receive the free update on their existing PCs.

“We designed Windows 10 to create a new generation of Windows for the 1.5 billion people using Windows today in 190 countries around the world,” Microsoft executive vice president Terry Myerson noted in a blog post announcing the date. “With Windows 10, we start delivering on our vision of more personal computing, defined by trust in how we protect and respect your personal information, mobility of the experience across your devices, and natural interactions with your Windows devices, including speech, touch, ink, and holograms.”

If you’re using a Windows 7- or Windows 8.1-based PC, you should notice a Windows flag icon in your system tray starting today. This is the “Get Windows 10” reservation launcher.

To reserve the upgrade, you just need to click one button in the wizard that launches. This will prepare Windows Update to accept the Windows 10 upgrade when it arrives on July 29. So you will need to do this on each PC you intend to upgrade to Windows 10.

The July 29 release suggests an RTM—or “release to manufacturing”—date earlier in the month or perhaps even in late June. But the Microsoft announcement doesn’t address whether that’s the case.

Oddly, the icon still sits there in the tray after you reserve your upgrade. Some are reporting that you can remove this icon by uninstalling Windows Update KB3035583 in the Installed Updates section of the Programs and Features control panel. But I don’t see that update on my own PC. Update: Actually, yes I do. Not clearly why search isn’t picking this up.