In addition to his extensive writing experience, Chris has been interviewed as a technology expert on TV news and radio shows. The company's project was later reportedly shut down by the U.S. A wave of negative publicity ensued, with coverage on BuzzFeed News, CNBC, the BBC, and TechCrunch. At CES 2018, he broke the news about Kodak's "KashMiner" Bitcoin mining scheme with a viral tweet. Starting in 2015, Chris attended the Computer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas for five years running. His work has even appeared on the front page of Reddit.Īrticles he's written have been used as a source for everything from books like Team Human by Douglas Rushkoff, media theory professor at the City University of New York's Queens College and CNN contributor, to university textbooks and even late-night TV shows like Comedy Central's with Chris Hardwick.
His roundups of new features in Windows 10 updates have been called "the most detailed, useful Windows version previews of anyone on the web" and covered by prominent Windows journalists like Paul Thurrott and Mary Jo Foley on TWiT's Windows Weekly. Instructional tutorials he's written have been linked to by organizations like The New York Times, Wirecutter, Lifehacker, the BBC, CNET, Ars Technica, and John Gruber's Daring Fireball. The news he's broken has been covered by outlets like the BBC, The Verge, Slate, Gizmodo, Engadget, TechCrunch, Digital Trends, ZDNet, The Next Web, and Techmeme. Beyond the column, he wrote about everything from Windows to tech travel tips.
He founded PCWorld's "World Beyond Windows" column, which covered the latest developments in open-source operating systems like Linux and Chrome OS. He also wrote the USA's most-saved article of 2021, according to Pocket.Ĭhris was a PCWorld columnist for two years. Beyond the web, his work has appeared in the print edition of The New York Times (September 9, 2019) and in PCWorld's print magazines, specifically in the August 2013 and July 2013 editions, where his story was on the cover. With over a decade of writing experience in the field of technology, Chris has written for a variety of publications including The New York Times, Reader's Digest, IDG's PCWorld, Digital Trends, and MakeUseOf. Chris has personally written over 2,000 articles that have been read more than one billion times-and that's just here at How-To Geek. And, after you do upgrade, your PC gets a valid Windows 10 key that will keep working-even if Microsoft stops allowing new upgrades in the future.Ĭhris Hoffman is the former Editor-in-Chief of How-To Geek. Microsoft may one day pull the plug and cut off new upgrades. There's no guarantee this will work forever, but it still worked on January 14, 2020. You just have to provide a valid Windows 7 (or Windows 8) key. You can also upgrade a PC by doing a fresh install of Windows 10, even if it doesn't have any operating system installed. Your PC will get a genuine, activated Windows 10 key-just like it worked during Windows 10's first year when the free upgrade offer was officially being advertised. How the Free Upgrade WorksĪssuming you're using a Windows PC with a genuine and activated Windows 7 (or Windows 8) key, you can upgrade to Windows 10 in just a few clicks.
You can still upgrade any PC with a genuine Windows 7 or Windows 8 license to Windows 10. Microsoft has quietly continued the free upgrade offer for the last few years. Windows 7 is dead, but you don't have to pay to upgrade to Windows 10.