Microsoft has ended its free upgrade offer for Windows 10 today as expected, approximately one year after the launch of the operating system.

There's good news for users on Windows 7 and Windows 8 who didn't want to upgrade: Microsoft's persistent and annoying nags about upgrading have ceased. The prompts, and in some cases automatic upgrades to Windows 10, have been the subject of controversy, with some suggesting Microsoft has been too aggressive in its attempts to get people to upgrade.

There's also bad news. For those that did want to upgrade but didn't get around to it, you'll now have to pay for a Windows 10 license. Microsoft is currently selling Windows 10 Home licenses for $120, while Windows 10 Pro is available for $200. OEM licenses are a little cheaper: $100 for Home, and $140 for Pro through Newegg.

The free upgrade offer has ended just a few days before Microsoft will release the Windows 10 Anniversary Update to the public. On August 2nd, this major update to Windows 10 will launch, bringing a collection of new features to the operating system.

The Windows 10 Anniversary Update includes significant updates to Cortana, the ability to view notifications from your phone, improvements to UWP apps for gamers, browser extensions in Edge, and the introduction of the Linux bash shell for developers.