A month ago, I reported on a new feature spotted in Windows 11's beta builds which made data transfer between two PCs a lot easier. At the end of that piece, I mused if Microsoft would also add this tool to Windows 10. After all, if Microsoft really wants people to ditch Windows 10 and move to 11, it'd be very handy to give users a tool to swap with a click of a button.

Well, turns out that Microsoft is, in fact, adding this feature to Windows 10. As such, it raises the question: is Microsoft adding this feature to help people migrate their data, or is its main motive to encourage migration from Windows 10 to 11?

Windows 10 is getting the Windows Migration tool, too

We first saw the Windows Migration tool thanks to the efforts of PhantonOfEarth on X. They've been digging through beta builds looking for new features, which is how they stumbled upon this tool in the first place. Right now, the tool is hidden, implying that Microsoft is still working on it and isn't ready for testing just yet; however, that doesn't stop us from taking a peek and speculating on what the company is doing.

Now, PhantomOfEarth has spotted the same feature in the latest Windows 10 beta build:

While the trusting, positive-seeking side of me believes that Microsoft is adding Windows Migration with user ease-of-use in mind, my cynical side isn't convinced. It really feels like another advertising point Microsoft can make when asking people to move over from Windows 10 to 11. After all, if people are reluctant to upgrade due to all the data they have to move, perhaps Windows Migration would act as the tipping point to convince them to take the plunge.

Whatever the company's motives, it's at least nice to see it add a migration tool to Windows, so that's a plus. Meanwhile, the Linux community has been busy making a comfy place of its own for people with older PCs to check out. Recently, KDE advertised to Windows 10 "exiles" by showing off the power of Plasma.