Posted on 07/14/2016 12:34:33 PM PDT by upchuck
For months Microsoft has been describing Windows 10 “as a service” and now we know why. Microsoft is going to introduce a monthly subscription fee for Windows 10 usage…
That cost will be $7 per user per month but the good news is it only applies to enterprises, for now. The new pricing tier will be called “Windows 10 Enterprise E3” and it means Windows has finally joined Office 365 and Azure as a subscription service.
Of course the big question is now: How does this new subscription pricing affect the millions of consumers who upgraded to Windows 10 on the promise of it being free?
The good news is Microsoft has gone on record to say it is not being passed down to consumers at this stage: “This new subscription model is not associated with our current upgrade offering or applicable to the Windows 10 consumer edition,” a Microsoft spokesperson told PC World.
Could Microsoft eventually introduce Windows 10 monthly subscriptions for consumers? Without doubt, but I would be highly sceptical they would apply to anyone who has already upgraded. That said there is likely to be a threshold in future where Microsoft will draw a line in the sand for the ongoing addition of new features without a fee.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Bend over ping.
They could go to hell if they do that.
I could watch Prime and read FR on my tablet.
This will kill their market share.
And we wonder why our young people want to elect Socialists
Following the lead of ADOBE who now has Photoshop, Lightroom and some other ABODE programs as a monthly paid service and not just software. Tripled their income.
Thanks for Ralph for pointing this out.
This business model for software is sweeping the corporate world. It's a way for business to both fix their costs and have access to the latest versions of the software.
I've had Microsoft Office 365 for several years now and I'm pretty happy with it. I get to have the latest version of Office on up to 5 devices and have unlimited cloud storage for my docs.
Wow — That is DUMB.
If they put me in charge of MS I doubt I could do worse, despite having zero formal training on business.
I don't need it and want nothing to do with it...I'm already being spied on enough.
What a troolish article.
It is for some service they are offering to enterprise.
No it isnt for consumers. Sticking “not yet” is just flame-baiting
“Could Microsoft eventually introduce Windows 10 monthly subscriptions for consumers? Without doubt”
“That said there is likely to be a threshold in future where Microsoft will draw a line in the sand for the ongoing addition of new features without a fee.”
Uh, you cant just answer that for them.
And for all of those people hell-bent on never getting it, why should they care one way or the other? They dont want it when it is free, then dont worry about this.
It makes sense.
Microsoft gives away Windows for free but charges a monthly fee for its lucrative products like Office. If you want them - pay up.
You know now its not really free, right?
Think about all the paid desktop operating systems:
Windows. Others?
Now think about all the free desktop operating systems:
Linux (all flavors) OSX, Apache, Unix, BSD, Xenix, etc. Others?
Wonder how this will affect MSFT’s market share? Will other software companies that have been dedicated to Windows start supporting other operating systems? My bet, yes.
They will lose some of the customers that they aren’t making money off of anyway, and convert the rest to an income stream. A lot of folks only change operating systems when they get a new computer. Since MS isn’t making much from the manufacturers initial install, any model is likely to produce a greater income stream than the historic one did.
Can one run a pseudo Windows shell on Linux? My accounting software binds me to MS.
I knew the headline would be misleading before I read the article.
And it might just make me switch to a Mac - after I’ve been badmouthing Apple for years...
I’m not a Linux expert but I have a friend who is running Win 7 in a virtual machine running under Linux. He’s doing it just for fun and the experience. I can’t address performance.
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