They will be, MS is going to be forced to make OS upgrades free for the end user, or they will lose even more market share... Reality is, Apple’s decision to give away OSX ended up SAVING the company Millions of dollars over selling it, at this point, like it or not, the price point for an OS to the end user is free, MS will eventually realize this, if they haven’t already, they can charge OEM’s and corporations $$ if they can make them pay, but the days of the end individual consumer buying OS’s are done....
Of course MS generally takes 5 years to recognize where things have gone trying desperately to protect turf that is no longer viable, and finally capitulates, so they might try to hold on for a few more years but reality is, 10 being free likely is not a one off, but just them coming to terms with reality, that and the fact they need the bastard hell boy that is 8.x GONE from the consumer consciousness as quickly and fully as possible.
You do realize, however, that Apple is the only approved computer and tablet hardware vendor for running OSX or iOS, right? I “could” actually install OSX on a PC, but it is against Apple’s EULA.
Also, please note that except for the Microsoft Surface, Microsoft does not make hardware at all, rather hardware vendors like Dell, HP, Asus, Lenovo, etc. make the hardware.
If Microsoft made their software for free, they’d be out of business. They are capitalists, after all, and expect to have cash flowing in to make payroll, pay bills and return a profit to investors. The comparison of “free” Apple OS’s (when you HAVE to buy THEIR hardware to use that OS) to Microsoft’s paid for OS is like comparing Apples to oranges—at least partly literally!