Windows 10 to be a free upgrade for Windows 7 and 8 users

[HEXUS]

And Windows will become "a service", so version numbers will "cease to make sense".

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[genkifd]

that is great for MS to do that.

[peterb]

Sounds like OSX, iOS and iCloud.

[silent]

wow, it looks like ms are on the right track. i look forward to playing with 10 now as i dare upgrade to the preview copy! may need to go back to windows phone in the future too!

[Saracen]

Hmmm.

So, "free for the first year", eh? And after that?

Windows to be "a service", with OS upgrades "as and when ready".

So, are they suggesting that, after 12 months, we get to pay a monthly subscription for an OS "service"? If so, MS, then free for 12 months or not, you can shove it right where the sun don't shine.

Regardless of what features it offers, personally, I'm not paying MS a monthly fee for an OS, EVER. And that's where I've suspected they were going for quite a while. This makes me even more suspicious .... and makes Linux loom even larger in my future.

Windows is not, to me, a "service" and never will be. It's an OS for running MY choice of applications on MY hardware. And for all sorts of reasons, my choice of applications rarely includes MS "standard" packages.

Windows feels increasingly like an old friend that's got married and moved abroad .... fond memories, but we're drifting apart and our lives are inexorably diverging.

[watercooled]

I'd like to see a bit of clarification on the 'free for a year' bit, it's a bit ambiguous as-is. From what I can tell, it is saying 'as long as you take up the offer in the first year, you get to keep it', but where are they getting their money from then?

Also, their wording makes me wonder whether reformats will be possible after that timescale? Assuming the licensing model stays the same i.e. you send a 7/8 key, you get a 10 key, then I don't see a problem, but the way they keep referring to 'devices' makes me a bit uneasy.

I think it's just the subscription model rumours making me a bit dubious, but reading between the lines, it seems there's a lot they're leaving out.

Edit: beaten to it by Saracen.

[Michael H]

I'd posit that MS is making Windows free to keep it near ubiquitous. It's Google that they're battling here, and Microsoft is adapting to their Android business model.

[watercooled]

But they're a business, and I can't seem them making a great deal of money from the MS app store if its current state is anything to go by.

[Otherhand]

Hmmm.

So, "free for the first year", eh? And after that?

Windows to be "a service", with OS upgrades "as and when ready".

So, are they suggesting that, after 12 months, we get to pay a monthly subscription for an OS "service"? If so, MS, then free for 12 months or not, you can shove it right where the sun don't shine.

No. From the day Win10 launches, you have one year in which to upgrade your current Win7/8/8.1 OS to Win10. You then own Win10 forever.

If someone comes along a year and a day after the launch of Win10, they will have to pay for Win10.

You will not have to pay for another Windows until at least the time that Win11 launches (and maybe not even then, if they end up adopting a service model). Compare this to the MacOS, where charges are made for quite small changes in the OS, and Windows continues to represent very good value for money. This current offer is the best value that Windows has even been, and yet still people don't trust it!

[Ulti]

The screenshot seems to suggest that you get a free upgrade for a year and then if you want to continue using it, you'll have to pay for it à la Office 365.

Could we get some citation on the

Microsoft says that "a free upgrade for Windows 10 will be made available to customers running Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows Phone 8.1 who upgrade in the first year after launch".

bit?

[watercooled]

This reporter asked for some clarification: http://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-win...-subscription/

However I'm still curious how they're planning to make big money from a free OS. They don't have Google's ads and app store, nor Apple's hugely popular devices and app store. I mean they have *some* devices, but enough to make big profit on?

@Ulti: It's on Windows.com http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/w...ows-10_Null_01

[Ulti]

This reporter asked for some clarification: http://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-win...-subscription/

However I'm still curious how they're planning to make big money from a free OS. They don't have Google's ads and app store, nor Apple's hugely popular devices and app store. I mean they have *some* devices, but enough to make big profit on?

@Ulti: It's on Windows.com http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/w...ows-10_Null_01

Thanks for that. I was beginning to worry due to Office 365 and other software like Adobe's CC being subscription services.

[watercooled]

Hmm, AFAICT there's still a cost to OEMs for OS licenses and presumably for any sort of from-scratch media. As Anandtech says, they probably don't make much money from upgrade licenses anyway.

[Defiant]

Never ever will pay for a OS or app as a service, they charge for to much for what is a license that they can pull from you with no notice, no reason and little to no recourse for you the consumer.

[LSG501]

As much as I like the way Windows 10 is going there is no way on this planet I would pay a subscription for it.

I'm hoping it's just the usual 'poor marketing' and it's actually more along the lines of Windows 8 and it's £25 upgrade deal, ie a pay once upgrade price.

It would just be suicide to go subscription for consumers, everywhere I am reading that no one is prepared to go subscription on the OS of their pc. Office software is different but OS is a no go for pretty much everyone from what I'm seeing.

I work in 3D and everything I use is windows only. I'm seriously starting to think I should be learning blender or something that works on os-x....but os-x is gradually going just as restrictive as Windows... sod it I've decided, we're all doomed lol

[Otherhand]

As much as I like the way Windows 10 is going there is no way on this planet I would pay a subscription for it.

I'm hoping it's just the usual 'poor marketing' and it's actually more along the lines of Windows 8 and it's £25 upgrade deal, ie a pay once upgrade price.

It would just be suicide to go subscription for consumers, everywhere I am reading that no one is prepared to go subscription on the OS of their pc. Office software is different but OS is a no go for pretty much everyone from what I'm seeing.

I work in 3D and everything I use is windows only. I'm seriously starting to think I should be learning blender or something that works on os-x....but os-x is gradually going just as restrictive as Windows... sod it I've decided, we're all doomed lol

They're not going with subscription, at least not for W10.

http://www.polygon.com/2015/1/21/786...phone-one-year

In a Q&A with press following the event, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella clarified that Microsoft's vision for Windows as a service doesn't mean the company is changing its business model for Windows to a plan with an annual fee, or any kind of subscription.

All customers running Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 for free within a one-year period following the operating system's launch later this year. After that period, users will have to pay for the upgrade as they would have with previous versions of Windows. Those who get the upgrade during the free period will have Windows 10 on their device permanently.