Microsoft announces Windows 10 and Surface subscriptions

[HEXUS]

Windows 10 Enterprise E3 bundle will be $7 per computer, per month, from autumn.

Read more.

[shaithis]

Be interesting to see pricing on Surface as a service....

[jezza9]

I suppose the main question a lot of people will ask, is whether subscriptions will start and end with Enterprise Windows 10 or this is just the start of a creep towards full subscriptions across Windows 10.

[LeetyMcLeet]

I doubt they'd adopt the subscription model for the core versions of Windows. That would be a BIG mistake!

I dunno about you guys, but I wouldn't be happy about that at all. I'd probably end up running a dodgy copy or even (and I really wouldn't want to) run Linux on my desktop/laptop. Don't do it MS!

[Tpyo]

I doubt they'd adopt the subscription model for the core versions of Windows. That would be a BIG mistake!

I dunno about you guys, but I wouldn't be happy about that at all. I'd probably end up running a dodgy copy or even (and I really wouldn't want to) run Linux on my desktop/laptop. Don't do it MS!

I'd certainly object if they tried to add a subscription to the versions of W10 I already had (and anyone who upgraded from W8/W7 would probably feel the same - a paid copy is a paid copy).
Personally, I'd prefer it if it was a choice (i.e. you could pay a larger one-off fee and be done with it), but a subscription as an option for people newly acquiring W10 would be okay (there should be no up front costs if that is the case though).

[DR]

It's interesting - I am a fan of subscription for software - things like Adobe Creative Cloud - it's not expensive per month you can scale it up - and it works out less a year than buying the full license (which we tended to upgrade). So it's not a bad thing. Of course this is from a business perspective. What I don't like is people selling you software and you paying for a 'Service Agreement' to get upgrades.... It's one or the other not a fusion of the two.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

For infrequently used software it makes more sense - for Adobe CC if you only need a month or two a year it works out cheaper.

However,for an OS which you pretty much have to use all year,its a ripoff. $7 a month over 4 years plus VAT is equivalent to over $400 or over £300.

At that point MS can do one and I will be moving to Linux if this is what is the future of Windows is.

[Dashers]

How many enterprises want frequent desktop refreshes? It's a constant moving target for compatibility and security.

[DanceswithUnix]

At that point MS can do one and I will be moving to Linux if this is what is the future of Windows is.

You wouldn't switch any of your upgraded machines back to Windows 7 or 8 then?

Assuming MS don't turn off the upgraded licenses on their old activation servers.

[Corky34]

I doubt they'd adopt the subscription model for the core versions of Windows. That would be a BIG mistake!

Today it would, who knows what tomorrow brings.

[TheAnimus]

Don't lots of companies already do that for the core versions?

We do...

[realstock]

That would be a BIG mistake!

Agreed, if this is the start of a subscription based model, what on earth makes Microsoft think that the enterprise wouldn't embrace other OSes (ChromeOS, Unix, Linux). Big businesses have in the past moved whole departments to other country's for cheaper labour, to save money. If this goes ahead I would expect a similar shift eventually, when the numbers get crunched and the big chief gets wind of potential savings... in the end.

[peterb]

This doesn't really surprise me. It was rumoured that Microsoft wanted to introduce this with XP and started developing the software to allow that, but objections from the corporate world stopped it.

But it's no surprise that they are moving to subscription models, the writing has been on the wall for a while, Office 365 for example, or extended cloud storage. And why else migh Microsoft be gathering use age data?

If you get regular version upgrades for your subscription, then it could be a good deL, and depends what is included with the subscription.