Get ready for Windows subscribtions

http://arstechnica.com/information-...-makes-a-nod-to-subscriptions-for-windows-10/

EAsked if the plan was to make Windows a loss leader to draw people into the Microsoft ecosystem, Turner said that the company had "not had any conversations" on this. He reiterated this when asked if the company was going to start losing money on Windows, saying "that's not any conversations that we've had… we've got to monetize it differently."

What form might that different monetization take? Turner says that "there are services involved. There are additional opportunities for us to bring additional services to the product and do it in a creative way."

Turner didn't say what specifically Microsoft intended to do, revealing only that the plans will be revealed "through the course of summer and spring." However, he did give an indication of one thought that the company had: "finding new ways to monetize the lifetime of that customer on those [zero cost Windows license] devices."

The implication, then, is that Microsoft is looking at generating some kind of on-going revenue from Windows users to replace the initial purchase. Previous rumors have already pointed toward the creation of Windows subscriptions, and Turner's answer also points at some kind of subscription system.

The questions—and answers—allude to perhaps the biggest change facing Microsoft's business. The growth of the smartphone and the tablet may have changed the way we use computers, but arguably more significant for Microsoft is the change in how software is bought and sold. For three decades, Microsoft has sold operating system licenses to both end users and OEMs alike, and the company delivered paid upgrades for those operating systems every few years.

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Hang on to your licenses for dear life. Already they are trying to push their Office 365 across the board, meaning you don't own your office software anymore and now seemingly this will move onto Windows. Office 2003 still works perfectly fine and has a much better interface than the rubbish Ribbon later versions have tried to push. But now Microsoft wants continuous revenue from Windows and not let you pay for something once and keep it yours forever.

I find the ribbon interface infinitely better than the old version....

With regards to subscriptions, might e worth waiting until windows actually announces what they're doing. But if it's true they would likely lose some of their market share initially.

Time to seriously look into linux

redman5427 said:

Time to seriously look into linux

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I been meaning to do that for some time but haven't, mostly because of my laziness.Most of indie games work on Linux nowadays so does LoL so there is nothing really keeping me on windows.

Pladio said:

I find the ribbon interface infinitely better than the old version….
…

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I hated the ribbon at first, but now I think it works very well. As for office 365, i have it mainly because it allows my whole family to use it, and we have it on our pads as well.

Pibbur59

I happily use a Linux desktop at home and at work. Also for some indie gaming. I don't expect to buy another version of Windows in the future.

In Linux, things are much better at just working out of the box these days, but when things don't work as they should, it does tend to require a bit more techie mucking about than many people would like.

Subscription?
Microsoft goes Blizzard?

And then our good old windows 7, after swallowing windows 8 and 8.1, it swallows windows 10 too.

Ripper said:

I happily use a Linux desktop at home and at work. Also for some indie gaming. I don't expect to buy another version of Windows in the future.

In Linux, things are much better at just working out of the box these days, but when things don't work as they should, it does tend to require a bit more techie mucking about than many people would like.

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Certainly not, whenever I try it there are always various problems, glitches and missing packages. I simply have no patience to deal with that. Even the mainstream distros like Ubuntu feel cobbled up together. Not to mention that you lose nearly half your battery life.

For desktop there is no viable alternative to Windows unless you have limited needs.

Can't be arsed with a Windows vs Linux debate.

Anyone interested should give it a look, and you might find it works well for you. The new versions of Mint and Fedora 21 are pretty good.

pibbur who said:

I hated the ribbon at first, but now I think it works very well. As for office 365, i have it mainly because it allows my whole family to use it, and we have it on our pads as well.

Pibbur59

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Yeah, I thought it odd at first, but I quickly got used to it and now hate going back to 2003 ...

All I know about 365 is that the company I work for tested then ditched it and we're still using 2013.
There was some problem with losing files.

At home I'm on good old 2010 since 2013 causes my eyes to bleed.

joxer said:

All I know about 365 is that the company I work for tested then ditched it and we're still using 2013.
There was some problem with losing files.

At home I'm on good old 2010 since 2013 causes my eyes to bleed.

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Note to self, keep screenshots of office 2013 on hand just in case

Printer Drivers as DLC! haha

I have the Office 365 subscription, but it runs across our PCs, Macs, iPhones, iPads and Android tablets ... (oh year, my new Windows tablet as well).

I think that Google and Apple and the 'smartphone boom' changed the way we monetize things ... anyone remember iOS 2? It cost $9.99! Since then iOS has been free ... and Mac OS has gone from 'Windows pricing' to $25 to free. I am not sure what I would pay for a new Windows version ... because my gaming laptop still has Win 7 (as does my wife's laptop).

The day you don't have to go into the command line to do basic things in Linux it will have a chance at becoming a viable alternative to windows.

I have no issue with Windows subscriptions, so long as they continually improve the product.

Pladio said:

Yeah, I thought it odd at first, but I quickly got used to it and now hate going back to 2003 …

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I use Libreoffice when I can even though Office is much better software because of the interface.

It doesn't happen often sadly because if your document is even a bit complex it will mess up the formatting in various ways if you use a .doc or .docx.

I have absolutely no problem with Microsoft nailing their own coffin shut.

Humanity has risen! said:

Hang on to your licenses for dear life. Already they are trying to push their Office 365 across the board, meaning you don't own your office software anymore and now seemingly this will move onto Windows.

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People do forget that there are alternatives - they forget it, because they are already glued in so deeply into the "Microsoft Ecosystem" ( I had almost written "Microsoft Biosystem" ).

I'm working with "Softmaker Office" for years now and I'm just fine with it. Plus, I still own MS Office 2000 … Never felt the need to upgrade it because of my other Office packs (like OpenOffice, LibreOffice etc.) …

The ONLY thing I REALLY miss is an equivalent to MS Access.

blatantninja said:

The day you don't have to go into the command line to do basic things in Linux it will have a chance at becoming a viable alternative to windows.

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I've been running Mint as my only OS for almost a year now. Was on 16 as a dual-boot with Win 7, using that for games, and Mint for real work. Now I do everything on Mint 17. I've yet to have to go into the command line to do anything, though I have done so just because I find it faster.

I've also found it much more reliable out of the box. Win7 had issues finding USB ports, and would constantly reset any USB devices I had hooked up, occasionally shutting them down entirely and requiring a reboot. I've basically had to use Linux Mint for moving files to my backup drives, mp3 player, phone, and everything else because of it. The only real issues have been with Wine, which is not Linux-specific, and only with the awesominuim process DDO uses. Given that it's borderline malware, and starts 5,000 instances of the process and keeps starting more and more, I'm not sure that's a bad thing.

When I build a new computer later this year, it will be Mint 17.x only, though I may set up a WinXP virtual box for some older games.

This rumor about Windows going subscription isn't new. I remember something similar when Win8 was announced. Originally, IIRC, Win8 would have been restricted unless you were paying extra. Backlash stopped that. GFWL was also originally going to be the only app store on Windows, and prompted Steam to start offering games on Linux.

Given that Windows has managed to lose marketshare to Apple's Mac, despite Apple being determined not to compete in any way whatsoever in the desktop market, says a lot of how well customers have taken their efforts. Deliberately rewriting the OS to ensure older applications no longer work at all, subscriptions, Metro, etc...

Subscription vs. flat rate? What's the big deal? Sure, you can keep your OS "forever" but you know very well it won't be useful forever. If they want a steady stream over the life of the OS instead of a big lump at the start, that's fine by me.

But then, the article is EXTREMELY iffy. Microsoft could just start releasing versions quicker with less features but for less money. Or they could go the other direction and you could start paying by usage - 5 cents for every hour your PC is turned on. Well, OK, that might not be feasible but it sure would be interesting....