Quote:
Originally Posted by ApK
I don't see where you guys are getting your conclusions from, so maybe help me find it.
I see that MS is saying w10 will be supported for 10 years. I do not see where the "lifetime of the device" is defined. Lifetime of support for the OS is NOT the same as lifetime of the device.
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What MS is saying is that support will not change.
Right now, everything is free for the first five years. Service packs and bug fixes, etc). For the last five years only bug fixes and selected feature packs are free.
(There is a difference between what you are entitled to and what MS offers up above and beyond what you are entitled to.)
For the second phase of the support cycle, businesses can choose to pay for added support but MS does not offer/charge consumers for those services. They even reluctantly allow companies to pay for support for XP.
They don't charge for consumer support because the economics of tracking that make no sense. MS isn't into nickle and dime-ing you to death.
All the new terms mean is that if Win10 gets an update that adds, say mindreading support, in 2027, people who got devices in 2025 will get the feature for free and people who got their devices in 2015 won't, even if their hardware supports it.
That's it.
With updates coming "monthly" under the new, XBOX-like model, there is even less sense than ever in charging for updates.
All that is changing is that the established 10 year support cycle runs from the day you got the device and activated it, not from the release date of the OS.
For example, if you bought a Win8 PC today you actually get 7 years support because the OS is 3 years old. Buy a Win10 PC in three years and you still get 10 years support. It's a rolling 10-year, ahem, window.
It's a free upgrade and those are the new terms, pretty much the same as before or better (for some). Don't like it, don't get it.
Wanna think it over?
Wait 10-12 months.
But after that it'll cost $120 to upgrade and all you'll get extra is support in 2026.