Windows 10 - free upgrade to those with PC using Windows 7 or 8

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by dickloraine

I wonder why a thread about a free windows upgrade becomes about linux vs windows. (by the way, it sounds as if your 16bit programs doesn't run under linux too and you use there a vm. So what...)

Because I questioned "how free was free"? Win 10 upgrade is free for a year. What is the long term business model? How is Microsoft going to fund ongoing OS development? These are questions that directly affect "free" in the long term.

And they are unanswered...

[dwig]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Because I questioned "how free was free"? Win 10 upgrade is free for a year. What is the long term business model? How is Microsoft going to fund ongoing OS development?...

There is plenty of ways for MS to gain revenue and plenty of opportunity to streamline support by reducing the number of legacy OS variants that need independent support.

As we've seen with Win8.x, by simply naming Windows 9 as Windows 8.1 (look at the internal numeric version number from Win2000 through Win8.1 and you'll see that Win8.1 is really Win9) and giving it away free, MS can now end the vast majority of Win8.0 support by simply "fixing" all problems with an upgrade to Win8.1. The new scheme will be similar. MS won't have to fix security flaws in Win 8.1 separately from the similar fix in 10. they will simply fix 10 and require 8.1 users to upgrade to 10 to get the fix.

It is only the upgrade for owners of fully licensed and paid for Win7 and Win8.1 installations that will be free and only for the first 12 months of its availablility. Whether Win8.0 users will be able to directly upgrade or whether they will have to upgrade to 8.1, also free, before upgrading to 10 is unknown as MS's wording and the reporters quotes are not worded all that precisely. MS has also said that once you've upgraded to 10 or bought (read: paid for) a new Win10 license further upgrades will be free for the life of the device on which it is installed.

MS's revenue source for OS developement will be the sale of new licenses, the vast majority of which will be OEM sales tied to new devices. There will likely be revenue from the sale of OS enhancements (IT management tools and services, ...) and advanced OS versions (server versions). The utilities and services that distinguish the standard Windows from the Windows Pro versions will quite possibly become a paid for add-in rather than being embedded into a distinct OS version.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Because I questioned "how free was free"? Win 10 upgrade is free for a year. What is the long term business model? How is Microsoft going to fund ongoing OS development? These are questions that directly affect "free" in the long term.

And they are unanswered...

What is so different from offering to upgrade your current version for free for a year as opposed to asking a small (compared to the full) price for that same service?

When we upgraded our media center PC (was still running XP) two years ago, we bought a Windows 8.1 upgrade for about 1/4th of the price it would have been a month later. Because they had a similar action back then for Windows 8.1.
It's a nice way to promote your product, especially as a lot of people will have only recently updated from XP to either Windows 7 or 8. Those people won't be willing to pay again for a new upgrade. But they might be tempted to move on to Windows 10 this way.

[murg]

Originally Posted by frahse

Windows 10 has to be better than W8 and also W8.1.

I just has to be.

Does...

I just set up a new computer with Windows 8.1, and quite like it. Of course, I mainly run the Desktop, the Start screen is basically a replacement for the Start button/menu.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by murg

I just set up a new computer with Windows 8.1, and quite like it. Of course, I mainly run the Desktop, the Start screen is basically a replacement for the Start button/menu.

If the Start screen is a replacement for the Start menu, what's the replacement for the desktop? I put all my frequently used stuff on the start menu and infrequently used but important stuff that's difficult to find on the desktop. This is using Win7 at work, so the difficult to find stuff can't be moved because it's not mine.

[dickloraine]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Because I questioned "how free was free"? Win 10 upgrade is free for a year. What is the long term business model? How is Microsoft going to fund ongoing OS development? These are questions that directly affect "free" in the long term.

And they are unanswered...

And why can't you ask this questions without refering to linux? That windows is a paid os is clear. The upgrade is only free, if you did spend money.

The "funding" shouldn't be a problem for a company that has as much money at hand as microsoft. Many possible motives why microsoft may do this can be found in this thread.

[Mivo]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

How is Microsoft going to fund ongoing OS development? These are questions that directly affect "free" in the long term. And they are unanswered...

Support, support licenses, customized OEM versions for manufacturers, possibly premium services, revenue from the built-in app/software store, their own software products like Office and Skype, and so on.

I don't mind paying for a Windows license. I don't usually work for free, and I don't expect others to work for free for me, either. I probably prefer that to the Google business model of spying on the user and monetizing the information that is gained that way.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I've only ever upgraded the OS when I've bought a new PC. I generally don't see much reason to change what I've gotten used to.

Me too - I had an XP computer for many years, and by the time I replaced the computer in 2011 Vista had come and gone, so my new (current) computer has Windows 7. It still works fine and does everything I need.

[Jack Torrance]

Originally Posted by frahse

Windows 10 has to be better than W8 and also W8.1.

I just has to be.

Does...

I remember getting the Technical preview/Beta for Windows 7 and upgraded from XP because I liked the look and feel of 7.

While I like 10 better than 8/8.1 I don't find myself choosing to use it like I chose to use 7 over XP. I really don't like 8/8.1 and don't have it running on any of the machines I own. I know people say you get used to it and it works fine, but every time I play with it, usually on a machine at the store, it just irritates me and I walk away.

I just cant put my finger on why I don't want to use 10 and jumping right in and learning it in and outs might be part of the problem and maybe when it gets an actual release with all the appropriate drives ect I'll feel better about, but something tells me I'll being hanging on to my copy of 7 for a few more years.

[howyoudoin]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

If the Start screen is a replacement for the Start menu, what's the replacement for the desktop? I put all my frequently used stuff on the start menu and infrequently used but important stuff that's difficult to find on the desktop. This is using Win7 at work, so the difficult to find stuff can't be moved because it's not mine.

I don't quite understand. The desktop is the desktop.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by howyoudoin

I don't quite understand. The desktop is the desktop.

I thought the start screen is the desktop on Win8.

[WT Sharpe]

You can make it so.

[Purple Lady]

Can you make it not so and just have icons of your choosing instead?

[eschwartz]

Yeah, but then you have to pin every program you ever use, and then when you miss some anyway, you have to go to the Start Screen so that doesn't really work in practice.

It is Win 8.1 that added the ability to boot straight to the legacy Desktop.

[howyoudoin]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

I thought the start screen is the desktop on Win8.

Okay, I understand what you mean.

The desktop is still the desktop. You can save your frequently used files to the desktop in Windows 8 too. The start screen in Windows 8 is an expanded version of the start menu in Windows 7.