Windows 10 New Monthly Charge

[dlevere]

For months Microsoft has been describing Windows 10 “as a service” and now we know why. Microsoft is going to introduce a monthly subscription fee for Windows 10 usage.

[xirtamehtsitahw]

Seriously...how low can Micro$oft go? First they try to force Windows 10 on us...now they try to charge us for using it.

Welp...just found ANOTHER benefit of sticking with Windows XP. Take THAT, Micro$$$$$$oft!

[bungholio]

I don't know how to respond to humanity. They push this "FREE" windows 10 on people constantly for over half a year, or entire year, I've forgotten how long, and then throw in a deadline and once the "FREE" deadline is nearly gone they say they are going to charge you for using it? I really need to go into a coma and wake up a hundred years later when hopefully the endless deceit and idiocy of humanity is gone. This is bait and switch at the last second. I hardly pay attention to this but when Bill Gates left, was he secretly replaced with Donald Trump or something?

It's just another corporate crime, they've got the money and can do whatever they want, must be nice to have such a privilege. It's free for a price. I'm hoping it doesn't go so far as them releasing a hidden update for it to prevent uninstalling Windows 10, but if they do they'll make up some BS reasoning on why they are allowed to legally mug you.

[xirtamehtsitahw]

I don't think even Donald Trump would be that much of a slimeball. Yes, he's backstabbed people to get to where he is, but, most billionaires had to do some of that to get where they are. It's how you separate the rich from the SUPER-rich. How willing are you to destroy partnerships so your company can grow even bigger? How willing are you to bury the competition, while constantly attempting to skirt the anti-trust laws currently in effect?

What Microsoft has done, however, is one of the lowest of low-life misdeeds: promise something "free", then wait until the deadline for free upgrades is nearly here, then say, "Oh, wait...we lied about that free thing. We're going to charge you a 'nominal' fee every month for using our product. That's still okay, right? RIIIIGHT?! Here is where you make your choice: you have two--Yes, or...Yes."

To lie is one thing. To HIDE that lie until it's too late to back out is in a whole other league of slime.

[dlevere]

That cost will be $7 per user per month, but the good news is it only applies to enterprises, for now. The new pricing tier will be called "Windows 10 Enterprise" and it means Windows has finally joined Office 365 and Azure as a subscription service.

[bungholio]

the good news is it only applies to enterprises, for now.

That makes me wonder how long people will be safe. I'd kind of like to try it but I don't want to get it and then a month later they start charging me for it when it's too late to back out, and I still wouldn't ignore the possibility that they'll do something to prevent undoing the switch to Windows 10. They've already been doing the bait and switch and they are telling people this just now. There are likely businesses out there with a lot of computers they switched to Windows 10 who are now looking at this and saying "WTF Microsoft? Either we need to undo all of our updates and various other things that relied specifically on Windows 10 which is going to be hell or even impossible at this point, or take the bill you forced upon us without warning."

[bfoos]

Don't know what all the uproar is about. This only affects Enterprise.

[Pyriel]

Most of the businesses I've worked with were still on XP until support officially ended, and are now on 7. I'm sure it's not universal, but the larger the company, the more resistant they tend to be to change. Which raises the bigger issue of this subscription service not really being worth it to larger businesses if it means free upgrades, but the only way to get your money's worth is to immediately upgrade to the newest version. Unless that $7 a month includes a base tier of enterprise support for whatever version you're running automatically, I can't see businesses being too chuffed about this when they finally move beyond 7.

Companies small enough that they just go through Dell or Best Buy for their machines, taking whatever OS is on offer, most likely won't run afoul of this. Unless they're on Microsoft's radar because they pay for support or something.

[rimsky82]

I've done a lot of small business IT and generally they buy their OS's OEM with the machines. They mostly try not to upgrade unless they have to, sometimes because of cost, but usually because they don't want to risk some important proprietary software not working after the upgrade. Another reason is that upgrading OS's and office versions usually means having to upgrade their infrastructure, servers and what-not, which can really get costly. It's crunch-time now, but I bet most companies will just stick with 7.

[Pyriel]

Yeah, that's what I was getting at. If someone in accounts at a small company needs a new machine, just go to Dell and get the cheapest thing that's suitable, and take whatever OS it comes with. Provided it still runs her software. Meanwhile, there's a server in a closet somewhere still running Windows 98 because nobody wants to have to setup the label printer again. If you try to upgrade or replace it and the new setup doesn't work exactly the same, you'll be the villain for a year. And somehow putting everything back the way it was will cause more problems than the new solution.

[final kaoss]

Don't know what all the uproar is about. This only affects Enterprise.

Oh I don't know, maybe because MS or Forbes felt a bit cocky & threw this in there.

That cost will be $7 per user per month but the good news is it only applies to enterprises, for now.