Microsoft will offer free upgrades to Windows 10 -- the next version of its operating system -- first for Windows 8.1 users and then for Windows 7 users, the company announced Wednesday.
http://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-to-deliver-free-windows-10-upgrades/
When I read that all I could think was this:
I'm actually pretty excited after today's announcements.
Free, possible game streaming with xbox one, return of desktop focus on laptop/desktop computers, cortana looks neat. Overall I'm glad they are dumping windows 8.
As a daily user of Windows 8.1, I'll be moving to Windows 10 primarily for the shrunken PaddedBorderWidth and directX12.
I do not consider Windows 8 meaningfully different from Windows 7 in a UX way other than the start menu. Actually, even seeing screenshots of Windows 7 kind of throws me, it looks dated to me know (I am partial to flat color schemes, #holoyolo, #materiyolo) I once used my computer in front of someone for almost an hour (not rudely!) and when I brought up the start screen briefly to launch a program I didn't have set to a run line, they remarked "ooh gross windows 8." even though they hadn't even known I was using Windows 8 up until that point. The negative bias against it (particularly from people who dont even use it) astonishes!
I had a great experience with Win10 in a VM. I'll probably wait a bit for the major UX bugs to be ironed out (since it is a major OS release after all )
I was hating Win8 just for the terrible UI mess that is Metro. But I have found out that it performs quite well on most computers, even better than Seven. Win 8.1 with a start menu replacement that is.
Even as Tech Preview the OS is pretty solid. I pretty much use it as a daily now and looking forward to the Xbox One intergration. The basics are there, but they are updating it a lot. Cortana is neat, but does need some work.
i have also w8.1 with start menu replacement
"classicshell"
@triumNo need for links, interested parties can google it
"Free" upgrade for my old Win 7 box and my new Win 8.1 box! Hey they've captured my interest.
HOWEVER.............what's the catch? I've yet to come across "a free lunch".............someone always seems to have to pay!
AH maybe I'm getting cynical in my old age. lol
"Free" upgrade for my old Win 7 box and my new Win 8.1 box! Hey they've captured my interest.
HOWEVER.............what's the catch? I've yet to come across "a free lunch".............someone always seems to have to pay!
AH maybe I'm getting cynical in my old age. lol
I'm sure they have a plan, but this occurred to me:
They encourage win7 users to move to Win10
and Win8 users to move to Win10
they now concentrate a larger share of the market into one system (windows 8, last time I checked, only had like 20% of the market) while also moving people to newer technology, so they can stop supporting older products (XP is probably a lost cause at this point, anyone still clinging to it is probably going to do so till their machine dies - and possibly after.)
I think their plan is simply compete with osX which gives all compatible machines free updates
That too - Windows is expensive, and with Linux becoming more-and-more viable as a replacement for it (inb4 "2015 is the year of the linux desktop") I guess they sort-of have to go free. Should be interesting to see what sort of services they monetize to make up for it.
That too - Windows is expensive, and with Linux becoming more-and-more viable as a replacement for it (inb4 "2015 is the year of the linux desktop") I guess they sort-of have to go free. Should be interesting to see what sort of services they monetize to make up for it.
It's also likely that "Windows 11" will only be free (for a year) for users of Windows 8.1 and 10.x (and will only work on computers that meet at least midlevel 8.1 requirements). We have to remember that win7 worked on Win XP min requirements(iirc) so some of this hardware isn't going to be able to run 10 and beyond; so I'd say there's still monetization to be made. +Office subscriptions bring cash and upgrading skydrive size (cause people are dumb) and for pay add ons (similar to freemium games)
. . .
they now concentrate a larger share of the market into one system (windows 8, last time I checked, only had like 20% of the market) while also moving people to newer technology, so they can stop supporting older products (XP is probably a lost cause at this point, anyone still clinging to it is probably going to do so till their machine dies - and possibly after.)
>ahem< Yep, I am. Does that make me a Klingon? [Get it . . . cling on . . .Klingon . . . ] OK never mind.
Seriously, Winapp is right, but I think microsoft's broader objective is much simpler. They just want to keep selling OSs. Win 8 scared'em. Linux continues to scare'em.
Edit: They have to do something to make us think we can't live without their newest OS.
And rightly so. Their profit for the last quarter was under 5 billion dollars.
I'm curious, when w10 is available as an update
where actually is w9? should not be as update for w8 user?
where actually is w9? should not be as update for w8 user?
They tripped and fell over 9 and landed on 10. 10 is also a little further away from 8/8.1 and I'd imagine they'd liked to distance themselves from it, but they've put out so many flops over the years that people have openly disliked.
where actually is w9? should not be as update for w8 user?
there will be no Win9, skipped it and went straight to Win10.
apparently they figured we would get confused with Win95 or Win98.
there will be no Win9, skipped it and went straight to Win10.
apparently they figured we would get confused with Win95 or Win98.
The real reason is even funnier.
8 was so "universally" panned (I love it at least with classicshell like trium said) that they thought jumping 9 would placate users into "knowing" that Microsoft was listening to "them" (I also assume that there was an internal 9 which got broken into two, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 )
So I guess Win 8.1 was Win 9's debut and it didn't really gel.