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Window 10 - Microsoft Qualifies The Term Free

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When I think of MS I instinctively think of Bill Gates drowning in his own money with a giant grin on his face. I applaud lxskllr for putting this thread (that was crap to begin) back to reality. Obviously MS are a "for profit" company and a legitimate thread about "free" would need to be about the noble and respectable 24 years of experience and trust Linux has pioneered and achieved for us, not about a guy who dreamed of swimming in cash and a company that is only bending it's income strategy because times have changed and they have to do so to survive (and would rather be charging $500 for their OS if they could get away with it)...

We get it, you love linux and nothing but linux serves a legitimate purpose.

If you don't have anything constructive to say about this topic then don't post. Coming into a topic about Windows licensing and railing on about how Microsoft is evil and Linux is so great is just threadcrapping.
 
I'm also wondering what MS have been smoking. The funny thing is that I hadn't seen issues with particular Windows updates for years, then in the last twelve months I've encountered something like five occasions through my work... not a promising trend.

For what it's worth, there is an option to uninstall updates, and does pull up the Installed Updates window in P&F. So while we may not be able to stop them from installing, at least problem updates can still be removed.
 
If the Windows 8 Start Screen debacle thought us anything, it's that Microsoft doesn't have the clout to force unpopular OS changes down our throat anymore.

If Microsoft tried charging subscription fees for newer OS versions, customers would flee in droves to older Windows versions and to Apple even more than they are already doing.
 
I can see millions of people waking up and turning their computer on to find all their data is gone along with their operating system.
 
I can see millions of people waking up and turning their computer on to find all their data is gone along with their operating system.

Millions? No. A few thousand? Sure. I can only imagine what upgrading to Windows 10 on a malware encrusted Windows 7 or 8 system would do.
 
Millions? No. A few thousand? Sure. I can only imagine what upgrading to Windows 10 on a malware encrusted Windows 7 or 8 system would do.

I hope Ms wont just upgrade by it self instead of asking first?
i was thinking of upgrading one and after i check it and everything is right then go ahead and upgrade the other, both are same Hp motherboard cpu and everything else,i can clone one PC HDD and put it in the other PC and it's legit.
 
I hope Ms wont just upgrade by it self instead of asking first?
They aren't. If you've actually reserved Windows 10 it will download in the background once it's your turn, but the user needs to initiate the install.
 
There is so much FUD over this. This is simply talking about how they are deferring the revenue recognition because they are changing the software distribution model. There is ZERO information about how long they will support a device with updates. That part is pure speculation.

One would think the life of the device and they are banking on most people upgrading systems every 2-4 years.
 
One would think the life of the device and they are banking on most people upgrading systems every 2-4 years.


Technically you are supposed to buy a new windows license with every new system to begin with. There is nothing changed here that I can see so far from what has been the norm for years.
 
I can see that on my msn account I have my windows test machine registered as a device now, by the motherboard's name that is, I think that's pretty much how the license is handled for the free updates, or in my case for testing windows (and updating up to the current version), the motherboard is the PC.
 
I do find it a bit irritating that Microsoft continues to make things so vague here. Much like they did with the Insider program. Are they still trying to figure out what they are doing?

It leaves room for articles like the one linked in the OP to get people excited.

I thought MS was pretty clear personally. It's just that a bunch of people suddenly lost 100 IQ points and couldn't figure out what the word free means and made up their own definitions.
 
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First rule in business is nothing is free.

There is a reason Windows 10 is free but requiring a link to a Microsoft Account. They are turning it into an advertising based platform which knows each user who is using it and which software you install and what applications you run, which websites you visit and how much time you spend on the computer.

Most employers now have software which will tell them what their employees do on their home personal computers. At least the government ones I worked for do.
 
There is a reason Windows 10 is free but requiring a link to a Microsoft Account. They are turning it into an advertising based platform which knows each user who is using it and which software you install and what applications you run, which websites you visit and how much time you spend on the computer.

Most employers now have software which will tell them what their employees do on their home personal computers. At least the government ones I worked for do.

Because Win10 requires a live account....

Or it doesn't. And I know this because I just installed it clean on my Macbook Pro - it has no wireless drivers by default, and it lets me make a local account. When you do have network, you can opt to create a local account instead of a MS account.
 
There is a reason Windows 10 is free but requiring a link to a Microsoft Account. They are turning it into an advertising based platform which knows each user who is using it and which software you install and what applications you run, which websites you visit and how much time you spend on the computer.

Most employers now have software which will tell them what their employees do on their home personal computers. At least the government ones I worked for do.

No it doesn't.

And no, most don't.

If my employer did that I'd get a new job. What I do at home is my business, not theirs.
 
No it doesn't.

And no, most don't.

If my employer did that I'd get a new job. What I do at home is my business, not theirs.

Exactly. Installed it on one laptop so far. Didn't have a Microsoft account before, and it doesn't now. Upgrade went very smoothly.
 
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