With Windows ten, Microsoft may move to a subscription-based model

With Windows ten, Microsoft may move to a subscription-based model

 



Microsoft has indicated that Windows ten, which is able to be discharged next year, may move towards a subscription-based model. rather than going the same old route and shopping for a perpetual Windows ten license for $50 to $200, you'd instead pay many greenbacks per month — and so, like most subscriptions, you’d get free upgrades once major new versions of Windows return on. an alternative choice may well be that you simply get a basic version of Windows ten without charge, however a subscription would unlock additional advanced options — this can be the theme that Microsoft presently uses with its workplace for iOS apps.

Speaking at a conference in Arizona, Microsoft’s COO Kevin Turner spoke quite candidly regarding the speedily ever-changing tides of the computer market, and the way ultimately Microsoft has lost an enormous chunk of its money-making potential. “The 1st thirty-nine years of our company, we tend to had one amongst the best business models of all time engineered around … the Windows consumer software,” same Turner, and so spoke regarding however Microsoft is pivoting to become a cloud- and devices-oriented company.

Microsoft’s COO, Kevin Turner

Later, Turner was asked regarding whether or not Microsoft intends to use Windows ten as a loss-leader to stay users among the Windows scheme, that prompted this terribly attention-grabbing response: we tend to attempt to “monetize the time period of that client through services and completely different add-ons that we’re (going) to be ready to incorporate thereupon resolution.” That isn’t quite confirmation that Microsoft is moving Windows ten to a subscription-based model — however it definitely looks like subscriptions can play a key role in developing new revenue streams. (Turner same additional details regarding Windows ten rating are going to be out there next year.)

Read: Hands on with the Windows ten Technical Preview

Microsoft is during a little bit of a sticky quandary once it involves Windows licensing. On the one hand, its business and enterprise efforts area unit fairly safe — those juicy computer code Assurance/Volume Licensing subscriptions aren’t leaving any time before long. Likewise, Windows Server, the workplace suite, and plenty of additional firmly entrenched business-oriented tools, programs, and operative systems area unit all safe — these can all generate billions additional greenbacks in revenue before they're (possibly) unseated by one thing else.

On the patron computer front, however, Microsoft’s money printing equipment is running out of ink — it’s still shifting countless (cheap) OEM licenses for brand spanking new PCs, however humanoid and iOS have forced it to allow away free copies of Windows eight and Windows Phone for small-screen tablets and smartphones. As personal computing shifts additional towards mobile devices, this trend can solely worsen till Microsoft is solely {giving away|making a gift of|gifting away|giving without charge|freely giving|giving freely} Windows for free — which might be nice for customers, however unreasonable for Microsoft.

Subscriptions area unit the plain means out: make known Windows without charge to hopefully gain some ground on humanoid and iOS (and to secure the desktop/laptop computer market) — and so generate revenue from added subscriptions. Microsoft already offers lots of subscription-based services — OneDrive, Skype, Office 365, Xbox Music, Xbox Live Gold. It wouldn’t be too crazy to additionally move Windows to an identical system — Microsoft may even add Windows to its Work & Play bundle, say, for a further $30 annually. If I may get each Microsoft service, as well as a full version of Windows ten skilled and workplace, for $180 per year… that might be a reasonably sweet deal. Plus, i'd even be tempted to shop for associate Xbox One, if I had a “free” Live Gold subscription simply parturition around…