Fee for using WINDOWS 10 — will or not?
OLEG DOVBNYA
Perhaps the most often encountered by users of Windows 10 the question is, what happens when that period is complete the free upgrade to the OS. If Microsoft is going to charge a fee for the use of their new operating system? Fortunately for users, there are many signs that this will not happen. However, the reality may be somewhat different than optimistic assumptions. It should be noted that the new processors will not be supported other operating systems the software giant, in addition to Windows 10.
Evidence to suggest that the use of Windows 10 will not be charged a fee, a lot. They were described in an illustrated article ed Bott (Ed Bott) “Windows 10 subscriptions aren’t happening. Here’s why”, published by ZDNet resource. Of course, its conclusions are only hypothetical and not based on certainty, but on Analytics and industry trends.
As the software giant considers its new operating system as a service, it immediately raises the assumption that its use implies the monthly fee. It seemed a very logical approach when you consider that Microsoft has unveiled a major upgrade of its operating system that it will bring the company revenue.
But Windows update has never been the main source of revenue for Microsoft, and shown that ed Bott has illustrated his note. The smallest column of this chart reflects the role played by the licensing for retail and updates in the formation of the company’s revenues in the financial year 2015.
For the fiscal 2015 revenue of Microsoft amounted to 93,6 billion dollars. Almost half of the revenues of the company have to charge for commercial licensing server products, Microsoft Office and pack Windows Enterprise edition.
Other significant sources of revenue — cloud services (Office 365, Azure), and hardware (primarily Surface tablets, and phones).
In addition, Windows 10 is not as free as it might seem at first glance. For the six months ending 31 December 2015, Microsoft has received from the manufacturers of hardware more than 6.2 billion US dollars for the installation of their Windows on the computers of its production, which means tens of millions of licenses for new computers running Windows 10.
Over the past year Windows licenses sold at retail, including the upgrade and the academic version has brought only 0.8 percent of the total revenue of Microsoft during the year.
It should be noted that from version to version of price of Windows had a tendency to decrease, which is reflected by the schedule (green for consumers, green is for business).
Windows Vista Home Premium (US $ 159) and Business (259 USD). Windows 7 Home Premium ($50) and Pro ($100). Windows 8 Pro is $ 40. Windows 8.1 was a free upgrade. Upgrade to Windows 10 was also free for many users.
It should be noted that Microsoft is not alone in this regard. For updates on OS X Tiger (2005) and Leopard (2007) Apple has received 129 USD. In 2009, the upgrade price to Snow Leopard was reduced for many users up to $ 29 per computer. Starting from 2013, with the advent of Mavericks, OS X updates are free.
On the other hand, there are successful products of Microsoft, used by subscription. It is primarily about Office 365, which costs 99 USD per year.
Another important consumer segment for Microsoft are games that for the six months ended December 31, 2015, brought the company more than 5.5 billion US dollars, nearly as much as sale Windows to device manufacturers.
Xbox sales have declined, but revenue from Xbox Live significantly — almost by 21% — increased. Revenue from video games has increased even more dramatically, by 52%.
Therefore, Microsoft has more important sources of revenue than the traditional licensing of the operating system that suggests that Windows 10 will not be used for subscription services for which the fee is charged. But in any case the decision is made by Microsoft, and how it will be, will be known only when the company reported him to a wide audience of users of their operating systems.
Many users may not wish to cease receiving proposals to update noperiod users on the new operating system seems aizbildinaties to all but Mac users and Linux system-based OS, and the user base is very interesting to get an idea of what will be the price of a new operating system service.
Can Windows 10, despite the considered assumptions, to be a service for which you will be charged the monthly fee?
