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Free (Gratis) Version of Windows Could Be a Reality Soon
An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft is exploring whether to release a free version of Windows to increase the number of computers using the latest operating system. Currently the company seems to be testing a new version of the OS called 'Windows 8.1 with Bing', which will include Microsoft's key modern apps and services."
I remember when Bill Gates said that if software were being pirated, he would prefer that it was HIS software being pirated. He wanted to hook them now, so that he could charge them later.
I guess there aren't enough pirates being hooked, so now they have to give it away gratis.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
beer?
*plays the Apogee theme song music*
The first hit is free.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
Given the history of MS trying to squeeze every last cent out of their captive audience, a free version of Win 8.1 (even one bundled with bing') sounds like desperation.
You couldn't pay me to use Windows 8 (unless it was a lot of money), so why the fuck do you think I would want it for free with crapware installed on it?
Windows with Bing, super invasive, super troll advertising, super restrictions on what applications you can install and super restrictions on where you can source content. You just know M$ will go wildly over the top in that regard, so xbox in a computer with compulsory M$ bling 'er' bing. Except you have paid full price for the hardware and by taking free you are actually shifting ownership and control of that device from yourself to M$.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
Keep charging for Windows, but remove the Product Activation and "Genuine Advantage" crap. Then let the pirates go wild. People will Pirate it thinking they are getting something for Nothing, and those that still pay for Windows, will be gravy for you.
Visit the Arcade Restoration Workshop @ http://www.arcaderestoration.com
So, Windows 8 isn't bad enough? Now they want to make it worse by turning it into an ad supported monstrosity?
I'd be impressed with the level of idiocy if it wasn't so pathetic.
Funny, but I never remember hearing about Microsoft having to give away Windows XP or Windows 7. (Sure, there was stuff like educational licenses, but those were for specific and clear marketing purposes.) If Microsoft has to literally give away Windows 8 to get people to use it, isn't that a blatant admission of failure? Why do they feel the need to keep digging themselves deeper into this hole?
Man it's like a dream come true. Windows 8 interface AND Bing! Maybe they can bundle it onto free software downloads, like they do with the Conduit/Bingbar browser hijack. Then we won't even have to download it ourselves. Man that's top notch service!
If I had aero and the option to disable Metro or at least have it as a desktop where the desktop treats a metro app like any win32 app then ok.
I need Windows to run apps. Sorry slashdotters I really did try to live a linux only life. I need MS VS, MS expressions web, ventrillo, star wars the old republic, and yes sadly office as my resume won't be formatted correctly with any other package.
Windows 7 is old and aging and is not mobile friendly compared to Windows 8, iOS, and Android with its api's sucking battery life from apps utilizing win32. But I find hte disney colors of even the Windows 8 desktop madening!
I really did try Windows 8.1. I find it so damn ugly compared to Windows 7 where I have a sigh of relife. I thought I was old and afraid of change like those on neowin.net say we are.
I guess I can use it for occasional use like Windows Server 2012 where I setup it once and run just one app at a time and then go back to my desk and use MMC to do the real work.
But until I have my colors back and life (talking about Office 2013 too) it seems MS is extremist where they want all white, gray, and no color, and all minimalism = anti skuemorphism in that very strict interpretation.
http://saveie6.com/
Polaroid android tablet? Like the one for $60 at Big Lots? What were you expecting?
How would this hurt Google at all? It looks aimed at desktop and notebook users. I guess it could threaten Chrome book, but considering the massive footprint of Windows, I doubt it will have any impact. The consumers of this would be people who have PCs running older versions of Windows in the hops of enticing them into the Metro verse.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Clearly a strategy to erode the Chrome book. With Google clamping down now within Chrome, it won't be too long before they have a hefty market share and lock in with their Chrome Web Store. Recent releases of chrome now deactivate extensions from third parties that don't come from their Web Store, so they're corralling ISVs into their BS Walled Garden strategy which is bad for Chrome but great for Google. I can see Microsoft wanting to play in that arena as well, Bing based browser with the Microsoft Store that still doesn't allow you delete your apps though.
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
Seriously overpriced.
I don't think they're dicks are that big.
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
"Can't even GIVE the shit away"
Javascript "Apps" are the reason I just had to replace my perfectly serviceable 10 year old Athlon XP machine before it physically broke down from exhaustion. Every machine I have had before I have had the pleasure of using until it caught fire from overuse. The smell of burning capacitors is still fresh in my nostrils after all these years. Fuck Apps. Fuck them in the anus with a cactus. And for that matter, fuck my spell checker for insisting that it should be written as "JavaScript".
I'm still waiting for the version where they fucking well pay me to use it. Do you have any idea what it is like to be rudely awakened from the earnestly and lovingly designed Acorn RISC OS?
If Microsoft does indeed go through with a truly "free" version of Windows, I anticipate that it won't be long until they panic and decide to kill it because "it's diluting their profits from Windows". That's what happened to the free (and admittedly quite limited) version of Office 2010 they put out. As restricted as Office Starter was compared to the retail version, it was still "good enough" for many people, myself included. This supposedly began eroding their profits for Office. By the time Office 2013 came around, they had decided that they didn't like the idea of having a free version of a flagship product eating into potential sales, so they axed it. I imagine a free version of Windows would meet the same short-lived fate. Yes, I agree with the general consensus that Windows 8.x is terrible compared to 7 or even Vista. BUT, just like with Office Starter, there will be many people for which a free version of Windows, restrictions and all, is "good enough" for them. This will eat into their sales of Windows even further (If that's even possible at this point considering the failure that is Windows 8), and they'll panic and decide to axe it to forcefully regain their flow of income.
With all that said, I will admit I'm curious to see how this plays out re: their method of releasing a free version of Windows. With Office Starter, it was (officially) only available pre-installed on new computers and (technically) could not be downloaded. If they release free Windows as a downloadable ISO, that might garner a little more adoption, but not much considering Win8's reputation. But, if they go the same route they took with Office Starter and make it only available on new computers, then really the only benefit would be a lower-priced PC, albeit with the added cost of having to deal with ads. Kinda like what Amazon has done with certain models of the Kindle.
update on top of W8 that is..
Experience so far:
Acrobat reader crashes reliably
Essential VPN in VMware images no longer works.
Consequence:
Restore W 8 from backup
Cost? Lots of time lost on this BS!
Maybe they need to give it away for free so people are less upset if they get burnt - you get what you pay for and get sucked on with ads and/or giving up your privacy.
Ah - and this BING desktop or whatever it is was never installed.
I do in-house web sites for a living. We do NOT support Internet Explorer. Why not? Because we can't affort to install virtual computers running legal versions of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 6 (?), Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 9. We just tell our people to use Firefox; it's availlable for free for anything.
Giving away copies for compatability testing would be a great idea.
(Neither can we affort a back room full of old MAC's, but I can test Safari on Windows XP and haven't run in to any problem yet.)
The real cost of a Microsoft OS is the hours you'll spend waiting for reboots due to "updates" and just trying to keep it running.
My time is worth more than that.
Maybe then at least dogs will play with it.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Windows has multiple versions of their OS, from low-end, to 'pro', to 'ultimate'. Windows deliberately makes lesser versions inferior in the hope users will pay for a better version. It is a pity they do not bother to make and offer the best version. One of the many reasons proprietary OS' must be done away with.
"SO we bide our time, waiting for a purer kick to bloom and the future is still bleak, uncertain and beautiful" -GSYBE
Jesus H. Fuck! Just when I thought Windows 8 was as low as they could go!
There's no way, no how, no possible scenario where I'd opt for something like this. Even if the only other choice was "no computer".
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Time to start making money on things other than Windows and Office.
If Microsoft wants me to ever run anything windows on any of my computers EVER again they will have to pay for the priviledge. I had no choice but to deal with their monopoly for twenty years when I was employed but, now that I'm retired, I don't have to put up with them anymore. I'll build my next computer from discrete transistors if I have to before I buy another machine pre-installed with windows and all the OEM bloatware that comes with them these days.
To bad it only works when your selling a drug people actually want. This one gives you a *reeeally* bad trip.
is way overpriced.
So how much are they selling Win7 for these days?
Anyway, what would stop you from installing that 'free with Bing' win 8.1, then installing your own choice of browser (Firefox, SeaMonkey or Chromium) and using that, with the home page set to google.com
(And install another file manager instead of using windows explorer.
I'd like to see the pricing models MS uses for pricing Windows desktop, server, Office, SQL/Exchange, and server OS & apps CALs.
I wonder if MS builds in interdependencies for these pricing and what kind of assumptions they make on how the pricing for one product relates to expected sales of another -- ie, if the price of desktop "Pro" is raised past X, how many fewer copies do they expect to sell of the desktop OS and how many fewer copies of Office or fewer server licenses and CALs?
My guess is that they follow the option to maximize pricing, keeping X at some value that maximizes how much they can charge without too adversely affecting other sales.
It makes me wonder, though, if someone has ever said "Hey, what happens if we make the pro desktop free but raise the price of server, server apps, and CALs by some percentage to both make up for some of the lost revenue, does it increase the sales of these items?"
And with a free desktop OS, I'd wager people would be more likely to accept crap like Win 8 versus hanging onto XP forever.
who really *pays* for Windoze? MOST PEOPLE GOT WINDOWS 'FREE' WITH THEIR PC PURCHASE
virtually all Windows users got it *bundled* when they bought their Dell, HP, Toshiba, etc.
sure we've all seen the news stories of people on Windows X release day but professional PR people can make that kind of thing happen...no...
the only reason Windows is used so much is because Gates & M$ got *****government contracts***** to put an IBM running Windows on every Federal Government desk.
**that's** why so many people use Windows...it was ALREADY FREE
Windows is dead...M$ is dead...I know their stock price says otherwise, but thats a tremendously lagging indicator...if you judge a company by the products they make, M$ is a FAIL
Thank you Dave Raggett
regular end users (e.g. like my kid) don't mind it at all. Especially once it started booting to a desktop. If the tech had been there to do cheap x86 tablet PCs that didn't get so hot you could fry an egg on them I think it woulda gone over just fine.
Microsoft is looking at google giving away Android/Chrome and wondering if they should do the same. The Office 360 revenue is way more than Windows revenue. The only question is if they give away Windows can they sell other services on top of it that bring in recurring revenue. Sure, they give up a $50 profit on Windows, but if that means $20/year in office fees for 5 years they come out ahead.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
Sorry, but I had to set up a pc for my half blind dad that just uses the PC for audio books.
Windows 8 is waaaayyy overpriced at free. If they'd pay me 2 grand a month , maybe I would try to use it.
I'm hoping the steam/ubuntu gaming Port gains traction. If I could play all my games on Linux and just safely surf on Linux - I would have absolutely no need for microsoft.
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
Android is a big enough name in its own right these days. There might be a potential but I'd say its small.
Other replies noted that its not in the same market but I'd disagree there -- the whole idea of forcing desktop users to deal with Metro is to push them towards Windows phones/tablets. MS may have underestimated (a lot) the negative reaction to Metro but their original purpose -- getting people to use Windows mobile versions -- is still at the forefront of their thoughts. And rightly so given the current market conditions (PC sales dropping, mobile sales skyrocketing.)
The only players who are likely to lose out significantly from this move is the fringe desktop OSes. Possibly including OSX though Apple's sales tend to be based as much on fanboyism as product quality and certainly not based on price competitiveness so they'll probably just keep on trucking as ever as well.
iOS might be in some trouble though if the tactic of desktop Metro -> mobile Metro ends up eventually working out. They're already struggling mightily against the power of Android and if MS starts making some ground in the mobile market, chances are Apple's going to take the brunt of it. There's still a big "if" regarding the tactic working though of course. MS kind of shot themselves in the foot on that one and its going to take a fairly large effort to recover before they can get back into the race.
All in all though, I expect Windows 9 to be where Microsoft really pulls all the punches. Win8 has been as big if not a bigger disaster than Vista but at the same time, Vista provided a very critical stepping stone between XP and 7 -- not so much on the consumer end but on the developer end. It gave devs a few years of dealing with UAC issues, graphics driver issues, etc on an OS that nobody really cared about before the Win7 big guns came into the spotlight.
Its entirely possible that Win8's Metro will lead to a similar overall slow revolution in time for Win9. Of course its a much more difficult battle -- its right in the face of consumers whereas UAC was mostly behind the scenes and has been pointed out many many times, Metro is optimized for touch -- not for mice. I don't think anyone's yet come up with a UI paradigm that makes Metro apps useful on the big screen but hey.. they've got a couple more years of working on it before its a real problem (or possibly before its a non-issue if the PC->mobile trend keeps on going strong.)
To extend an idea oft-expressed here on Slashdot, Microsoft, from its profit perspective, would be wise to give Windows away for free and then three years after a particular release, start charging for security updates.
Bullshit.
Given Microsoft's inability to walk into a room without tripping over their dick, this is most likely to be a cosmic clusterfuck that gives the general public a very bad impression of free(beer) software.
I don't think they're dicks are that big.
Yes, It's so big that they need to shove it in their own ass, this is why they are tripping over with it.
Actually GP is right :-)
The "protection" stuff runs before Windows bootloader (most commonly a modified grub that loads additional ACPI tables into memory, tricking Windows it runs on a licensed OEM system) so the entire signed bootloader chain is not broken. W7 does not have secure boot so it cannot confirm the stuff that starts before it's bootloader.
Well, slap Classic Shell on it. Pretty good for a free deal.
You are correct with the other points, but the feeling of "bloat and poor performance" has been mostly ironed out from Windows. It works smoothly even on low-performance Atom hardware.
Great!
I hope you enjoy the various glitches and bugs of your typical Linux distro, or the expensive and limiting walled garden of OS X.
Here's guessing that the EU competition commission won't like this much at all. So I guess this version won't be for the European market.
Millions of non technical people will discover there's nothinnng wrong with 8.1.. Biddy badda boom.
I remember him saying that it was the hardware that would be free...
Twinstiq, game news
What they needed to do was fix the problems with Windows 8 and lower the prices substantially to remain competitive.
Instead they release the useless Win 8.1 and an ad-ridden crippled "free" version of Win 8.1.
This is the signature of every truly fscked company out there. The steps needed are rather straightforward and obvious yet time and time again said companies find a way not to take them. For example it was obvious since the mid 80s that Detroit needed to produce better quality cars to avoid bankruptcy, yet a poisonous combination of management, company culture and unions prevented them from taking the obvious step.
Even today they are not yet fully committed to quality cars in the way Toyota or Honda are.
I want Microsoft dead. I want them to have a hilariously incompetent CEO, OS prices that rival an entire gaming console or low-end laptop, and copy protection that annoys paying users. A free version of Windows ould make Microsoft the most powerful corporation in computing again and pull the rug out from under home-use of Linux. This is seriously bad news.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
One thing i actually liked about windows was that i am the customer and not the product.
Perhaps MS shouldn't shit all over gamers by paying game companies to release their games for xbone only and not PC.
Stupid MS, crapping on your own customers.
That and the fact that games companies keep ruining great games with crap ports and then don't fix those problems even when they're told about them. Is it so hard to allow fully configurable keyboard mapping, including 2 actions to one key like what fucking happens when you use a controller, lazy fucking dipshits.
Waterfox - a Firefox fork with legacy extension support, security updates and better privacy by default.
You're kidding right?. Microsoft worked out a deal already with the NSA to get out of the last anti-trust lawsuit. Any lawsuits would be dismissed.
Out of interest, more reliable in what way? I'm using geniune 7 OEM home premium right now, what kind of improvement can I expect if I move to a cracked version?
The fiasco of Metro UI is forcing Microsoft to take extreme measures. Windows 8 failed it's main goal to convert Microsoft near monopoly in PC market into mobile dominance.In the process it actually enraged the current customer base which caught Microsoft by surprise, but that is another story. They are trying to repeat the trick that killed Netscape. Free IE bundled with Windows made Netscape irrelevant. I don't believe this will work the same today.Times are different.
The warm and cozy feeling of having done something bad to a mega-corp, and some extra $$ for selling your former OEM key on craigslist
CLI paste? paste.pr0.tips!
It's unbelievable how much time and effort went into the protection (from "unlicensed copies") of Windows 8.x -- the OA/SLIC 3.x method for large OEM customers causes an *individual key* for each unit to be generated, verified/registered with Microsoft, and inserted into the systems firmware.
And now they're just giving it away?
I still prefer and use Windows 7, and will continue to do so.
When the copyright term is "forever minus a day", live every day like it's the last.
A search engine company giving away an OS with close ties to it's own search engine and applications... UNHEARD OF! A game changer!
Ken
I was serious. What advantages are there to circumventing the DRM? Quite ofter there are some, but I just don't see any at the moment.
It could be I'm ignorant, which is why I'm asking, and while I get your joke, I'm actually interested in a more practical answer.
Now they give it away free. But to get enterprise adoption for the abortion that is Windows 8, they would need *pay businesses to use it*. Even that might not be enough.
Here is a screenshot of the new free version
They could not pay me to use it, much less give it away for free.
-- Fuck Beta
I won't use it even if they pay me to use it hahaha
I actually was being serious, it's what I'd do if I were to buy computers with windows preinstalled, or had any reason or desire to use windows in the first place (which hasn't happened in the last decade)
Therefore I don't know any more practical answer, sorry.
CLI paste? paste.pr0.tips!
The advantages are several, here are a few I can think of (not that I practice them myself !)
1- You can use your Windows installation in both a real and a virtual machine. Some VM engines allow you to run off a physical disk, like VMWare. If you dual-boot from Linux or OSX, sometime you want to use your windows installation to check out some software and you do not want to reboot and lose your current work. With the DRM version of Windows, you would need two licenses, even though you are never using both at the same time.
2- You can change your hardware anyway you want. The DRM version will unregister itself if you change the CPU, the motherboard, too many disks, the graphics card, and whatnot. You have to re-register by telephone, which is a huge hassle and may stop working if you do it too often.
3- You can carry over your installation of Windows to your new computer (same issue as #2, really).
4- Why do you need as many licenses of Windows if you have say 3 computers but only ever use one at any given time ? Say one at work, one at your SO, and one at home, if you are self-employed?
Basically Windows is behind the time. Linux is free and good, and OSX is becoming more and more gratis (not libre, unfortunately).
The "Enterprise" company I work for spends more money on the support end of things than the licensing. We pay once for the license and then as a budgetary lock in, we budget or yearly guarantees for the latest versions and Enterprise support. If Microsoft gave away the software, they would still make good money in the support arena. Red Hat and many other no cost software providers learned this long ago. No Enterprise will get software that does not come with support, no matter how talented their internal tech staff is (pats self on back).
Let me put it this way - I would find it unethical to sell a key anywhere if I'm still using the software. I would find it ethical to crack the said software if it improved my experience with it however.
I don't even think giving it away will give it market share.
They need a new version of Windows. One that doesn't try and provide solutions for problems that don't exist, like people wanting a device that is both a tablet and a laptop. If people want a tablet, they buy one, if they want a laptop, they buy a laptop, if they want a laptop and a tablet, they buy a laptop and a tablet.
If they're going to persist with this hybrid device strategy, at least they have to fix the implementation. Many advocates of Windows 8 always ask "But have you tried it on a touch screen device?". I answer, "yes it's better on a tablet, but that doesn't excuse it being shit on a desktop".
In this day and age if you're going to create an OS that works on a hybrid tablet/laptop device you need to make sure it's brilliant as both and that it transitions gracefully from one mode to the other.
Windows 8 doesn't achieve this.
#2 and #3 make sense for me. I'll have to look into it once I get around to upgrading this machine beyond what may trigger this detection. Thanks.
The article doesn't say anything about Microsoft offering a "free as in gratis" version of Windows 8.1.
It talks about a free upgrade to Windows 8.1 from Windows 7.
Next time, read the fucking article, Timothy.
Then they laugh at you (Scroogled)
Then they fight you (free Windows)
Then you win.
I do enjoy the glitches and bugs of openSuSE 13.1.... what are they, again??
Why not just give away older versions of Windows I actually WANT to use, like Win 7, instead of pushing your fancy optimized-for-little-teen-girls touch screen bullshit. iPhone's exist for that purpose, ya know.
Let me put it this way - use free software.
CLI paste? paste.pr0.tips!
I need tools fit for the job. Offering me a screwdriver when I'm asking about qualities of different hammers is quite silly.
As soon as Google gets some penalty from a government regarding their use of a dominant position as a search engine to mandate that the use of their services requires using their social network (Google+), then I'll entertain the idea that Microsoft could get penalized for this.
Until then, I'm pretty sure MS is safe from the governments.
Grammer Nazis - I mod you "troll" unless you actually add something on-topic. Yes, I know I have mispellings in my sig.
You didn't even specify what exactly that job is. But yeah, i get it, you're computer illiterate.
CLI paste? paste.pr0.tips!
We were talking about windows and its licensing and benefits of cracking its DRM. You barged in looking like an idiot and talked about using free software - when windows is all pay to get a license. In other words, you went wildly off topic.
Then you started throwing rocks around claiming those suggesting that talking about windows in a thread about windows is apparently a sign of computer illiteracy.
Well done.
5 posts ago i explicitly claimed not to be able to give you any practical advice on the matter.
You went on, anyway, and now you're flaming me for having replied in a similar way. that's hilarious.
And FWIW, your computer illiteracy didn't show until went on gibbering about how free software, apparently in general, isn't fit for an unspecified job.
CLI paste? paste.pr0.tips!
Please sit down for the next piece of information will shock you to the core:
You are not the only person answering questions on slashdot.
Please piece down for the next sit of information will core you to the shock:
You already asked the question, retard.
If someone feels like answering it, there's GGGGGGGGGGP to reply to.
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