Slashdot Mirror
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.
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/
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"
I don't think they're dicks are that big.
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
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.
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.
Guess I will have to hire someone else then.
It is not like there are free VM's to use nor are there free virtualizers available.
To say no to the world's most popular browser and letting your customers give a leg up to the competition whose site works just fine for their customers is inexcusably. It is not like IE 9+ is not standards compliant or anything.
I see many who claim NO IE EVER!!! .. also make websites that only work with -webkit CSS extensions and viewed best with Chrome, yet bash IE 6?!
http://saveie6.com/
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
Time to start making money on things other than Windows and Office.
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.
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
Add wine and, where stable, ReactOS to the above list.
Where a customer reported an obscure bug that only manifested itself on a certain version of Windows, wine saved me a couple of times when writing Java client applications (Swing). Java widgets are emulated but they do pick up theming from whatever underlying Win32 platform is running.
Anyway, I hope that you do sanity test against other free-as-in-beer browsers such as Chrome to flush out any Firefox specificity.
Its actually better than that as they will NOT be losing the largest chunk of the Windows licensing fees -- OEMs will still be paying to put pre-installed versions on every PC you buy whether you want it or not.
All this will affect is retail sales of boxed/digital copies and given how much love people have for Win8, I don't imagine that they're selling a huge number of copies through that channel anyway.
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!
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.
You guys and all your posturing had better be careful. Win 8.1 isn't anywhere near as bad as you make out. You'll blow your credo with regular folks who, you know, actually try it and find 8.1 to be ok.
It's cool to carry on here at Slashdot I suppose.
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.
One thing i actually liked about windows was that i am the customer and not the product.
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.
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 won't use it even if they pay me to use it hahaha
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).
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.