Windows 8 has gone over about as well as a fart in a burning church, and yet a lot of us folks not brave enough to make the leap to Apple have just had to accept that we’re stuck with it. In the past, when Microsoft released a new version of Windows, there wasn’t really a cheap, easy way to upgrade – you pretty much had to make peace with whatever version your computer came with. Well, that ends with Windows 10.
Microsoft is holding a big preview event today, and one of the first big announcements was that Windows 10 will be free to anybody currently using Windows 7 or 8.1 for one year after the new operating system’s release. Terry Myerson, Microsoft vice president of Operating Systems, had this to say about the move…
“With Windows 10, we think of Windows as a service. The question ‘what version are you running’ will cease to make sense. Once a device is upgraded to Windows 10, we’ll be keeping it current for the supported lifetime of the device.”
It’s a bold move by Microsoft, but it’s one that makes sense. Sure, they’re leaving a lot of money on the table, but they’ll also be creating a huge, instant user base, which will help Microsoft ward off challengers like Apple. Of course, it’s only a great plan if Windows 10 is actually, y’know, good – hopefully it is, because I am itching to slam dunk Windows 8 into a trash can.
Via Ars Technica