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Thread: The Dark Side of Windows 10?

  1. #1

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    The Dark Side of Windows 10?

    Running Windows 10? Here's how Microsoft plans to milk more profits out of its cash cow

    PC sales are down. Windows licensing revenue is flat. In its financial disclosures, Microsoft says it's actively looking for new monetization opportunities. Here's where you're likely to be asked to pay up.

    There is a lot I don't like about Windows 10. It requires more hardware than needed for things most people want to do, it rearranges the UI deckchairs far more than is necessary (though I think Windows 7 was guilty of the same thing). It includes a ton of crap most people either do not want or simply do not need.

    But at the same time it is really the only game in town anymore. It is the only way you get a supported Windows OS, security fixes and features good enough to begin to keep up with the miscreants, and the only way you get any of the useful new features.


    After reading that article and its lists of potential future monetization exploits I think the good news is that there aren't any serious showstoppers there that I can see. I still plan to keep using Windows 10 on everything but servers, and there I'll be glad to upgrade where Microsoft offers an upgrade.

    I dislike some of these possibilities, some more than others. But it doesn't "smell" as bad to me as one might be concerned about. These plans are good to be informed about, little to get too alarmed about. Perhaps somebody else has some links with more information?
    Last edited by dilettante; Feb 23rd, 2018 at 09:40 PM.

  2. #2
    Super Moderator Shaggy Hiker's Avatar
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    Re: The Dark Side of Windows 10?

    All speculation, so I'm going to add a bit more speculation.

    I've long thought that the softening in PC sales may not have to do with people switching platforms as much as people not replacing systems. For my part, I used to always want the new thing, but for over a decade now, advances in PC performance has been insignificant for my needs. There are still advances in video systems, but the PC hasn't really shifted all that much, and you don't need a new OS when you upgrade your video card. This last year, I built my first new computer in many years, and that was to move to 64-bit and an SSD drive. It used to be that every couple years things would have moved enough that you wanted a new system. Now, it barely matters as long as nothing breaks, and even if it does, backups aren't too expensive.

    So, for a company like MS, they still have maintenance costs on Win10, but for a consumer like me, who does use their OS, they won't be getting any more money until I decide to build a new computer. Averaged out over a population, it seems like they should be getting less revenue, yet their maintenance costs will be rising. I would expect that bean counters would find those trends to be distressing, so I'm not surprised to hear that they are looking for ways to monetize a stagnating OS position. The article also talked about Office 365, which already has a subscription model. Of course, people could just go to Libre Office for home use (and Open Office is back from the dead, too, last time I checked), but I doubt many larger businesses will do that.

    I don't object to MS thinking about how to get revenue when people are down to buying once a decade. I'll just wait and see how they go about it.
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  3. #3
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    Re: The Dark Side of Windows 10?

    Yeah, this all seemed like "help suckers part with their money" kinds of things. It actually kind of works. I know people who religiously play random F2P games that came pre-installed on their new computers.

    On the enterprise end, it's just going to be more mild annoyances for the people who have to set up new machines.

    I think this article is super speculative though, it doesn't seem like there's much concrete to go on.
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    Re: The Dark Side of Windows 10?

    Quote Originally Posted by Shaggy Hiker View Post
    All speculation, so I'm going to add a bit more speculation.

    I've long thought that the softening in PC sales may not have to do with people switching platforms as much as people not replacing systems. For my part, I used to always want the new thing, but for over a decade now, advances in PC performance has been insignificant for my needs. There are still advances in video systems, but the PC hasn't really shifted all that much, and you don't need a new OS when you upgrade your video card. This last year, I built my first new computer in many years, and that was to move to 64-bit and an SSD drive. It used to be that every couple years things would have moved enough that you wanted a new system. Now, it barely matters as long as nothing breaks, and even if it does, backups aren't too expensive.
    I couldn't have said it better. For many years I used to do a cycle of upgrade/~2 years, brand new PC/~4 years and at least it seemed to make a difference on perceived performance. A couple of days ago I built a new PC after 7 or so years and in all honesty I can't sense that old feeling of "increased responsiveness". It was also the first time I've had so many parts degrade from overuse (motherboard caps gone bad, PSU voltage tolerances out of spec, coolers grinding). Therefore it seems there aren't any good reasons for frequent PC shopping anymore.
    I think it's evident that Microsoft is pushing to create services around the OS rather than focusing on being an OS company mainly. Even the surface line seems to exist for the sole purpose of creating a new "iNeed" rather than selling the actual hardware.

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