You'll find a free Windows 8 CD in the next packet of your favourite breakfast cereal, also available on USB sticks in Christmas crackers from 1st of December, 2014.

I wonder if they will also give help and support for users without any fee or only the free version of software?

Microsoft doesn't give support for its millions of non-corporate users now! :D

However, this approach, in the very unlikely event that it is actually true, is business-hopeless for Microsoft. And here is why ...

Millions of government users would stop renewing their licenses for Windows and would adopt the free version, not because they wanted to, but because they would find themselves required by law(!) to do so. It's a fundamental principle with many governments around the world that "public money may not be spent to acquire a product when that same product can be obtained for free."

(Notice the distinction here: I said, "that same product," not "a product which is said to do the same thing.")

So, Microsoft would either find itself losing billions of dollars in gross-revenue, or it would have to "hobble the horse," which would no doubt quickly lead to still more "I'm a Mac / I'm a PC" commercials and Saturday Night Live skits.

And anyway ... Microsoft Windows is, uhhhh, "not that expensive, anyway." As a matter of fact, it's a helluva system :eek: if it is properly configured, if its ample security features are actually turned on (gasp!), and so on. I'm perfectly willing to pay for that ... and I did and have done so for many years. (Yeah, I got more than one machine around here ...) So did lots and lots and lots of other people.

Why don't they just work on seriously improving the user-experience for the millions of users that they already have, and do so by listening to those users instead of their Marketing Department? Where, for instance, is an equivalent of Mac's Time Machine? The list just goes on and on and on. If MS will just listen, their customers will tell them in no uncertain terms what they need, and then all MS has to do is to build it and sell it to them. Profitably.

Where and how did one of the premiere (and foundational) software companies in this business ... so utterly and completely lose its way? :confused: Their boat is not in any danger of sinking, but it sure-as-hell ain't "shipshape!"

I'm sure if/when they relased the free version, it would have the stipulation that it was for end users only. Could not be used in a business environment as part of the EULA.

the only reason why I still use windows is because I still game and most of the games I play are not supported like crysis3 metro last light.
the new windows 8 and 8.1 make it very hard for you to not have a ms account which means that when you are using windows everything that you do can be watched I teted both win8 and 8.1 and although they were a little bit faster then windows 7 they take allot of getting used to it is hard to control most things.

I'm pretty sure it's to get folks dependent then the charges will start i.e. Microsoft app store..

Mr. Gates is a lot of things stupid is not one of them.

In cases like this, they can say what they want, and it won't do any good.

Even so, when a product that has been a flagship of a company since (almost) its inception, suddenly becomes something that is given away for free, with no opportunity whatsoever for the company to recoup any revenue, then there is simply no way to cast such a preposterous business proposition in a favorable light.

OS/X isn't free: you have to buy a Mac to get it. Ditto Android: you have to buy a phone. Both of these are indirect, not direct, revenue captures. Linux predominantly serves specialty markets, servers, etc, and in many cases is licensed for an ongoing support fee (e.g. Red Hat). And now, suddenly, Microsoft is giving away one of its crown-jewels with no indirect revenue-capture? A thing which heretofore has brought in millions of dollars a month in license fees (indirectly captured from hardware sales), and some harebrained fool in Redmond wants to turn that off?!

Metro: LL has a Linux version that is working fine on my machine even with the free radeon driver. Crytek is hiring Linux developers, so we will very likely see a Linux version of that engine. With Steam for Linux, SteamOS and a whole bunch of indie-developers releasing on Linux the situation for gamers has drastically changed. I still have Windows (7, don't want 8/8.1) for some games, but I will not change back to use it as my main OS and for some of my projects it is just impossible to use Windows anyways.

There are levels of survival they are prepared to accept.

And, why game on a PC, bahhh? I'd rather put a PC in my gamebox thanks to Linux.

Possibly because "modern" consoles are nothing more than cheaply produced middle class PCs that are outclassed bygaming PCs today already, not to mention how that will be 2 years from now. Or maybe because PC games usually are cheaper. Or maybe because I am not limited to one type of game controller. Maybe just because modding is easier. Or because backwards compatibility exists (I can get a new PC and play my old games without having to have two different machines). Or, or, or, ... .
Nowadays I see no good reason to not game on a PC, except possibly for mobile gaming.

It won't make up for the years I spent on it.

This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, microsoft ALWAYS copy what others do. It's like, if you can't beat them join them.

Like most of you, I wouldn't touch the windows OS even if it's free or almost free. Why? Because it is still windows...

IF This Is True ?
this is a day I saw coming 10 years ago
the NSA backdoors crap pretty much doomed windoze on government computers world wide the list of governments dropping windoze grows every day

IF This Is True ?
of course M$ would give windoze away there real goose laying golden eggs is there suite of applications

it would make sense to give away windoze if nothing other than to keep a market open for there applications

It's like a tyre manfacturer telling you to buy a new car to fit their tyres.

For some reason that made me think of the Simpsons Springfield tire fire, m$ seems more in line with petrol and coal th:D?