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Windows 10 upgrades in China will be free even for people running pirated copies of Windows? What about pirates in other parts of the world? Are they going to get it for free too?
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Microsoft Tackles China Piracy With Free Upgrade to Windows 10
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heatlesssun
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The adoption of rate of Windows 10 is now virtually assured of being very high at least on the consumer side.
defaultluser
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Yup, this is the first right move I've seen from Microsoft since the release of Windows 7.
Remember when Windows was the OS people used at home because they used it at work? Well, Microsoft is gunning for having that sort of market penetration once more, even if it's the reverse mechanism form a couple decades ago
It's the right way to go about things, now that consumers no-longer place value in the OS alone.
Remember when Windows was the OS people used at home because they used it at work? Well, Microsoft is gunning for having that sort of market penetration once more, even if it's the reverse mechanism form a couple decades ago
It's the right way to go about things, now that consumers no-longer place value in the OS alone.
Maybe they're working their way into an ad supported version of the OS? Free, if you accept that we'll inject banners on things like the start menu.
There's got to be an endgame to generate revenue. Because you don't tackle piracy by just giving the program away. What's the point of that? Otherwise, just let them pirate and forget about them as a viable market.
This article is getting mentioned all over the universe and there are people who are reading this as not only China but beyond, ie. here in the US. The article clearly focuses on China and makes zero specific mention of this being offered outside of that country.
Ashbringer
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They really should just give away Windows 10. Would they make more money? No they would not. But Linux is a growing presence and while I will agree that Linux isn't ready for the desktop, it won't be long before it is.
Google and Apple don't care about charging for their Android or iOS OS's, just because they're happy to have that kind of control over their customers. Windows still has control but not if they keep this up. Why Linux?
Google and Apple don't care about charging for their Android or iOS OS's, just because they're happy to have that kind of control over their customers. Windows still has control but not if they keep this up. Why Linux?
It's not free forever, according to Mashable.
But the actual Microsoft Blog doesn't state that 1 year limitation. It just says Win10 is free if you upgrade during the first year of the launch.
So which is it? Is it free forever, or will there be a built-in activation mechanism that will force you to buy it after you've used it for a year?
But the actual Microsoft Blog doesn't state that 1 year limitation. It just says Win10 is free if you upgrade during the first year of the launch.
So which is it? Is it free forever, or will there be a built-in activation mechanism that will force you to buy it after you've used it for a year?
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Zarathustra[H]
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That sounds likely.
They also probably have statistics to show that people who get used to using licensed Windows operating systems wind up liking the experience more than those who constantly have to hack it.
Give out a free upgrade to Windows 10, and people will get used to it and ditch XP. When 10 comes to end of life, maybe they will be more likely to go for the next iteration (11?) than pirate.
Who knows.
One thing is for sure. Bringing machines running cracked and unpatched obsolete XP into a patched current OS probably will have a positive impact on botnet and malware rates.
Zarathustra[H]
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Microsoft Disagrees
Microsoft Webpage said:
So while details are light, it looks like they are shifting their model to a per device model, rather than a per windows version model.
Pay for a license once, and you get free upgrades to the latest version of Windows for the life of the device.
The question is how this will work for us home builders.
What defines the life of a device for us, when we upgrade incrementally. Heck, I still have some parts in my current rig that have survived for 10 years through countless upgrades.
They could either go super restrictive on this (which would suck big time) forcing us to re-license every time we upgrade, or they could go light and not enforce upgrades much at all.
My best guess would be something in-between, like identifying the CPU+Mobo and when neither no longer match what was originally installed, requiring a new license.
Time will tell.
This could be great, or horrible.
Zarathustra[H]
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Zarathustra[H];1041492987 said:
Truth is, home builders might be a small enough market that we - like Lando Calrissian - fly under the radar.
They'll never prop up their failing mobile efforts through desktop users. Didn't work in Windows 8, spectacularly so, and won't work in 10.
shspvr
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By it not just for China it everyone as in Worldwide
To me this just must stupide thing, Why not just give every one a full/upgrade copy and been done with it after all if going to make it free why go all out and not half @$$ about it, I'm petty sure this not going stop the pirate camp.
1: By the way did one even ask if upgrades can be use as to fully wipe format the hard drive install and still qualifying when booting off dvd disc.
2: I see this as problem what happing if we lose our harddrive or motherboard after the one year will the assign key code still work if not DON'T WASTE our time as I sure it will be a @#$% nightmare for some people.
I still think MS better is just off just selling a low cost full ver copy at around $20/30 for life of the OS support in tell the next major ver comes a long and been done with it that can be install on any system.
To me this just must stupide thing, Why not just give every one a full/upgrade copy and been done with it after all if going to make it free why go all out and not half @$$ about it, I'm petty sure this not going stop the pirate camp.
1: By the way did one even ask if upgrades can be use as to fully wipe format the hard drive install and still qualifying when booting off dvd disc.
2: I see this as problem what happing if we lose our harddrive or motherboard after the one year will the assign key code still work if not DON'T WASTE our time as I sure it will be a @#$% nightmare for some people.
I still think MS better is just off just selling a low cost full ver copy at around $20/30 for life of the OS support in tell the next major ver comes a long and been done with it that can be install on any system.
mynamehere
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And here I just bit the bullet and sprang for 8.1 for my new build. So now I find out that all I had to do to get a legit copy of W10 was to pirate a current version? Oh wait...I'm in the wrong country.
Hornet
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At this rate, Microsoft might as well just make Windows 10 free
Honestly, I hope this rolls out to more countries, especially those with high piracy rates.
I live in Mexico. People buy and sell pirated software -everywhere- here. (Piracy is kind of ingrained into our culture... long story.) Point is a lot of small to medium-sized computer shops sell computers with pirated OSes, so offering these users a chance to go legit would be a good thing.
But I honestly don't think they'll do that here, Microsoft doesn't make that much money out of their current products other than whatever is installed in legitimate OEM PCs.
I live in Mexico. People buy and sell pirated software -everywhere- here. (Piracy is kind of ingrained into our culture... long story.) Point is a lot of small to medium-sized computer shops sell computers with pirated OSes, so offering these users a chance to go legit would be a good thing.
But I honestly don't think they'll do that here, Microsoft doesn't make that much money out of their current products other than whatever is installed in legitimate OEM PCs.
Wierdo
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heatlesssun
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This statement has been made for nearly 2 decades now. It all boils down to 3rd party support and by that I mean laptops, desktops, tablets and other devices coming with Linux preinstalled. Not just a few models, but hundreds. And Linux doesn't mean Android in this case.
So maybe they should have just said "Windows 10 will be a free OS" and saved everyone the song and dance about it being free for Windows 7 and 8 users. I understand they're trying do their best marketing spin to mitigate devaluing the brand further, but I wouldn't be surprised if between now and launch they just say you don't need a preexisting installation of Windows.
heatlesssun
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So in other words XP users. Free upgrades to those users would be more problematic in that they are running older hardware.
Zion Halcyon
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I think this is a brilliant idea for MS.
People thinking the OS is going to support free with Ads are not thinking clearly enough.
MS has learned a lesson from Google and is willing to take the loss on the OS in favor of having 10 in the hands of more people.
If you can saturate the market with 10, more people will be willing to develop for it, thus creating a boost to the Windows store, and THAT is where MS will make their money, just as Google saturated the market with droid, and then made their $$$ in the Google Play store.
Whether it works, who knows, but that they are literally giving away a brand new OS is going to get a ton of people to jump in, and where the masses go, there will be those who want to develop for them.
A bold and inspired move, even if they are copying the concept from Google.
People thinking the OS is going to support free with Ads are not thinking clearly enough.
MS has learned a lesson from Google and is willing to take the loss on the OS in favor of having 10 in the hands of more people.
If you can saturate the market with 10, more people will be willing to develop for it, thus creating a boost to the Windows store, and THAT is where MS will make their money, just as Google saturated the market with droid, and then made their $$$ in the Google Play store.
Whether it works, who knows, but that they are literally giving away a brand new OS is going to get a ton of people to jump in, and where the masses go, there will be those who want to develop for them.
A bold and inspired move, even if they are copying the concept from Google.
Wierdo
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That's easily mitigated by having the minimum/recommended requirements listed/provided in advance, then MS can basically wash their hands from responsibility of user error of this sort.
Well, color me surprised.
I just bought a friend some used copies of XP and 7 so he could upgrade legally. And now we don't even have to use 'em, we can just grab a cracked Windows 7 and go from that? Jeez.
Now, the question is - what kind of limitations will these "upgraded from pirated version" OS installs will have? Because I somehow doubt Microsoft will want to give pirates a free version of their Pro / Ultimate (or equivalent) versions of 10.
I just bought a friend some used copies of XP and 7 so he could upgrade legally. And now we don't even have to use 'em, we can just grab a cracked Windows 7 and go from that? Jeez.
Now, the question is - what kind of limitations will these "upgraded from pirated version" OS installs will have? Because I somehow doubt Microsoft will want to give pirates a free version of their Pro / Ultimate (or equivalent) versions of 10.
IMO this is a smart move to get all the customers they can and then to start switching Windows "upgrades" into a subscription service.
Where the subscriptions will be so much a month or so, and whikle they might not be AS much as a normal windows upgrade they will add up int he iend to be even more.
Where the subscriptions will be so much a month or so, and whikle they might not be AS much as a normal windows upgrade they will add up int he iend to be even more.
i have been hearing about linux not being ready for the desktop for the past 12 years now. when do you think its going to be ready?
Its ready as long as nothing breaks or you don't need to play games on it. And if the printer works and your OK with Libre Office and a generic music player, chat, etc...and if you can get flash to work properly in the web browser, etc...
The problem in that assumption is desktop users still aren't going to care about Metro apps just because Windows 8 SP2 has been renamed Windows 10 and they shrunk the size of the start screen to the dimensions of a start menu.
Even though Windows 8 was considered a "failure", that's mostly just relative to Windows 7, and its inability to get more Windows 7 users to migrate. There were still "more than 200 million Windows 8 licenses" installed or sold, at least according to Microsoft. So if the windows store couldn't get a decent app nor developer interest to save its life when hundreds of millions were exposed to it, I'm not sure what's that different in 10 that is going to make a difference. Even if let's say 800 million install Windows 10, Metro and universal apps remain a dud with no place on the desktop. And if there's a killer app to drive interest to the store then Microsoft is going to have to lead by example, it will have to come from them.
I'd suggest we wait to see the EULA before shooting our guns in the air about all the "Free Windows!" noise. I have a feeling there are surprises and gotchas in store, like being forced into their online and cloud crap at a minimum. The devil, as always, is in the details.
Zion Halcyon
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The thing is, Windows Store is still in its infancy essentially. In order to get developers to make a "killer app" it needs enough market saturation.
Add to that the portability they are making where a developer can make something for Win 10 on a phone, and it can be straight ported to the desktop, and there are a number of possibilities.
I think I've seen enough prejudices here on Win 10 to believe that there are people here who don't know what they are taking about because their hatred clouds their judgement.
Things like saying "Windows 8 SP2 has been renamed Windows 10 and they shrunk the size of the start screen to the dimensions of a start menu.", and in another post, insinuating Spartan is just IE with legacy ripped out, fly in the face of things we already know about Win 10, Spartan, etc and just reek of ignorant prattle.
That aside, just because there are people who hate MS doesn't mean Win 10 will succeed to spite them - its going to succeed or fail on its own merits, to an audience broader than self-congratulatory, self-loathing tech-heads that populate sites like this.
At the very least, they have a very solid idea going in, one in which can attract developers to make those "killer apps" if enough people are on that platform.
As I suspected this "Free Windows 10 for Pirates" turned out to be bullshit, as today Microsoft is saying the opposite. Which is why I also urge people to wait for the EULA of Win10 before making assumptions about that being a "Free upgrade with no strings attached" as many as blindly assuming.
http://www.neowin.net/news/upgrading-to-windows-10-on-pirated-versions-wont-get-you-a-valid-license
Zarathustra[H]
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Desktop Linux is caught in a catch 22 IMHO.
As it stands, desktop Linux is easier to install than Windows, has more built in driver support and tons of free software, all which are positives.
From an average user perspective the point and click interface is just as easy to use as Windows as well.
I built a rig for my 7 year old stepson from spare parts this past Christmas, and I didn't have a spare Windows license, so I just put Linux Mint on it, and he uses it easily to run the NES emulator, Steam games, Minecraft and Web browser (mostly for youtube and minecraft videos) I installed for him.
So IMHO, from the ease of use and hardware compatibility perspective Linux on the Desktop is ready today. It has been for a few years now.
What it lacks is universal software support. Sure there are free workalikes for just about everything, but workalikes don't always cut it. (as anyone used to using Photoshop if they'd be OK using Gimp, for instance, not to mention the compatibility issues when sharing documents between MS Office and Libre office)
The catch 22 is this. People will be unwilling to adopt desktop Linux until more of the every day licensed software is available for it.
The likes of Adobe and other software makers will be unwilling to release versions for Linux until there is a userbase for it.
There you have it. catch 22.
As time goes on, I'm hoping that Steam for Linux, and Steamboxes will help create more of a userbase on desktop Linux, which will entice major software makers to get on board, thus drawing in more users, but I have no idea if this will happen.
The entrenched interests are against this, so if it does, it will be an uphill battle.
Zarathustra[H]
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Of course, the devils in the details, and I will await those details before making a decision for me and my machines.
That being said, as mentioned on the previous page, this is what Microsoft has to say about this on their website:
Microsoft Website said:
This appears to confirm that it is indeed a free upgrade, and not one that just ends after a year.
It also suggests, (but not in enough detail to confirm) that windows licenses going forward will be eternal, entitling license holders to a continued license to all future versions and updates, as long as they are on the same device/machine.
It appears to suggest that they will not be transferrable to new machines as in the past, much like OEM licenses.
Of course, again, it is way too light on details to be considered a confirmation of this - however.
If true, the key here will be how they define when a machine ceases to be the machine it was installed on, and instead is a new machine, in a desktop environment with frequent upgrades.
heatlesssun
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Zarathustra[H];1041494693 said:
The bulk of PC users will never install an OS. Not that many even upgrade though part of the reason for making Windows upgrades free is to increase this.
Sure you can do a lot with Linux on the desktop but without large scale and deep 3rd party support particularly with installation on retail hardware, Linux will remain pretty much a hobbyists OS that average people may get in the situation like your stepson.