Mystery File In Preview Hints At Windows 10 Subscriptions?

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What would you do if you found out Microsoft was moving Windows to some sort of paid subscription service? Would you shell out monthly / yearly to use Windows? Stick to the tried and true "pay once and done" method or are you done paying for operating systems altogether?

With the official launch of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update less than a month away, recent preview builds have been downright boring, with no new features to write about. But hold on a minute. What's this Windows Upgrade to Subscription tool? The presence of that file is certain to ignite speculation among conspiracy theorists who were convinced in the run-up to the initial release of Windows 10 that the year-long free upgrade offer would turn into some sort of paid subscription.
 
Pretty much most services I pay for these days are subscription so no real pain for me.

No need for rage quits here. However, it would be best as an option and not for everyone.
 
Now you pretty much want Gaben to port all those Steam games to Linux. Get Adobe on the phone!

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I'm not going to subscribe to windows.

I can use linux for most things anyways.
 
Consistent with what they are doing with their other software titles. And hinted at during some of the promos for Win 10 where Microsoft stated that Win 10 would be the last version of Windows. Since I don't think Microsoft is planning on exiting the OS business, that leaves a subscription model as the way forward. Besides, it will improve their legal standing for imposing ever more intrusive TOS and EULA. Don't agree to them, license revoked, computer shuts down, end user legal recourse - none. They can't really do that if the end user has a forever license.

The era of buy and own seems to be ending.
 
If they want a subscription for stuff like telephone support, ultimate!!! features and some other weirdness, fine. But the base install should be left to one and done.
 
They're going to have a legal problem if they try to force a subscription model onto people who gave up their digital rights to their Windows 7 and 8 installs for the "free" upgrade, especially with the way they tried to force the upgrades in such underhanded manners as the one they just were sued for and lost.


If it's limited to stuff that is additional features or apps, then that would be acceptable to a point. It would be like when they offerred Microsoft Plus for Windows 98 and such except as a subscription.
 
There's a reason I didn't buy the kids an Xbox and the direction Micro$oft was taking in their subscription model was a large part of it. How they deny games featured connectivity if you don't purchase a certain level membership that use to, and should, be free is ridiculous! Hell, I have friends that didn't buy for the same reasons and they've been bucking the trend of purchasing games that require Plus memberships on the PS4 for the same reason. We're slowly being turned into a buy-in society and there's no reason for it other than greed! People can stop it by not allowing it!
 
Called it... windows 365 everyone gets a basic windows free or with pickup of sub then for Lego bits of the os subscription model is used...

Bit locker 1.99/mo
Windows Media suite 4.99/mo
Windows 365 ultimate 15/mo
 
Then windows 10 will be the last windows i install willingly. Nope to any subscription model service BS.
 
I would love to move to Linux full time, but as a gamer that really isn't an option. And unless Valve really starts handing out major money to devs for proper Linux support (poor emulation isn't Linux support) that situation isn't going to change. So while I wouldn't like it, I would pay or have to quit gaming.
 
Hypergreatthing said:
Then windows 10 will be the last windows i install willingly. Nope to any subscription model service BS.
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They have to know this shit wont fly. Do they really need to see it in practice failing can't they do a survey or focus group.
 
Koolthulu said:
I would love to move to Linux full time, but as a gamer that really isn't an option. And unless Valve really starts handing out major money to devs for proper Linux support (poor emulation isn't Linux support) that situation isn't going to change. So while I wouldn't like it, I would pay or have to quit gaming.
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I've been saying this for awhile, but if Microsoft really does go this direction then I could live with what we get on Linux. We already put up with too much shit in the Microsoft ecosystem. This would seriously be the last straw for me. Now if it was simply an option over a one-time license purchase, then I wouldn't mind.
 
i thought win10 was free?

that would be a bond villain level bait and switch.
 
For us at work (an academic institution) we have been on a subscription model for over a decade. I preferred it when it was al la carte at reduced prices since we don't upgrade office or operating systems that often.
 
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Armenius said:
I've been saying this for awhile, but if Microsoft really does go this direction then I could live with what we get on Linux. We already put up with too much shit in the Microsoft ecosystem. This would seriously be the last straw for me. Now if it was simply an option over a one-time license purchase, then I wouldn't mind.
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Office still has a one time option...
 
Nope. I will switch to linux or run Win 7 before I pay a subscription for an OS.
 
I'm trying to imagine how that would look in the retail PC space..

You buy a brand new PC with Windows 10 on it, and it gives you what? 1 year free OS subscription, then you have to pay extra after that?

PC Sales are suffering at the mainstream level enough as it is. Microsoft pulls this shit, and Apple will be sending them Thank you cards for the foreseeable future.

In our segment of the PC market, this is just the leverage Valve needs to entice developers to put more development into cross platform API's like Open GL/Vulkan, which is looking more and more attractive as time goes on.

I would LOVE to be able to go full Linux.
 
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Lunas said:
Office still has a one time option...
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Yup. They do everything they can to make it tough to find, but it does exist. If you have a .edu e-mail address (or know someone who does), it's available for something like $30. I bought it last year and have been happy with that price point. That's essentially what the Apple iOS office suite costs and it isn't as robust.
 
drescherjm said:
For us at work (an academic institution) we have been on a subscription model for over a decade. I preferred it when it was al la carte at reduced prices since we don't upgrade office or operating systems that often.
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What you have is Software Assurance. You pay and it guarantees you the next version "free".
 
I'm not going to rage or make silly threats of moving to linux over a random file found until MS actually announces something.

Would I do a sub service for windows? Probably not, but it depends on what it offers and how much it is. I would at the very least be open minded about it and see what it is before judging it. Again I'm used to paying for Pro every few years anyhow. So long as it is in line with cost and what I get out of that I would consider it. If it is Office 365, then they can take a flying leap.
 
If Windows goes to a subscription model, I'm done...and I never thought I'd say that, but this is really that awful of an idea.
 
You pay and it guarantees you the next version "free".
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Even if the new version is not desired.

I admit it is easier to manage licence counts this way though since every PC has a licence and we don't have to worry about how many office licences, how many Visual Studio licences, what PCs needed an OS licence because they had a home version of windows ...
 
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There are a lot of things in Wondows 10 related to subscriptions. This doesn't necessarily mean that Windows itself will become a subscription service.

They intentionally went after the Freemium model. The whole purpose of Windows 10 is to try to funnel users into using their integrated freemium services (music streaming, movies, Onedrive, Microsoft Store, and things in these have subscriptions.

I don't know what this particular file is for, but just because there is a filename with the word Subscription in it doesn't mean we all have to freak out. Heck, it could even be something new like Technet :p
 
Dekoth-E- said:
I'm not going to rage or make silly threats of moving to linux over a random file found until MS actually announces something.

Would I do a sub service for windows? Probably not, but it depends on what it offers and how much it is. I would at the very least be open minded about it and see what it is before judging it. Again I'm used to paying for Pro every few years anyhow. So long as it is in line with cost and what I get out of that I would consider it. If it is Office 365, then they can take a flying leap.
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Moving to Linux really isn't that silly. I use it for almost everything these days. The only thing that still has me dual booting back is games. Windows is still the better platform here, and it's not just about title availability. On the titles that exist on both platforms, across the board, mouse feel, render quality and performance are almost always better in Windows.

If gaming magically improved in Linux, or if I slowly stopped playing games (which, honestly might be a reality, it's getting longer and longer between my gaming sessions) I wouldn't even bother with Windows anymore. I use Windows so infrequently now, that I have a bunch of Windows updates every single time I boot it up.
 
I'm not paying a sub. fee for windows. I use Linux on my desktop most of the time. I boot windows to game and that's it. Heck I barely do that anymore. If they implement a fee for windows I just won't use it and I'll stop gaming and spend the money on other hobbies. Multiple things are vying for my dollars, and they need my money more than I need their service.
 
Please folks, do what you guys do not normally do and I understand, would be difficult bu, read the article first, ok?
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
There are a lot of things in Wondows 10 related to subscriptions. This doesn't necessarily mean that Windows itself will become a subscription service.

They intentionally went after the Freemium model. The whole purpose of Windows 10 is to try to funnel users into using their integrated freemium services (music streaming, movies, Onedrive, Microsoft Store, and things in these have subscriptions.

I don't know what this particular file is for, but just because there is a filename with the word Subscription in it doesn't mean we all have to freak out. Heck, it could even be something new like Technet :p
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There's never going to be a subscription model for using Windows as host client. There's simply no way that would work. As the article in the OP points out, things like Volume Licensing are already a subscription model. And yes, a big part of 10 is to offset the costs from the lost direct OS licensing revenue with other streams.
 
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