I thought Microsoft had claimed that there will be no more versions of Windows, only updates to 10.
I assume either that assumption is false, and this is just another bait and switch from Microsoft, and they will make customers pay for "big updates" for Windows 10 in the future - or they will try to at least transition businesses to a subscription for Windows.
They're already seeding the idea that Windows 10 updates will not be free forever to unsuspecting tech writers by getting them to push headlines such as "Next Major Update Of Windows 10 Will Arrive In Month X, For Free"
First off, everyone already assumes that Windows 10 updates would be free, since Windows "updates" have always been free - so why even bother to put such a "useless" fact in a word-constraint headline? The only explanation is that they're trying to prepare the public for when Windows 10 updates will not be free, and make them think "Oh, so the version after that may not be free anymore?!" and set that expectation.
Microsoft has stated pretty openly the obvious truth from OS surveys and telemetrics that statistically "no one" ever has paid for Windows upgrades. By far, statistically, consumers bought a PC and used whichever version of Windows came with that PC for the lifetime of that PC.
In Enterprise where the cost model already including support and servicing and Windows upgrades, there was plenty of feet dragging and Enterprises have statistically paid extra to not upgrade Windows and/or paid for upgrades that they've never installed.
Microsoft seems trying to "right size" the Windows pricing model by taking into account the reality that consumers were already expecting to pay for Windows only once in the lifetime of a device and that Enterprises "like" to pay more to not upgrade.
Sell a license for Windows that is device specific.
When you buy a new/replacement device you 'need' to buy Windows over again. Upgrading that CPU/mobo? Time for a new copy of Windows too.
[1] http://www.infoworld.com/article/3101947/microsoft-windows/m...
[2] http://www.ghacks.net/2016/07/28/microsoft-removes-policies-...
I must say I don't understand the reasoning behind Microsoft not providing a Pro or Enterprise Windows version that doesn't use the existing users as tester for UI experiments or how much sensitive information they're willing to share on a desktop machine intended for very likely private work (authoring text, media, code, etc.).
They're making the same mistake as GNOME and KDE are, with trying to shoehorn Tablet feature onto the desktop, while pretending the keyboard and mouse are less relevant now.
I admit that there are those who are not power users and run Windows, but those that aren't are most likely better served with a lower maintenance solution like a Tablet with a bluetooth keyboard for writing sessions, and there the privacy invasion is already accepted by using a mobile OS.
PC Gamers and creators are the power users who use Windows for various applications, and Microsoft is making life very hard for them by bundling the improvements in the subsystems with the mobile OS experience on top without offering the new kernel features and such with the old user experience and trustworthy environment.
If you think about it, using a desktop environment that leaks like that for sensitive works doesn't make sense. Someone writing a book or movie script or working on an unpublished program doesn't want even only metadata about it to leak into cacheandclipboard.mscloud.azure.com.
This is all very weird and self-destructive and provides fodder for those who would like to believe Microsoft, Google, Apple are adding these features on request by monitor+control agencies.