Imagine what would happen if they all joined forces. Thin (less powerful than rpi) Macbook running Windows with Google ads in the OS!

Yeah the worst of all three worlds.

I'm convinced that Microsoft will soon offer a "free" version of Windows 10, supported by explicit tracking, advertising, and promotions (q.v., Candy Crush). I think it will be quite successful.

actually you can use windows 10 indefinitely for free. It has a little watermark but otherwise few restrictions

there's not even a watermark for me. i downloaded from here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10I...

i skipped the part during installation where it says to enter a key. after install, it says windows is activated, no watermark, no countdown. i don't use it, though. i just don't trust free shit anymore.

Did you install Win10 previously on the machine? It recognizes the license from the hardware ID it generates.

Yeah, it'd be interesting to get a definitive answer here...

oh, uh, maybe. i bought the system off craigslist a few years back.

So, like the one there is already that you have to pay for?

But it would be free (or very cheap)!

At the cost of everything.

"free"

You dropped the /s.

It's a bit late.

Apple build advanced products with vertical integration (taking risks, but with a high profit margin). Microsoft sells "cheap" software (historically using nasty commercial tactics). Google is an AI company. By luck, trying to give meaning to web pages and search requests brings a lot of money from ads. Google tries to get knowledge about every aspects of our lives (mail, contact, documents, travel, interests) in order to build smarter IA (like Alphago). The main risk of Google is to be broken in pieces for monopoly. Google is implied in politic to protect itself and gain military contracts. IMHO, the future of Google is about building skynet (and terminator). Earning money is a side effect.