Re:Windows 10 free for all Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 users f...
by ivraatiems on Wednesday January 21, 2015 @01:06PM
(#8924441)
It's good that there's little indication here that Windows is switching to a paid subscription model for home users.
What's not good is that the rest of the subscription rhetoric is still there. I already let Microsoft screw with my system through Windows Update, because it's necessary; a lot of the other behaviors of other subscription systems (creative cloud is a big example) are things I cannot tolerate in an OS. Stuff like shutting off after X days without Internet access, pushing big changes without warning that I didn't ask for, and so on.
To be fair, Microsoft is doubtlessly aware that those kinds of things would be a problem. But even if they get around that, the subscription model crystallizes the developer's leash on proprietary software users in a way that I find difficult. Even if there was no practical difference between Windows 7 and Windows 10 as a result of a subscription-esque model (for home users), I would be uncomfortable with switching.
What's not good is that the rest of the subscription rhetoric is still there. I already let Microsoft screw with my system through Windows Update, because it's necessary; a lot of the other behaviors of other subscription systems (creative cloud is a big example) are things I cannot tolerate in an OS. Stuff like shutting off after X days without Internet access, pushing big changes without warning that I didn't ask for, and so on.
To be fair, Microsoft is doubtlessly aware that those kinds of things would be a problem. But even if they get around that, the subscription model crystallizes the developer's leash on proprietary software users in a way that I find difficult. Even if there was no practical difference between Windows 7 and Windows 10 as a result of a subscription-esque model (for home users), I would be uncomfortable with switching.