4 ms·

This is the ultimate dark pattern. Microsoft provides a bait-and-switch for a subscription product that provides an endless revenue stream (at a future cost TBD

This is the ultimate dark pattern. Microsoft provides a bait-and-switch for a subscription product that provides an endless revenue stream (at a future cost TBD), and then forces your upgrade. The best part is that you don't even know what price it's going to cost you in the future, but you can't (easily) go back to the product that you had.

dlp211 10y ago
> Microsoft provides a bait-and-switch for a subscription product that provides an endless revenue stream (at a future cost TBD) Disclaimer: MSFT employee, views expressed are my own, etc. This is absolutely the last thing that Microsoft wants. I don't know where you came up with this idea. Microsoft wants to ensure that once a user is using Windows 10, to never be on anything but the latest available bits, with the latest security patches. Creating a subscription model would fly directly in the face of that outcome.
- myrryr 10y ago
  Here is why the idea is coming up over and over again. http://betanews.com/2016/06/30/windows-10-subscriptions-anniversary-update/ http://betanews.com/2016/06/30/windows-10-subscriptions-anni... http://www.zdnet.com/article/mystery-file-in-preview-build-hints-at-windows-10-subscriptions/ http://www.zdnet.com/article/mystery-file-in-preview-build-h... They won't, but between their downright dicey ways they have tried to force people to upgrade, along with removing the ability to turn off Cortana / Windows Store, ads being pushed in and the 'pay to remove ads from solitaire' thing. People will not have a hard time believing they would do that as well. We have seen microsoft go through some pretty dark times (Halloween papers etc), and it looks like they are starting down that path again with a vengeance. If they only cared about having people apply security patches, they would make sure they ONLY push security patches through their security channel, a practice which they have abandoned.... again.
- ocdtrekkie 10y ago
  A lot of people associate "service" with something they have to pay monthly for. "Windows as a service", to many people, means Windows subscriptions. Similarly, "free" upgrades in this day and age, generally aren't, and come with costs in the way of privacy and advertising. Microsoft did a poor job judging how their marketing would be interpreted, as well as made the FATAL mistake of implementing a ton of data collection nobody wanted which reinforced that idea. The clickbait titles by BetaNews and such haven't helped either. I like Windows 10 personally, but Microsoft has a HUGE marketing problem right now, and your PR guys aren't addressing it. The mildly useful data you collect isn't worth the huge reputation cost you guys are getting for collecting it. Sure, it lets you say how many billion hours users have spent on Edge in press releases, but is it really all that valuable?

dlp211 10y ago

> Microsoft provides a bait-and-switch for a subscription product that provides an endless revenue stream (at a future cost TBD) Disclaimer: MSFT employee, views expressed are my own, etc. This is absolutely the last thing that Microsoft wants. I don't know where you came up with this idea. Microsoft wants to ensure that once a user is using Windows 10, to never be on anything but the latest available bits, with the latest security patches. Creating a subscription model would fly directly in the face of that outcome.

myrryr 10y ago
Here is why the idea is coming up over and over again. http://betanews.com/2016/06/30/windows-10-subscriptions-anniversary-update/ http://betanews.com/2016/06/30/windows-10-subscriptions-anni... http://www.zdnet.com/article/mystery-file-in-preview-build-hints-at-windows-10-subscriptions/ http://www.zdnet.com/article/mystery-file-in-preview-build-h... They won't, but between their downright dicey ways they have tried to force people to upgrade, along with removing the ability to turn off Cortana / Windows Store, ads being pushed in and the 'pay to remove ads from solitaire' thing. People will not have a hard time believing they would do that as well. We have seen microsoft go through some pretty dark times (Halloween papers etc), and it looks like they are starting down that path again with a vengeance. If they only cared about having people apply security patches, they would make sure they ONLY push security patches through their security channel, a practice which they have abandoned.... again.
ocdtrekkie 10y ago
A lot of people associate "service" with something they have to pay monthly for. "Windows as a service", to many people, means Windows subscriptions. Similarly, "free" upgrades in this day and age, generally aren't, and come with costs in the way of privacy and advertising. Microsoft did a poor job judging how their marketing would be interpreted, as well as made the FATAL mistake of implementing a ton of data collection nobody wanted which reinforced that idea. The clickbait titles by BetaNews and such haven't helped either. I like Windows 10 personally, but Microsoft has a HUGE marketing problem right now, and your PR guys aren't addressing it. The mildly useful data you collect isn't worth the huge reputation cost you guys are getting for collecting it. Sure, it lets you say how many billion hours users have spent on Edge in press releases, but is it really all that valuable?