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I guess they just wanted to lock out Windows 7/8. They don't gain anything by denying Linux to a few people. But preventing that the buyer can downgrade to Wind
by dx034 10y ago
I guess they just wanted to lock out Windows 7/8. They don't gain anything by denying Linux to a few people. But preventing that the buyer can downgrade to Windows 7 fits exactly to their strategy and makes sense for Microsoft.
Also, an agreement to lock out Linux might not be legal from an antitrust perspective, whereas an agreement to restrict usage to the current version of the OS is much less critical.
- lagadu 10y agoFinally someone with a reasonable explanation, one that doesn't involve lots of tinfoil and conspiracy theories. This seems to be the most reasonable theory in the entire discussion.
- vlehto 10y agoWhy lock on 7? (Probably same reason than promoting free 10, but I didn't get that either.)
- dest 10y agoMicrosoft prevents users from rolling back to Windows 7, maybe because Microsoft gets more data from its users with W10. Data looks like the new business model of Windows.
- dx034 10y agoThe app store, Cortana and Edge (with Bing as standard search engine) are closely tied to Windows 10. That's where revenue will come from in the future, not from licenses.
- scholia 10y agoAnybody who buys or upgrades to a Pro version of Windows automatically gets downgrade rights. Some organizations (including, I think, London police) are still rolling out Windows 8.1 with full Microsoft support. Windows 7/8/8.1 are all supported for 10 years under Microsoft's standard published software lifecycle.