This is just a different deployment and pricing scheme, you still get the same OS with same backwards compatibility. Besides i do not see how they could do a "

This is just a different deployment and pricing scheme, you still get the same OS with same backwards compatibility. Besides i do not see how they could do a "windows-as-a-service" offer without an OS, unless they convince every computer manufacturer to make their PC BIOSes a thin client for Microsoft's servers and you rent computing time/power from their datacenters running Windows (though even then, it'd still be Windows with the same backwards compatibility). (of course all that sucks for us who want to buy a thing and keep it forever - or at least as "forever" as activation servers will allow you to - but i'm trying to ignore that aspect in this comment here)