3 ms·

I didn't know that Windows is now free.

• einr 3y ago
  In practice it has been free for home users for many years. I assume the only reason they still keep up the facade that Windows costs money is so they can sell it to OEMs and volume licenses to businesses, which still makes them big bucks.
  • mr_toad 3y ago
    It only seems free for home use because the activation key for the home version is embedded in NVRAM of the machine by the OEM. You pay the OEM when you buy the machine, and they pay Microsoft.
    • einr 3y ago
      You pay the OEM once, for a Windows 7 key, and then you run on that -- because it keeps working, with Microsoft's implicit authorization -- for the next 15+ years. They 100% would not let you do that if they cared to charge for Windows like they did in the pre-Windows 8 days when Windows was the product and not the user's data.
• pjmlp 3y ago
  Edge is cross platform.
  • account42 3y ago
    That's a technicality - who in their right mind is going to choose edge on other platform if they are not already used to it from Windows.
    • pjmlp 3y ago
      Enough users to justify the salary of the teams making it happen.
• ChuckNorris89 3y ago
  It's free if you're willing to break the EULA. I haven't paid for it. Just used some Win 7 CD key I found online and it activated.
  • hot_gril 3y ago
    Not even break EULA, just download from Microsoft and install without activating.
    • technothrasher 3y ago
      That is breaking the EULA: "You are authorized to use this software only if you are properly licensed and the software has been properly activated with a genuine product key or by other authorized method."
      • hot_gril 3y ago
        Ah, you're right. Wow, that EULA is very different from the reality of how people use it, and MSFT makes no attempt to enforce it.
        • janoc 3y ago
          Ehm, I guess you have never heard about BSA raids, right?