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This was news around January, I thought. Why are all the tech sites playing this up now? I feel like i could reply to half the top level posts with this link:

This was news around January, I thought. Why are all the tech sites playing this up now? I feel like i could reply to half the top level posts with this link: http://blogs.windows.com/business/2015/01/30/windows-10-for-enterprise-more-secure-and-up-to-date/ http://blogs.windows.com/business/2015/01/30/windows-10-for-... >January 30, 2015 > this is much more than a one-time upgrade: once a Windows device is upgraded to Windows 10, we will continue to keep it current via Windows Update for the supported lifetime of the device – at no cost. >We think of this as Windows as a Service >we are introducing a new approach for business customers, which we are referring to as the Current branch for Business. By putting devices on the Current branch for Business, enterprises will be able to receive feature updates after their quality and application compatibility has been assessed in the consumer market, while continuing to receive security updates on a regular basis. This gives IT departments’ time to start validating updates in their environments the day changes are shipped broadly to consumers, or in some cases earlier, if they have users enrolled in the Windows Insider Program. >Based on what we are hearing from customers, we expect most will take a mixed approach in how they keep their Windows 10 systems up to date. They will likely target a different pace of updates for different users and systems, depending on the specific business needs of each group. etc.

protomyth 11y ago
> This was news around January, I thought. Why are all the tech sites playing this up now? It's Sunday and it finally got picked up. It happens. I submitted it a while back and its just when people see it.
- wongarsu 11y ago
  I remember this "news" being on the front page of HN a few times already. The change is radical enough that we want to talk about it over and over again.
kozukumi 11y ago
It was known but never confirmed until Microsoft mentioned it at Ignite this week.
- UnoriginalGuy 11y ago
  I don't follow, does something that was on the official Windows blog and not retracted or removed for months need to be "confirmed?" Maybe "re-framed" for frankly lazy tech "journalists" is a more accurate summation of what occurred?
castell 11y ago
There are alternatives to "Windows 10 as a service" - WINE on Mac/Linux and ReactOS. ReactOS is an attempt to build an open source version of Windows XP/7. It uses source code from WINE and it aims for better compatibility with legacy apps and drivers by developing a WinNT-like OS-Kernel: http://www.reactos.org/screenshots http://www.reactos.org/screenshots
- gambiting 11y ago
  It's not an alternative. At least not for a lot of companies. I work at a games studio and we exclusively use Windows - PS4, Xbox One, Wii U sdks and tools only work on Windows and only with Visual Studio(well, PS4 and Xbox One), and it's extremely unlikely that you would get them to work under Wine. So now our company will have to pay a fee to Microsoft to continue using windows, instead of a single flat payment when we bought our hardware. Also - yes I know they are saying they will support Windows 10 for the lifetime of the device it was bought with,but I doubt it will work like this for enterprise users.
  - castell 11y ago
    ReactOS re-implements the WinNT series (XP+) OS kernel (you can compare it with UNIX vs. Linux) and WINE provides the user mode layer. Visual Studio 2010 and the dotNet Framework work fine in WINE: https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=892 https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=applicatio... . VS run as early as 2003 in ReactOS: http://virtuallyfun.superglobalmegacorp.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Screen-Shot-2013-11-29-at-7.27.55-AM.png http://virtuallyfun.superglobalmegacorp.com/wordpress/wp-con... As ReactOS also supports the Windows graphic card driver from NVidia, AMD and Intel - it's for sure an upcoming alternative to Windows. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReactOS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReactOS . Beside that more and more Indie-game-developers support Mac & Linux (PR via Humble Bundle), and beside Indie: GOG and Steam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Machine_(hardware_platform) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Machine_(hardware_platfor... ) are going strong too.
    - toddan 11y ago
zecg 11y ago
> for the supported lifetime of the device Not to be confused with actual lifetime of the device.

protomyth 11y ago

> This was news around January, I thought. Why are all the tech sites playing this up now? It's Sunday and it finally got picked up. It happens. I submitted it a while back and its just when people see it.

wongarsu 11y ago
I remember this "news" being on the front page of HN a few times already. The change is radical enough that we want to talk about it over and over again.

kozukumi 11y ago

It was known but never confirmed until Microsoft mentioned it at Ignite this week.

UnoriginalGuy 11y ago
I don't follow, does something that was on the official Windows blog and not retracted or removed for months need to be "confirmed?" Maybe "re-framed" for frankly lazy tech "journalists" is a more accurate summation of what occurred?

castell 11y ago

There are alternatives to "Windows 10 as a service" - WINE on Mac/Linux and ReactOS. ReactOS is an attempt to build an open source version of Windows XP/7. It uses source code from WINE and it aims for better compatibility with legacy apps and drivers by developing a WinNT-like OS-Kernel: http://www.reactos.org/screenshots http://www.reactos.org/screenshots

gambiting 11y ago
It's not an alternative. At least not for a lot of companies. I work at a games studio and we exclusively use Windows - PS4, Xbox One, Wii U sdks and tools only work on Windows and only with Visual Studio(well, PS4 and Xbox One), and it's extremely unlikely that you would get them to work under Wine. So now our company will have to pay a fee to Microsoft to continue using windows, instead of a single flat payment when we bought our hardware. Also - yes I know they are saying they will support Windows 10 for the lifetime of the device it was bought with,but I doubt it will work like this for enterprise users.
- castell 11y ago
  ReactOS re-implements the WinNT series (XP+) OS kernel (you can compare it with UNIX vs. Linux) and WINE provides the user mode layer. Visual Studio 2010 and the dotNet Framework work fine in WINE: https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=892 https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=applicatio... . VS run as early as 2003 in ReactOS: http://virtuallyfun.superglobalmegacorp.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Screen-Shot-2013-11-29-at-7.27.55-AM.png http://virtuallyfun.superglobalmegacorp.com/wordpress/wp-con... As ReactOS also supports the Windows graphic card driver from NVidia, AMD and Intel - it's for sure an upcoming alternative to Windows. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReactOS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReactOS . Beside that more and more Indie-game-developers support Mac & Linux (PR via Humble Bundle), and beside Indie: GOG and Steam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Machine_(hardware_platform) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Machine_(hardware_platfor... ) are going strong too.
  - toddan 11y ago

zecg 11y ago

> for the supported lifetime of the device Not to be confused with actual lifetime of the device.