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Microsoft's plan Office365 and Windows 10 as a subscription service won't help to increase their market share. Android and iOS and OSX are very popular these da

by frik 11y ago

Microsoft's plan Office365 and Windows 10 as a subscription service won't help to increase their market share. Android and iOS and OSX are very popular these days and huge competitors. In the long run subscription fees are higher for end users and business than traditional software - just compare Office365 and Adobe Creative Suite 6 to Office 2013 and Creative Suite 5 over a common 3+ year lifecycle. Microsoft's transforms Windows to Windows as a subscription service, similar to Adobe's Creative Suite 6. Only the "Windows 10 LTSB" edition (Long Term Servicing Branch) is similar to what we got with Windows up to version 8, the other editions cannot deactivate the automatic feature upgrades. https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.heise.de%2Fnewsticker%2Fmeldung%2FMicrosoft-praezisiert-Plaene-fuer-Funktions-Updates-bei-Windows-10-2748073.html&edit-text=&act=url https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=y&prev... and https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj612867.aspx?lc=1033 https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj612867.aspx?lc...

Joeri 11y ago
Microsoft is not transitioning windows to a subscription service. They're transitioning to the same model as iOS: you buy the OS with the device, and you get updates for the lifetime of that device, but you cannot cherrypick the updates, it's all or nothing.
- frik 11y ago
  No, Microsoft isn't in the same position as Apple. MS only owns the Surface and (now defunct) Nokia/MS Lumina device market. And how long will you get Windows 10 automatic updates for free? At the moment Microsoft hides that information until 15 July. Read the above link to get the details from an independent German IT newspaper.
CrLf 11y ago
It's interesting how little talk there is about it, and I'm not exactly sure how Microsoft believes it to be a good thing. I've been an Office (for Mac) buyer for the last few versions but the new pricing for Office 2015 is making think twice about continuing this practice. AFAIK, the 3-licenses pack has been abandoned and a single license will be in the same price range. Subscription pricing is indeed not much cheaper (if at all) and give that feeling you're regularly paying for something you rarely use. And outside of corporate environments, I don't know anyone who uses Office apps more than just occasionally. If Microsoft is trying to make its users look for alternatives, they might just succeed...

by frik 11y ago

Joeri 11y ago

Microsoft is not transitioning windows to a subscription service. They're transitioning to the same model as iOS: you buy the OS with the device, and you get updates for the lifetime of that device, but you cannot cherrypick the updates, it's all or nothing.

frik 11y ago
No, Microsoft isn't in the same position as Apple. MS only owns the Surface and (now defunct) Nokia/MS Lumina device market. And how long will you get Windows 10 automatic updates for free? At the moment Microsoft hides that information until 15 July. Read the above link to get the details from an independent German IT newspaper.

CrLf 11y ago

It's interesting how little talk there is about it, and I'm not exactly sure how Microsoft believes it to be a good thing. I've been an Office (for Mac) buyer for the last few versions but the new pricing for Office 2015 is making think twice about continuing this practice. AFAIK, the 3-licenses pack has been abandoned and a single license will be in the same price range. Subscription pricing is indeed not much cheaper (if at all) and give that feeling you're regularly paying for something you rarely use. And outside of corporate environments, I don't know anyone who uses Office apps more than just occasionally. If Microsoft is trying to make its users look for alternatives, they might just succeed...