Because the upgrade from W8.1 to W10 will be free for many, I wondered about how MS would make money. After all, it has pretty much given up on the phone part of the mobile market…
So, I figured ‘renting’ like in the Adobe model might happen. Wrong.
Turns out it will be ‘device specific’. You can get to see it here (a .pptx file). WHile it’s all worth a look, the bare bones is the slide which states:
"Revenue allocated is deferred and recognized on a straight-line basis over the estimated period the software upgrades are expected to be provided by estimated device life," the most pertinent slide stated. "[The estimated device life] can range from two to four years." – MS
Microsoft has repeatedly said that the free updates and upgrades for Windows 10 would be tied to what it has called the "supported lifetime of the device." So, you’ll be buying a new device, and W10 will be part of that price…planned obsolescence never looked so good (granted, an odd thing to say about W10).
Also in the slides MS says “We think of Windows as a service---continual updates over time.” Obligatory, mandated updates…and various types of customers (business, home user, etc.), not device type. Thus, the OS itself might just have the ability to decide what kind of ‘customer’ you are, and what features you’ll get…maybe. This is just a possibility instead of the customer choosing his ‘service’ level.
It’s worth reading about here: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2945796/microsoft-windows/microsoft-to-provide-free-upgrades-to-windows-10-for-2-to-4-years.html