Microsoft to give away Windows 8.1 for free?

[tgalati4]

This is a classic strategy of giving away the razor blade handles and making money on the razor blades. If you buy a Microsoft "Hatch" (light-weight, cheap, web-based notebook) then you might buy other products and services like malware and crapware. It's a brilliant strategy.

[mips]

If they ever put out a free version of Windows, I guarantee it will be horribly limited, both with technical and licensing restrictions. Remember Win7 starter edition?

Might make for a good gaming setup with all the extra crud stripped out. I recall stripping a WinXP iso down to a very small size and it was great for what I needed it to do.

[lykwydchykyn]

Might make for a good gaming setup with all the extra crud stripped out. I recall stripping a WinXP iso down to a very small size and it was great for what I needed it to do.

Assuming it will be possible to do that; IIRC "starter edition" was so locked down you couldn't even change the wallpaper. Then again; who knows?

[1clue]

It makes a lot of sense for them to release a non-crippled basic version of the OS.

Think of what's going on in places like China and Russia. Third world country (at least as far as most citizens are concerned) who can't afford a windows license.

They're using cast-off computers that we in the USA threw away, somebody loaded them on a boat and shipped them to somewhere for "recycling."

Microsoft tried to release something awhile back that was cheap, but could not be made to use English. I think that backfired, because English is used pervasively for business and probably some sciences. So Linux and other free operating systems have been gaining some traction over there.

A free operating system gives them market share. There's no guarantee that the next one will be free, and there's still application sales.

FWIW the current latest-greatest Mac OS X is free. Or free of charge anyway. That could tip things toward Apple here in the USA, which could be another incentive.

[phidia]

I think this is a strategy to kill the chromebooks growth actually and offer a free and basic (which probably means fairly lightweight) opportunity to XP and Vista users to upgrade. According to various tech websites, this stripped down version of Windows 8.1 would be centered around Microsoft services such as Internet Explorer 11, Bing, Onedrive, Skype ect. Pretty similar to the Chrome OS concept but with less restriction. It seems also to be part of Microsoft's idea to sell cheap laptop around 250$ (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...A1L0WS20140222)

I think we are seeing here a change of paradigm by Microsoft and it's new CEO Satya Nadella. Microsoft doesn't hide the fact that it want to be more like Google which is a succesful model of web-based cloud services and that's the direction in which the web and a lot of it's users seems to be going.

I agree and Microsoft has spent significant ad money targeting chomebooks so they are certainly in their radar.

[deadflowr]

I agree and Microsoft has spent significant ad money targeting chomebooks so they are certainly in their radar.

You know somewhere I was reading that the newly appointed head of strategy for Microsoft is the brains behind the scroogle campaign.
Google it.

[mastablasta]

Assuming it will be possible to do that; IIRC "starter edition" was so locked down you couldn't even change the wallpaper. Then again; who knows?

it's not only that. it only comes in 32bit, can't use more than 2GB ram, you can't be a host in network, no aero effects... etc. it was mostly made for netbooks with atom CPU. and it is additionally upsetting to me that they installed it on a netbook that can take in 8GB RAM max and has a 64bit CPU. i mean at least they could have put home on it i would pay a bit more for that... anyway 64bit Kubuntu solved the issue not i only need to save some money for RAM upgrade.

as i know for developing countries they had some different/cheaper licences. though most people there would still use pirated version of the OS.

[Tar_Ni]

I doubt it's going to be case with the Windows 8.1 free edition. If Microsoft intends to sell in in new laptops, it will have to be offered in 64Bit to support 4GB of RAM which is the norm in terms of hardwares in stores these days.

[lykwydchykyn]

I doubt it's going to be case with the Windows 8.1 free edition. If Microsoft intends to sell in in new laptops, it will have to be offered in 64Bit to support 4GB of RAM which is the norm in terms of hardwares in stores these days.

Well, it's anyone's guess what the exact limitations will be. They will almost certainly not be the same as win7 starter, but count on there being some heavy limitations and some heavy-handed steering towards Microsoft's online services.

[Tar_Ni]

Well, it's anyone's guess what the exact limitations will be. They will almost certainly not be the same as win7 starter, but count on there being some heavy limitations and some heavy-handed steering towards Microsoft's online services.

That's for sure, if the idea is to offer something similar to Chrome OS but perhaps with less restriction (Windows' compatibility is an advantage in my view as to what's available to install), that of a cloud-oriented operating system. There is a customer base to some extent for this kind of system, the slow but steady growth of the chromebooks popularity is proof of that.

That said, I hope for these potential users that Internet Explorer 11 will not be locked-in as the one and only browser that can be installed! I don't really think it will go that far, but who knows?