Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

m.bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

201–210 of 323 posts

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#201

Post by balakk »

ghaff wrote: post #169
ceejayoz wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect eventually Windows will be a free OS, like OSX now is, used to drive sales for other more profitable products.

Well, the difference is that Apple sells hardware. It actually used to be the case that computer manufacturers routinely bundled operating systems for "free" with their hard ware. This has been a kegal issue in some cases, e.g. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/473/908/

I believe Microsoft is going to sell hardware, big time. Their play is devices & services now.

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#202

Post by eropple »

MichaelGG wrote: post #178
sesutton wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>- of course, you can totally ignore the "modern Windows" side of the coin for now, except that's where Windows is headed It seems to me that they are backing off metro/"modern Windows" more and more. 8.1 made boot to Desktop the default, they are bringing back the start menu in 10 and Metro apps will run in windows in 10.

Nope, they're going even more in with Win10. Calc.exe is replaced with a shitty, functionally inferior version that takes 1-2 seconds to start. The metroization is all over with its terrible blurry font rendering and gimped settings.

YMMV, but I can't tell the difference between the font rendering in Metro apps and WPF apps (on a Retina MacBook Pro). I really like the typeface and rendering choices they've made and it's easy for me to read.

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#203

Post by dzhiurgis »

someear wrote: post #191

Entirely an enterprise play - gone are those firms that essentially say "we'll stick with XP". They'll either be forced into a subscription model or will switch off to another platform. This is also a huge win for not having the need to support super old OSes, which is a huge tax in not just support cost, but also testing and designing for backward compatibility.

This is also a significant driver development cost increase for OEMs.

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#204

Post by eropple »

silverbax88 wrote: post #193
Sir_Substance wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Windows 8 came with skydrive preinstalled, and I removed it. 8.1 has skydrive "integrated into the OS", so it can't be removed. I tried skydrive on windows 7 when skydrive was first released, and instructed it to sync a few specific folders. I didn't like it enough to keep using it, so I uninstalled it and forgot about it. In order to upgrade from 8 to 8.1, I had to put my microsoft account into the system (because t…

yes, thus far Windows 10 (I've been running a beta installation) has de-activated the OS three times in the last two months. And each time it's a new wrinkle in how it fucked itself. AND that's just the beginning. Honestly, as a person who primarily uses Windows over my Mac or Linux boxes, I do wonder if this is a harbinger for Microsoft where people just stop using it. I hated how bad Windows 8 was, but I didn't exp…

On the flip side, I'm a Mac user (with a C#/Windows background) who really likes Windows 10. I've been on the fast ring for updates since day one on all my computers and been delighted--not a word I use lightly--with the updates and the stability of the whole thing.

It won't be my primary OS--nothing without zsh will be, and Cygwin isn't sufficient--but I really enjoy using Windows computers again, which I honestly never thought I would say after I switched to OS X.

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#205

Post by detaro »

zanny wrote: post #194
bunderbunder wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Microsoft makes much money off of shrinkwrap copies of Windows. Almost everyone I know just sticks with the version of Windows that came with the computer, and when they switch to a newer version it's because they bought a new computer that comes with it preinstalled. The probable advantage to Microsoft is that they have a less disjointed platform to support. For example apps released for the app store…

They were still making $20 - $30 per license sold from major vendors like HP and Dell. They move millions of units per year. That is a lot of revenue to throw away.

If they go to a subscription model, they'd probably not loose much.

If not, they still could charge for OEM licenses bundled to hardware.

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#206

Post by sukilot »

zanny wrote: post #194
bunderbunder wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Microsoft makes much money off of shrinkwrap copies of Windows. Almost everyone I know just sticks with the version of Windows that came with the computer, and when they switch to a newer version it's because they bought a new computer that comes with it preinstalled. The probable advantage to Microsoft is that they have a less disjointed platform to support. For example apps released for the app store…

They were still making $20 - $30 per license sold from major vendors like HP and Dell. They move millions of units per year. That is a lot of revenue to throw away.

They aren't throwing away OEM revenue. Only OS upgrade revenue.

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#207

Post by becausecomputer »

agentdrtran wrote: post #115
mschuster91 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So, serious question, what do you like better about Windows 7. No Metro crap jumping all over you. And that's why I likely will migrate over to Linux once MS stops Win7 support.

You don't have to use any Metro apps if you don't want to, and 10 brings back the start menu. If that's still to "Metro" for you you can install something like Classic Start.

In Windows 8, the wifi connect menu is metro style, and it's frustrating. Reason enough to switch to Debian.

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#208

Post by sososoko »

mark_l_watson wrote: post #132
bad_user wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm an Ubuntu Linux and OS X user and have been trying to like Windows 8.1 in the last weeks. The problems I have in no particular order ... - network management in Windows 7 was usable, whereas in 8.1 it is totally fucked - Microsoft accounts are on their way to become mandatory, as creating a regular account is not user friendly and there's a big and scary warning when you go that route; they are basically trying t…

Thank you! That was a good answer. Just one thing: OneDrive works well, if I may, I suggest giving it a try. Re: software development: I just live inIntelliJ for Clojure, Ruby, Java, JavaScript, Typescript, Clojurescript, and Python. IntelliJ runs about the same on every platform. I write my books now with markdown and leanpub, so for writing also operating system choice does not matter. True confession: I tend to cy…

I love OneDrive, possiblt the best native synchronization tool out there, at least for Windows anyway. Mine does a funny thing though, whenever i git clone a repo into a folder in OneDrive it will crash. Does that ever happen to you?

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#209

Post by orionblastar »

diminoten wrote: post #174
orionblastar wrote: post #98

Microsoft is getting into the software subscription model. Remember Office 365? You don't own a copy of Office, you only rent it per year and when updates come out you get the updates as long as you keep paying. Windows 10 is going to be a software subscription model. They'll most likely have a free upgrade version but it is limited in features. If you want more features you will have to buy a subscription. They alre…

It's much more likely they'll follow the OS X model of free updates forever, once you buy the OS.

Apple bundles the OS with the hardware. Once you buy a Mac, you get free OSX updates until they no longer support your model for the new OSX versions. The cost of OSX is bundled in the price of the Mac, which is why Macs cost more than PCs.

Microsoft cannot do that because OEMs sell PCs and bundle Windows with it. A totally different business model than Apple has. Steve Ballmer tried to copy the Apple Business Model with Surface Tablets and the Microsoft Store, and he failed.

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#210

Post by nly »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #203
someear wrote: post #191

Entirely an enterprise play - gone are those firms that essentially say "we'll stick with XP". They'll either be forced into a subscription model or will switch off to another platform. This is also a huge win for not having the need to support super old OSes, which is a huge tax in not just support cost, but also testing and designing for backward compatibility.

This is also a significant driver development cost increase for OEMs.

Presumably they won't be breaking driver compatibility often.
Post reply on HN