Windows 10
- Thread starter Geoff
- Start date
It will be the downfall of Windows, I don't think they're that stupid.
Okedokey
Well-Known Member
Why? Getting $60 from all users annually (like office 365) is got to be better than no money from millions of XP users in over a decade.
Would you be happy paying $60 annually though?..personally i wouldn't.
I just want to buy it and be done..no subscription crap.
Agreed. I don't see many people paying an annual fee to use windows. I know I wouldn't.
$60 would be a bit steep, a lot of people 'invested' ~$100 for Windows 7 and similar for the last 6 years or so, the negative reaction would be pretty huge charging much more than $20/yr or similar.
I'm hoping there's a pretty big push on the Linux side over the next few years if their subscription model is really the case.
Geoff
VIP Member
This is very similar to what Adobe did with their Creative Suite products. They found that many users were content with running several versions behind on their Creative Application Suite, instead of upgrading for every release. This means people who used it for long periods of time, no longer got to pay a flat rate at the start, but rather had to pay monthly. There was huge backlash on this, but from what I've seen people have slowly accepted it.
I agree with Oke on this. Many people tend to run outdated versions of Windows for years because they either don't want to pay to upgrade, or the environment doesn't allow for simple upgrades. If Windows moves more to an Adobe-based solution, where you have one version simply called Adobe CC, and that version gets updated several times a year with new features, people will all be on the latest version.
I agree with Oke on this. Many people tend to run outdated versions of Windows for years because they either don't want to pay to upgrade, or the environment doesn't allow for simple upgrades. If Windows moves more to an Adobe-based solution, where you have one version simply called Adobe CC, and that version gets updated several times a year with new features, people will all be on the latest version.
Yup I pay for my CC subscription. I upgraded from CS5.5 (released in 2010 but updated a bit in 2011) to CC 2014 last year for £190 for the first year and I'm due to pay them about £300 for the following years on the educational plan. I'm happy paying that because I use the suite all the time at home and school so it is definitely worth it. I pay for the Complete edition of the suite, which is the equivalent of what the old Master Collection suites used to be. The Master Collection suites used to retail for around £4,000-£5,000, so assuming you pay the full £500/year price for your CC Complete plan, it would take you between 8-10 years to pay the price of one Master Collection suite in CC subscriptions whilst always having the latest version of the software (and Adobe's software tends to move on quite fast!) In 8-10 years there could be 4 or 5 versions of the suite released, so you'd be a long way behind! It was nice being able to just upgrade from Lightroom 5 to 6 without worrying about paying or anything and I'll be renewing my subscription in a month or so. There was indeed a lot of negative propaganda thrown about when Adobe went to the subscription model about how it was a 'rip off' (not if you ask me for the reasons above!) and how you 'always had to be online' (again, not true, tried and tested by me!) but people took a while to adapt to the new payment model.
Adobe's subscription model has opened up a new customer base for them - people like me who could never afford to drop £4,000-£5,000 on software (only for it to be outdated in a year or two anyway) can now afford their products because I can happily pay £190 or £300 per year for them and still have always have the latest version. Their 60% student discount is a really good offering for students. We are the kind of people who would have just cracked the software before but are now happy to pay for it because it has become affordable.
It's the same for Office 365 too. Yes, my copy of 365 Pro Plus is free from school - I'm very fortunate, but we're seeing lots of businesses buying 365 licenses rather than retail Office licenses because of the benefits 365 brings and the fact businesses can keep up to date with the software. I wouldn't be surprised if the upcoming Office 2016 is either 365 only or the final version of Office you can buy as a retail product.
So would I pay for Windows on a subscription basis? I'm not sure if Windows 10 will turn into a subscription product, but I wouldn't mind if it guaranteed I was always on the latest version and it wasn't too expensive.
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Geoff
VIP Member
You are comparing the education pricing with the full retail cost of CS, you could purchase CS6 with education pricing for a HUGE discount, so it wouldn't take 8-10 years to pay that off.
For Windows, it would have to be reasonable. Windows 7 was around $150 I believe, so you wouldn't be able to really charge more than say $25/year. Plus with Apple giving away their OS for free every year, Microsoft will have more competition. Or, everyone will stick with Windows 7/8 for 10+ years.
Annual fee feels like renting, not owning. I don't want to pay a subscription, I want a licence. I went from XP to 8.1, I did not need Vista or Seven, hence I saved 200$ I wouldn't have if I had a subscription.
Subscritpion are just a way for the seller to ensure an income of money. Yes it's a little less than if you're buying all the releases from Microsoft (or other brands) but in the end you're still giving them money each month. That's not a good deal to me.
Subscritpion are just a way for the seller to ensure an income of money. Yes it's a little less than if you're buying all the releases from Microsoft (or other brands) but in the end you're still giving them money each month. That's not a good deal to me.
Geoff
VIP Member
Exactly, subscription models are all about the developer/company. Microsoft is smart, they know people will be on Windows 7 for 10+ years. To keep money coming in, charging a subscription, even very low, would make a huge difference to them.
For us though, it sucks. I'd much rather pay $100 up front than $25/year. It's like bills and loans, I'd rather have them paid off then know I have these yearly or monthly fees due.
Say for instance, they bring out a new OS every 3 years. That new OS costs say $109 for OEM, which is the going price for windows 10 on newegg. Since they are wanting people to upgrade to 10 and if they are going to charge a yearly fee then I wouldn't pay more then $40 a year. But if they truly are gonna charge a yearly/monthly fee then most people won't upgrade from their current OS. Most people won't have the money to keep throwing to MS. MS is becoming Big Brother now.
No I'm not and I even said 'if you paid the full price' but I did get the full price of CC slightly wrong. CC Complete full retail price is about £550/year (£50 more than I thought). CS6 Master full retail was about £4,000. £4,000/£550 = 7.2, so that's just over 7 years to pay the cost of what one licence for CS6 Master would have cost you new in 2012. And even you got CS6 Master for say £3,000, that's still 5.45 years to pay the cost.
The education pricing for CC is what I pay: £190 for the first year, £273 (or so, including 20% VAT, £219 excluding the VAT) for the subsequent years.
Though granted the best deal is to actually get the Complete plan since the single app plans are fairly expensive. In the case of Microsoft and Windows it would probably be harder to charge 'more for less' like Adobe is doing. I can see Windows going down the subscription route though. Maybe not now, but down the line. However, I can see how that might be hard now that they're giving Windows 10 away for free to use indefinitely to 7 and 8.1 users on the device they upgrade from (if you upgrade within the first year of 10 being on sale, I guess after that they could make you pay if you needed to reinstall).
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Geoff
VIP Member
CS6 is $349 when you look at educating pricing, that was my point, not comparing it to the $5,000 retail cost.
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C4C
Well-Known Member
I was in the middle of my college math placement (initial not the actual one) testing when my computer decided to restart. Now I've been waiting for 25 mins and it's only at 30%.
Can't wait for the release so I don't have to deal with these stupid installs...