"When Windows 7 launches sometime after the start of 2010, the desktop OS will be Microsoft's most 'modular' yet. Having never really been comfortable with the idea of a single, monolithic desktop OS offering, Microsoft has offered multiple desktop OSes in the marketplace ever since the days of Windows NT 3.1, with completely different code bases until they were unified in Windows 2000. Unification isn't necessarily a good thing, however; Windows Vista is a sprawling, complex OS. A singular yet highly modular OS could give Microsoft the best of all possible worlds: OSes that can be highly customized for deployment but developed monolithically. One modular OS to rule them all, let's say."
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Member since:2007-05-28
I think the market will judge them appropriately.
I really cannot see the majority of people being happy to keep paying for something they're already purchased.
The only hope I can see for this surviving would be if the regular non-subscription price is split into parts which you just pay off quarterly and then by the time you get to 'the end' a new version of Windows is available which you receive and just continue to pay that on-going fee.
The question then will be how much value the newer Windows are and what happens if you don't want to upgrade.
Member since:2006-02-05
Member since:2005-07-06
"linux has a long history of not paying attention to desktop details"
I really do think Linux (and bsd) has made huge strides in this, kde 4 is looking to be the polished and complete desktop that many have been looking for for quite some time.
While KDE and Gnome may not be right at the level of windows or osx, in the last couple years they have really made massive improvements and are coming up on windows and osx fast. In many respects they have surpassed windows and osx, in others, they are catching up at an amazing rate.
I really do believe that KDE and Gnome will soon be at a level that any current windows user would have no problem using.
Member since:
2007-08-19
I really don't want to go to linux. I refuse to go Mac, because I don't like Apple's hardware. Linux and BSD lack a certain polished feel to me. So I've always happily used Windows, and much to my difference, when properly maintaining them, they've worked fine for me. I love using Vista on a daily basis too, which again puts me in the minoity.
However, I'll be forced to do something if they switch to a subscription based service. I can see it now turning on the computer. "Windows cannot validate your subscription" nag nag nag, all when for some reason, a glitch occurs, and it can't check my status against their server. I can't loose prodctivity like that.
I'll happily pay even extra for a regular OS, but this will drive me to alternatives.
EDIT: And this isn't even mindful of the fact that I prefer to PAY to use the software as long as I like, not every so often. Suppose I can't pay right when my subscription is up?
More importantly, suppose I need it down the road, after Microsoft decides I must upgrade, shelling out additional money for Windows 8, plus then yearly renewals for that. Hell, until about two years ago, I was still running Windows 98 in VMware for certain apps I needed. Now that I've moved to 64 bit Vista, I still use an Xp VM, for all of my 32 bit stuff that may not migrate. (My NetMD Minidisc player will never have 64 bit drivers, and I love this thing.)
Edited 2008-03-24 00:53 UTC