When Microsoft decided to give Windows 10 away for free, tech enthusiasts everywhere simultaneously raised their eyebrows, clutched their wallets, and frantically reviewed the fine print as if it might suddenly burst into flames. This was not just a momentary lapse in Redmond’s famously profitable upgrade cycle—it was the start of the now-infamous Windows as a Service era. An era that would soon have IT admins, privacy hawks, and ordinary users all wondering if perhaps that catchy adage “if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product” had finally thundered into the Windows world with all the subtlety of a forced Windows Update.
To truly appreciate the seismic shift, let’s hop into our digital DeLorean and revisit those heady days surrounding Windows 7. Former Microsoft engineer Dave Plummer, who—fun fact—helped bring us Task Manager (everyone’s favorite panic button), sets the stage. Windows 7, he recalls, was a runaway hit. Users adored it so much that, even when Windows 10 was rolled out with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, many refused to budge from their cozy, Aero-themed abodes. If you have ever met anyone who still runs Windows 7 on a creaking ThinkPad, you’ll know the type: fiercely loyal, slightly suspicious, and stubbornly unimpressed by whatever “live tiles” are supposed to be.
Then came Windows 8, a release so divisive that merely uttering its name at a sysadmin meetup would result in awkward silence, distant coughing, and flashbacks of the Start screen trauma. It’s here that Microsoft’s confidence in the traditional “buy a new OS every few years” playbook began to wobble. Meanwhile, Apple started giving away its OS upgrades, Linux continued its open-source charm offensive, and the scene was set. Microsoft, with declining PC sales and a rapidly aging customer base still clinging to Windows 7, realized something had to change.
Because, apparently, no one wants to pay a Benjamin for an upgrade anymore when Cupertino is shedding operating systems like confetti at a New Year’s party.
Or perhaps its tentacles, depending on your perspective and general trust for large software conglomerates.
For users, though, the shift was a mixed blessing. Yes, a brand-new OS at no cost! But with gentle—if insistent—encouragement toward OneDrive, Edge, and occasional pop-ups advertising candy crush or Skype, it felt a bit like discovering your new apartment comes with a free TV… and mandatory commercials every hour.
Now, in principle, telemetry is a noble cause. It allows Microsoft to see what’s breaking and fix it before users storm the forums with torches and pitchforks. In practice, though, it soon felt like the OS was less “helpful butler” and more “nosy neighbor.” Early Windows 10 builds sparked significant unease among privacy advocates and IT pros alike. After all, what’s scarier: a blue screen of death, or the creeping suspicion that every click is being cataloged for posterity (and perhaps for justifying the next update to Microsoft Edge)?
It was, as Plummer so gently puts it, “a good thing, yes?” Well, not for everyone. For some, especially in the enterprise, the deluge of telemetry was a bridge too far. If there’s one thing IT professionals treasure more than uptime, it’s control—and the idea of Windows becoming increasingly “cloudy” and less configurable is enough to keep many from clicking “update” without a full system image backup (or two).
For the record, it’s a unique feeling to launch the Start menu of your professional, fully licensed PC and find it recommending Candy Crush Saga. It’s a bit like going to a Michelin-starred restaurant, ordering the tasting menu, and having the chef slip a 2-for-1 coupon for the burger joint down the street alongside your amuse-bouche.
For the company, it was a dazzling win. For anyone who enjoys spreadsheets or is responsible for quarterly earnings calls, the stability must have been deeply soothing. For pirates, it was a curious twist: Microsoft even let users of non-genuine Windows 7 or 8 upgrade to Windows 10 gratis, in the hopes of converting them into legitimate users who’d eventually succumb to the charms of OneDrive storage or Office 365 subscriptions.
That’s right, pirates: Microsoft wants you too. Bring your peg legs and parrot, just sign up for a cloud account on the way in.
But there’s a catch. With all that data, the temptation to push users—gently at first, then with increasing firmness—into Microsoft’s services and cloud offerings became irresistible. Hospitals, schools, and regular folks found themselves less in possession of an OS than residents of a gated community, with the HOA rules set somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.
On the other hand, telemetry-driven design choices and forced updates began to erode some of the fine-grained control that IT shops had built careers around. Features would vanish (sometimes appearing in “Windows Insider” test builds only to disappear with the next update), and group policy settings began to lose their power against the juggernaut of “as a Service” logic. After all, you can’t keep your enterprise locked at Service Pack 2 for a decade anymore—which, for many, was the definition of “peace and quiet.”
And let’s not forget the privacy crowd, who now had to pore over every update note, hunting for new settings to disable, new checkboxes to untick, and new telemetry endpoints to firewall off. “Securing Windows” now meant more than just patching and antivirus—it involved a bit of spycraft and a pinch of exorcism.
That’s the rub: users get a shiny, free OS that keeps itself updated (sometimes with alarming zeal), but their clicks, scrolls, and even their moments of indecision are all quietly dispatched to Microsoft HQ. The company swears this is for improvement purposes, but it begs the question—if you’re not paying cash, are you paying in data?
Imagine: a world where your Windows Pro installation asks nothing of you, displays no pop-ups, phones home only when absolutely required. A hopeful fantasy, or a viable business? Maybe both. There’s surely a market—albeit niche—for Windows: Privacy Edition. Until then, the best an admin can do is carve a little solitude out of the telemetry sprawl, disabling what they can, living with what they can’t, and praying that tomorrow’s Patch Tuesday doesn’t suddenly re-enable everything.
For those who switch among macOS, Windows, and Linux (as Plummer does), the difference in feel is considerable. Each OS, to adapt his metaphor, helps or hinders work in distinctive, sometimes deeply personal, ways. Yet Windows, for all its shelf space and install base, often feels like the pushiest roommate—cleaning up after you, selecting your apps for you, and every few days, leaving flyers for its favorite services on your desk.
But it’s not free. The price is paid in control, privacy, and, occasionally, dignity (as you explain to your boss why Solitaire now comes with video ads). For IT pros, the new normal is a world where “free” comes bundled with more strings than a cat’s favorite toy. For users, it’s a landscape where opting out is possible—but only for the truly determined or legally cunning. And for Microsoft, it's a shining example of evolving with the times, ensuring both revenue and relevance in a market where nearly everything is headed as a service.
For users and IT pros, the upside is fewer catastrophic upgrades and a more stable, secure environment. The downside? You’re living in an ad-supported, data-enhanced future, where every free update is a subtle nudge toward a paid service, and privacy is just another feature—perhaps soon, a premium one.
And as we wait for “Windows Privacy Edition,” we can take solace in one thing: when the product is free, the product is probably you. But at least, thanks to Windows 10, it’s you with slightly fewer security holes, slightly more up-to-date apps, and a whole lot more suggested content in your Start menu.
Your move, Microsoft. And for the rest of us: may your updates be predictable, your telemetry settings respected, and your Start menu gloriously, blessedly free of candy crush.
Source: theregister.com When Microsoft made the Windows as a Service pivot
The Glory (and Glum) Days of Paid Upgrades
To truly appreciate the seismic shift, let’s hop into our digital DeLorean and revisit those heady days surrounding Windows 7. Former Microsoft engineer Dave Plummer, who—fun fact—helped bring us Task Manager (everyone’s favorite panic button), sets the stage. Windows 7, he recalls, was a runaway hit. Users adored it so much that, even when Windows 10 was rolled out with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, many refused to budge from their cozy, Aero-themed abodes. If you have ever met anyone who still runs Windows 7 on a creaking ThinkPad, you’ll know the type: fiercely loyal, slightly suspicious, and stubbornly unimpressed by whatever “live tiles” are supposed to be.Then came Windows 8, a release so divisive that merely uttering its name at a sysadmin meetup would result in awkward silence, distant coughing, and flashbacks of the Start screen trauma. It’s here that Microsoft’s confidence in the traditional “buy a new OS every few years” playbook began to wobble. Meanwhile, Apple started giving away its OS upgrades, Linux continued its open-source charm offensive, and the scene was set. Microsoft, with declining PC sales and a rapidly aging customer base still clinging to Windows 7, realized something had to change.
Because, apparently, no one wants to pay a Benjamin for an upgrade anymore when Cupertino is shedding operating systems like confetti at a New Year’s party.
Windows 10 and the Dreaded Freebie
Enter Windows 10, the free upgrade. Suddenly, those accustomed to reaching into their pockets for the latest security patches and shiny features found themselves getting updates for the grand price of… nothing. Well, nothing upfront, anyway. Dave Plummer dives into the reasoning. Under Satya Nadella’s new regime, Microsoft was pivoting: out with Windows-first, in with cloud-first (and, frankly, “data-first”). Internally, this new model was branded as “Windows as a Service.” Instead of charging every few years for a license, the idea was that constant (often unasked-for) updates and recurring nudges for Microsoft services would keep users in Redmond’s warm embrace.Or perhaps its tentacles, depending on your perspective and general trust for large software conglomerates.
For users, though, the shift was a mixed blessing. Yes, a brand-new OS at no cost! But with gentle—if insistent—encouragement toward OneDrive, Edge, and occasional pop-ups advertising candy crush or Skype, it felt a bit like discovering your new apartment comes with a free TV… and mandatory commercials every hour.
The Telemetry Takeover
But freebies rarely come with no strings attached. Windows 10 wasn’t just a product; it was a platform for gathering data—telemetry, to use Microsoft’s friendliest euphemism. Plummer describes the construction of Windows 10 as fundamentally oriented toward “phoning home,” collecting metrics on everything from system stability to which apps you never open but can’t quite bring yourself to uninstall.Now, in principle, telemetry is a noble cause. It allows Microsoft to see what’s breaking and fix it before users storm the forums with torches and pitchforks. In practice, though, it soon felt like the OS was less “helpful butler” and more “nosy neighbor.” Early Windows 10 builds sparked significant unease among privacy advocates and IT pros alike. After all, what’s scarier: a blue screen of death, or the creeping suspicion that every click is being cataloged for posterity (and perhaps for justifying the next update to Microsoft Edge)?
It was, as Plummer so gently puts it, “a good thing, yes?” Well, not for everyone. For some, especially in the enterprise, the deluge of telemetry was a bridge too far. If there’s one thing IT professionals treasure more than uptime, it’s control—and the idea of Windows becoming increasingly “cloudy” and less configurable is enough to keep many from clicking “update” without a full system image backup (or two).
From Ads-Free Zone to Suggestive Start Menus
Yet perhaps more galling for old hands was the rise of built-in advertising. You remember the days when the Start menu was just a list of things you’d installed, right? Suddenly, it was peppered with “suggested apps,” browser recommendations, and banners hawking Microsoft’s own wares. Microsoft wasn’t charging for Windows 10, but they were certainly nudging—as much as software can gently hustle—a captive audience toward their ecosystem of paid (and very trackable) services.For the record, it’s a unique feeling to launch the Start menu of your professional, fully licensed PC and find it recommending Candy Crush Saga. It’s a bit like going to a Michelin-starred restaurant, ordering the tasting menu, and having the chef slip a 2-for-1 coupon for the burger joint down the street alongside your amuse-bouche.
OEMs, Revenue, and the Bumpy Road to Subscription Paradise
There is, of course, some logic under all this glittering annoyance. By moving to a Windows as a Service model—and especially by giving away upgrades—Microsoft managed to smooth out its notoriously bumpy revenue cycle. Instead of “peak Windows” sales whenever a new OS dropped (followed by years of after-party hangover), Microsoft now had a steady, predictable stream of money from OEM partners and, increasingly, from its own subscription services.For the company, it was a dazzling win. For anyone who enjoys spreadsheets or is responsible for quarterly earnings calls, the stability must have been deeply soothing. For pirates, it was a curious twist: Microsoft even let users of non-genuine Windows 7 or 8 upgrade to Windows 10 gratis, in the hopes of converting them into legitimate users who’d eventually succumb to the charms of OneDrive storage or Office 365 subscriptions.
That’s right, pirates: Microsoft wants you too. Bring your peg legs and parrot, just sign up for a cloud account on the way in.
The Data Dividend—and a Few Caveats
On the engineering side, telemetry did bear fruit. By plugging the Windows ecosystem into a massive real-time user feedback loop, Redmond could spot widespread issues quicker, patch them, and keep the ecosystem humming along with fewer high-profile disasters. This is not nothing: if you remember the chaos of early Windows XP (and the endless torrents of shady service packs), you know just how far the update process has come.But there’s a catch. With all that data, the temptation to push users—gently at first, then with increasing firmness—into Microsoft’s services and cloud offerings became irresistible. Hospitals, schools, and regular folks found themselves less in possession of an OS than residents of a gated community, with the HOA rules set somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.
IT Pros: The Accidental Product
We should pause for a moment to tip our hats to the true heroes and victims of this pivot: IT professionals. No group more than sysadmins, desktop engineers, and network gurus felt the double-edge of this sword. On one side, more rapid patching, less legacy cruft, and an ecosystem that marches in near-lockstep (making documentation, deployments, and troubleshooting much more soothingly predictable).On the other hand, telemetry-driven design choices and forced updates began to erode some of the fine-grained control that IT shops had built careers around. Features would vanish (sometimes appearing in “Windows Insider” test builds only to disappear with the next update), and group policy settings began to lose their power against the juggernaut of “as a Service” logic. After all, you can’t keep your enterprise locked at Service Pack 2 for a decade anymore—which, for many, was the definition of “peace and quiet.”
And let’s not forget the privacy crowd, who now had to pore over every update note, hunting for new settings to disable, new checkboxes to untick, and new telemetry endpoints to firewall off. “Securing Windows” now meant more than just patching and antivirus—it involved a bit of spycraft and a pinch of exorcism.
The Not-So-Secret Stash: Data Monetization
Microsoft’s approach brought obvious wins: reduced piracy, more rapid (if sometimes painful) innovation, and customers—by default—using a more recent version of the OS. But the covert rollout of telemetry, built-in ads, and service nudges has left a sour taste for many. Or, to quote Plummer, it’s “a tool that’s a bit of an adversary that helps monetize me just a little too often for my tastes...”That’s the rub: users get a shiny, free OS that keeps itself updated (sometimes with alarming zeal), but their clicks, scrolls, and even their moments of indecision are all quietly dispatched to Microsoft HQ. The company swears this is for improvement purposes, but it begs the question—if you’re not paying cash, are you paying in data?
Would You Pay for Privacy?
Perhaps the most telling point in Plummer’s musings is that he’d gladly pay $10 or $20 per month for an utterly telemetry-free pro version, one bereft of unwanted advertising and opaque data uploads—a Windows tailored for adults, not a playground awash in sponsored content and behavioral tracking. It's a sentiment with resonance all over the IT community, begrudgingly aware that clean, bloat-free computing is now a distant luxury.Imagine: a world where your Windows Pro installation asks nothing of you, displays no pop-ups, phones home only when absolutely required. A hopeful fantasy, or a viable business? Maybe both. There’s surely a market—albeit niche—for Windows: Privacy Edition. Until then, the best an admin can do is carve a little solitude out of the telemetry sprawl, disabling what they can, living with what they can’t, and praying that tomorrow’s Patch Tuesday doesn’t suddenly re-enable everything.
The Apple and Linux Effect
It would be remiss not to acknowledge the competitive pressure here. Apple’s bold move to make macOS upgrades free applied a level of pressure Microsoft could not ignore, particularly as Macs infiltrated more homes (and boardrooms). Linux, ever the underdog, kept getting friendlier—not to mention costlier to ignore. In this crowded landscape, giving away upgrades made business sense, repositioning Windows as less a product and more a platform, a launchpad for paid services, subscriptions, and digital companionship.For those who switch among macOS, Windows, and Linux (as Plummer does), the difference in feel is considerable. Each OS, to adapt his metaphor, helps or hinders work in distinctive, sometimes deeply personal, ways. Yet Windows, for all its shelf space and install base, often feels like the pushiest roommate—cleaning up after you, selecting your apps for you, and every few days, leaving flyers for its favorite services on your desk.
Life After the Pivot
A decade into this Windows as a Service model, it’s clear Microsoft achieved its main goals: a healthier, more current OS ecosystem, reduced piracy, and a healthy side business in cloud subscriptions and upsells. That’s worth celebrating—especially if you lived through the digital Petri dish that was Windows XP SP1. You get better security, more rapid (if occasionally harrowing) rollouts, and a world where “the latest version” is at least within reach for everyone.But it’s not free. The price is paid in control, privacy, and, occasionally, dignity (as you explain to your boss why Solitaire now comes with video ads). For IT pros, the new normal is a world where “free” comes bundled with more strings than a cat’s favorite toy. For users, it’s a landscape where opting out is possible—but only for the truly determined or legally cunning. And for Microsoft, it's a shining example of evolving with the times, ensuring both revenue and relevance in a market where nearly everything is headed as a service.
Conclusion: The View from the Trenches
So where do we go from here? Plummer himself jumps from platform to platform daily, savoring and cursing each for its unique virtues and failings. But there’s no denying the palpable shift in what it means to use Windows—less a product you own, more an ecosystem you inhabit, often whether you like it or not.For users and IT pros, the upside is fewer catastrophic upgrades and a more stable, secure environment. The downside? You’re living in an ad-supported, data-enhanced future, where every free update is a subtle nudge toward a paid service, and privacy is just another feature—perhaps soon, a premium one.
And as we wait for “Windows Privacy Edition,” we can take solace in one thing: when the product is free, the product is probably you. But at least, thanks to Windows 10, it’s you with slightly fewer security holes, slightly more up-to-date apps, and a whole lot more suggested content in your Start menu.
Your move, Microsoft. And for the rest of us: may your updates be predictable, your telemetry settings respected, and your Start menu gloriously, blessedly free of candy crush.
Source: theregister.com When Microsoft made the Windows as a Service pivot
