Jimbo45 wrote: - "Once Ms go down the pay for this - pay for that by subscription then as the saying goes "I'm outta here". I don't mind buying my copy of OS / Office or anything else - but I'm certainly not signing up to subscription services".
Well, don't stop too suddenly, mate, or I'm likely to run right up your jacksi, as I won't be far behind you.
I'm all for the 'pay once - use forever' model of software purchase, and that's the way I'll be continuing. If MS monetise Windows beyond what I'm prepared to pay, well, there's always some form of Linux (I have several: Ubuntu; XandrOS, Puppy), and there's no shortage of good freeware and shareware programs out there, for both Windows and Linux.
I don't see Apple products as an option, I have owned an iMac and it was fine for what it was. But I found their 'walled garden' approach to be way too restrictive.
In fact, with the number of OSes and their associated programs that I currently own, I could probably go offline permanently tomorrow, never buy any software ever again, and what I have would probably see me to the grave. But I'd rather not have to do that.
The saddest thing is that, after overcoming some initial issues, I really do like Windows 8. Just not the direction it's headed.
Wenda.
I think we're all jumping the gun here a bit about this pay as you go. I know it's probably the way MS is headed but we don't know anything about pricing yet. Don't forget Windows and associated programmes are some of the most pirated programmes on the planet, this subscription scheme would be beneficial to MS, but also to us, as piracy will go down, hopefully.
I've already said that prices in the store are comparable to over 20 years ago, which can be attributed to cutting out the middle man and piracy. With a bit of luck this will be a win for us the consumer, but then I'm a bit of a dreamer.
I just hope developers don't get too greedy, otherwise I'll be outa here too.
Hi there
tend to disagree totally.
In NO way is a subscription service beneficial to most consumers compared to what we have NOW -- i.e purchase Windows / Office / Photoshop etc and it's good FOREVER or until you get fed up with it and buy the next version on offer -- but YOUR CHOICE.
Why on earth would anybody even THINK of starting up this type of service unless it increased (or they thought it would) their revenue stream.
Assuming we could get W8 for around 120 USD one off price ---- that seems to be a typical average price that people are paying -- there's still a load of "cheapies" out there as well and the rest get W8 pre-installed with their computer.
So that's 10 USD a month -- and after two years you've paid DOUBLE to say nothing of possible payments for "Upgrades" i.e "Service packs" which will sneakily come in the guise of new releases such as Windows 8.51 or whatever.
The chances are anyway the minimum subscription would be at least 20 USD a month -- and at that price it starts getting seriously expensive for individuals.
This is a model I have no hesitation in saying for an INDIVIDUAL --STAY AWAY. For businesses it could make sense as this type of expense can be deferred against taxes -- but even here this is not really a future business model as companies implement the "Bring your Own device" more and more.
And to those who say we don't know anything about Ms's pricing -- well here's a start.
(This is just a start - prices will surely rise too : Office 365 basic pricing is 99 USD a year -- small business is 149 USD a year) -- now OK Office 365 allows install on 5 machines for one home subscription -- but how many people at home need 5 copies of office.
That's also the price BEFORE any taxes are added on -- sales / service / VAT or whatever. You can 100% be sure that governments won't allow Ms to deliver these services tax free. So add on say another 20 USD a year for tax -- up and up it goes. - Well I'm OFF that particular treadmill and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Then what happens if Ms introduce say Windows 365 -- will it also be similarly priced or cost more. Not difficult to see how pockets will get really squeezed.
BTW You can still get the very capable Office 2007 student and teacher edition for around 35 USD in some places.
Finally I can only say that if a subscription model is introduced -- in no way will Piracy go down --this is an EXTRA challenge I'm sure to people indulging in that type of activity so expect to see many more copies of THIS version around rather than fewer.
Cheers
jimbo
