Not sure why the surprise, Uvah. The writing has been on the wall for a very long time.

This better now be a forced thing, because if it is I will sue their stupid asses!   

LightStar

reply 2

This better now be a forced thing, because if it is I will sue their stupid asses!   

If you can. One (well, me, lol) wonders why nobody ever managed to successfully sue Microsoft because of their forced Windows 10 updates trashing previously working Windows 7 machines.

I'm not sure how different this will make things. Maybe this will force me to go to Linux now. Unbuntu is that the one to pick maybe I should start learning.

I know its been out for a while but this is the first time I saw it in the news.

Guess Jorge didn't know how far behind the times you are. He will learn.

Jorge. Ross just learned that the first letter was delivered by Horse. He will catch up.

I wouldn't get all worked up from a CW article. 

LOL.

Well, in Ross's defense it is true that MS never clearly stated that this is what they would be doing, but it was obvious where all this 'free' Windows 10 thingy, Office 365, UWP apps, the attempt to kill Win32 applications, etc, was going.

And in that line, what truly shocks me is that not so long ago people would riot in the streets if an application did as much as phone home for whatever reason, and now they KNOW their personal data is being harvested and they seem not to care at all. When did we become so apathetic that Microsoft thought (rightly so) that it would get away with shoving Windows 10 down our throats wether we liked it or not? 

Not so long ago, people would quote George Orwell's 1984 as an example of what could happen in a totalitarian society (the constant surveillance, the all seeing eye at their own homes, etc...) and now it is the people themselves that bring those devices to their own homes (Alexa, Google, etc...). We post all our lives, thoughts and opinions on social media, every purchase and search we do can be digitally tracked, and we carry with us devices that can track down every movement we do at all times (cell phones).

And nobody, no government organization, none of the people who actually have the power to say 'Stop, enough is enough' say so or do anything to protect us.

Can people truly not see where all this is heading and how fast things can change for the worse? Are they so deluded that they don't at least see the danger? Seriously, this world is turning into a very scary place.

Not sure we are already there.

Jorge -

What people do voluntarily to allow intrusion of the internet into their lives is one thing.  Not for me to say whether that is a good or bad idea for them.  My opinion is irrelevant to their needs and wants.

But the inexorable march of OS's & software to subscription-based access (I'm typing this on one of Stardock's sites, ironically, to which I willingly subscribe because I see value there) is both unfortunate and unavoidable because there has yet to arise an economical alternative of equivalent quality.  I dislike it, particularly with respect to OS's, but we really have no choice in the matter.  Critical mass has been achieved and we are completely captive consumers.  OS-as-a-service will be a nightmare to administer and a disaster for many users, particularly at first, but we'll have no choice but to bite the bullet.  As long as it's only money demanded of us, we'll eventually get it figured out.  But if Facebook & Twitter are any sort of barometers, you better have the 'correct' ideas & use it only for approved purposes or there might be no OS for you.  Just take a moment & ponder what the EULA/TOS might look like - could make War and Peace look like a comic book.

</tinfoilhat>

I recall saying when Win 10 was still an infant in nappies [diapers] that it would likely go to subscription within ten years or so.... that System32 applications would be phased out to accomodate the confounded apps that MS so willingly embraced to create something very similar to Apple's 'walled garden'.

Yup, Windows 10 will get to the point where ONLY apps from the MS Store will install AND work as advertised.  All of MS's current partners will suck up to get their softwares available through the store, but most everything else will become obsolete as it will neither install or work.  System32 applications will be a thing of the past and all the money people have spent on the latest software will have been ill-spent.... wasted, in other words.

Moreover, when Win 10 goes to a subscription service, the scrutiny of users activities will increase and 'illegal' practices will see subscriptions either cancelled or running on limited priveleges.  It will pretty near knock pirated software off the horizon and seriously curb or prevent bittorrent downloading. 

I hear some of you saying that's okay, nothing wrong with that, but what if MS decides that currently acceptable applications your'e now using are suddenly 'illegal and your subscription is either cancelled or heavily curtailed?

I recall some laughing when I first said it, some said it would never happen, but it IS inevitable that Windows will become a subscription service and the time is drawing closer.

It's a Corporate customer target market only.  It includes hardware, software, and support all for one monthly charge per user.

This isn't a product Microsoft is planning for homes/individuals.

Perhaps this a 'subscription trial' is for corporate users.... for now.  However, it is invevitable that home users will end up being forced onto OS subscriptions. 

As it is there's already a subscription service for MS Office.  What do you think that is?  It's a another trial to see how successful subscription services would be, and being that millions of unwitting subscribers didn't see it for what it really was, it has been a success and I reckon the OS version wouldn't too far away.

And I guess the "end-game" is that one day nobody will be able to do anything, use commercial software, play a game, etc without being connected to the good old interwebs.

Which makes it easier to have a looksie at what you're doing and then say: "Look, since you're okay at us looking at A, B and C, you may as well let us look at D, which isn't really that much of a personal identifier or something someone could exploit to sell you or track you. We promise we won't look at E because that's your private information."

And a few years down the track, they ask/tell us they're looking at E - "we've been doing for a while, you obviously weren't bothered by it because you didn't say anything..."

A subscription system to me says "we promise to upgrade/fix this software regularly and do it well". Microsoft don't appear to be doing too well by that standard up to here.

That's the crux of it, so many users accept A, B and C being looked at, scrutinised.... and that's the precedent MS will use when it want's to look into D.... and later E.  It won't matter if you're not one of the 'many' users, it's the accepted norm by the majority and the minority who doesn't like it WILL comply/accept it as well.

The whole idea of a Windows subscription is to gain 100% control over everthying users do on their PCs.  There will be no more 'I've been using this program for years' if MS doesn't like or authorise it.  There won't be anymore keeping your porn stash in a secret folder, cos secret folders will be a thing of the past.

As for upgrading/fixing Windows regularly and doing it well, that's total crap and would never be a reality.  MS has such a poor track record in that regard, pigs are more likely to fly. 

Under no circumstances will I ever run a PC with a subscription Windows OS on it.  Nope, NOT EVER!!!!

There was a time when Microsoft was one of the more trusted tech companies, but that consumer trust has since dwindled to all-time lows after that Nadella bloke took over the day to day running of things.  I had higher hopes for MS after Steve Ballmer was replaced, but obviously the place has gone to shit and will be remembered as an all-time tech travesty.