Microsoft hints that Windows 11 could become a fully cloud-based subscription service

[midian182]

A hot potato: Another interesting piece of information has been revealed in the FTC vs. Microsoft hearing, though this one isn't about games. The Redmond giant has been discussing pushing more of Windows 11 for consumers onto the cloud, and could eventually make the OS a subscription-only service.

As spotted by The Verge, an internal Microsoft document from June 2022 revealed in the hearing mentions a consumer version of Windows 365. The slide, called "Modern Life strategy and priorities," includes a bullet point labeled 'Move Windows 11 increasingly to the Cloud.'

Microsoft writes that it wants to build on Windows 365, its corporate service (part of the Azure platform) that gives customers their own secure custom Windows virtual machine that can be accessed from browsers and apps as well as Apple and Android devices. The company says it wants to enable a full Windows operating system streamed from the cloud to any device.

Microsoft envisions this pay-monthly/yearly software-as-a-service (SaaS) using "the power of the cloud and client to enable improved AI-powered services and full roaming of people's digital experience."

In May, we saw what could be Microsoft's first steps toward this plan of a subscription-based Windows 11: Windows 365 Boot. The Windows 11-exclusive feature lets users boot a local machine directly into a remote Windows 365 Cloud PC virtualized image rather than a local version of the OS first.

Microsoft enjoys success with software-as-a-service products such as Microsoft 365, formerly Office 365, which lets users access the likes of Word and Excel. Moving to a subscription-based model rather than charging a one-off payment means a regular, infinite source of income for Microsoft, so it makes financial sense to switch Windows 11 to SaaS.

Consumers, of course, aren't going to be happy about such a move. While many businesses see the benefits of subscribing to Windows 365, everyday users probably won't care about being to use Windows on any device if it means handing over another recurring subscription payment; in June last year, a survey found that people spend an average of $219 on subscriptions.

As with other cloud-based services, there's the question of spotty internet connections, ISP reliability, and server problems. People are also worried about Microsoft abusing its position and sticking even more ads in Windows or making it difficult for customers to use non-MS programs such as Chrome.

Ultimately, though, while the move would doubtlessly send more people to Mac or Linux, there will likely be enough people willing to pay the Windows 11 subscription to make the change viable, and Microsoft knows it.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/99227-microsoft-has-plans-make-windows-11-cloud-based.html

 

[trgz]

So that confirms my last non-Linux OS is my current Win10, though that is still going to last me a while.

 

[takaozo]

"Expect Linux installs to suddenly increase"

I use Linux on a daily base for work and for some purposes this makes the best usage case (office work, switch, router, firewall, WAF, Servers, Cloud, etc.). Unfortunately the current games require a vast knowledge and very time consuming configuration. For each game you have to spent hours just to run it. I know... Proton and Wine but still not there. Until someone makes a custom distro with all running smooth I dont see it coming that soon. And not talking about GPU drivers or other hardware.

As for Windows going SaaS, this kinda happened in some way. A license was granted to anybody who want to upgrade from 7. Even 10 and 11 are free to use if you don't mind the watermark or use a valid key from older versions. That just to milk the customers data.
I honestly don't see enterprise environments moving away from M$ that soon.

And for me I still have tons of KMS, MVL and MSDN keys that work for current and older versions of Windows and M$ apps. I prefer a good hardware firewall with all NGFW features turned on and use what ever software I want behind it.

 

[BuckarooBonzaii]

I guess you're going to be stuck when you buy a new PC in the future. But then cloud service also lessens software piracy too.

 

[Musician]

Expect a decline in PC and rise in Mac.

 

[TheBigT42]

Unfortunately the current games require a vast knowledge and very time consuming configuration. For each game you have to spent hours just to run it. I know... Proton and Wine but still not there.

It isn't that difficult to play windows games using Steam/Proton or Bottles for Wine. For 95% of games it doesn't take very much effort or time (5-10 Minutes for initial config).

 

[Kam7r]

Hi to you, Linux Mint

 

[m4a4]

That's a pretty generous assumption saying that they'll move to only online subscriptions for Win11 (to then say "Expect Linux installs to suddenly increase"). Where does it explicitly say that?

 

[ScottSoapbox]

Expect a decline in PC and rise in Mac.

Not as long as the Apple tax on hardware outweighs the MS tax on software.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

That's a pretty generous assumption saying that they'll move to only online subscriptions for Win11 (to then say "Expect Linux installs to suddenly increase"). Where does it explicitly say that?

This.

For most consumers that just buy premade computers, a monthly OS fee will never fly.

But an optional fee that lets you easily do PC stuff on an iPad (or whatever) would appeal to many people.

 

[DukeJukem]

This is literally nothing but talk. windows 12 is coming out eventually. microsoft isn't going to do this to windows 11. if anything, it will happen to 12. in all reality microsoft probably isn't going to anything, like usual. they still haven't held up their threat of stopping feature updates etc for people who don't have tpm enabled.

I could be wrong but...yea they're not going to do anything lol.

 

[Bruno M. Villar]

Hi to you, Linux Mint

Give a warm welcome to a destructive ecosystem, filled with scams, malwares and the need to use linux with 3 different antivirus software

 

[Just Some Dude]

The problem with Linux is simply this. I want a MacOS = you get Apple Mac, I want Windows = you get Windows (4 versions, all from Microsoft), I want Linux = god knows where to get it, 4,104 distro’s available.
Linux is great for servers, but for the average user, it is not an option.

For windows, it will always be on-premise.

 

[axiomatic13]

Until ISP's get serious on latency and speed the cloud is still a loss leader.

 

[Demote6060]

"Expect Linux installs to suddenly increase"

I use Linux on a daily base for work and for some purposes this makes the best usage case (office work, switch, router, firewall, WAF, Servers, Cloud, etc.). Unfortunately the current games require a vast knowledge and very time consuming configuration. For each game you have to spent hours just to run it. I know... Proton and Wine but still not there. Until someone makes a custom distro with all running smooth I dont see it coming that soon. And not talking about GPU drivers or other hardware.

This is not the case for a good majority of games. Most of the time I can just hit install, then play with no issues. There are some games that require some tinkering, but things work very well out of the box in most situations.

If Microsoft were to move Windows completely to the cloud, which I think will not happen, software support for Mac and Linux will increase. The reason why 3rd party support on Linux is not as good is because Companies do not feel that it is worth it to develop their applications for a smaller user base.

 

[captaincranky]

"They all laughed when I sat down to play the piano", says an old ad for some snake oil course that was going to teach you to be the "life of the party on piano" in about a month.

Well, "they all laughed when I said Windows would eventually become a subscription service", after y'all let them ram Windows 10 down your collective throat". Hmm......

In any event, we just had an article on how big a breakthrough it was that someone cracked the activation code for XP, due to the fact the XP activation servers have been shut down..

Somebody better get to work on cracking the activation code for Windows 7 pretty soon. While it's not common knowledge, I'm about 99% certain the activation servers for Windows 7 are shut down as well.

You can sill get it activated by phone, (barely), but the product COA codes will no longer work, period

I hope they do make Windows a subscription service. I'll have the best, "I told ya so 10 years ago", gloat ever.

YES, I am that shallow.. !So what?

 

[Uncle Al]

That would be a great promotion for Linux in any flavor! Microsludge does it again!!!

 

[Rocky4040]

Been saying this since Windows 8 came out and when Windows 10 came out and was pretty much free all that did is confirm that Microsoft was going to go in the direction of Windows as a subscription option. Probably at first they will go full tilt with business class customers and later on at some point start hitting the basic home users.

I do think though they will most likely go the same route as their office product and sell a sub for Windows 365 as well as keep the full install version as they have now. They may reduce some of the features of the full instal non sub versions.

 

[captaincranky]

For windows, it will always be on-premise.

Perhaps, but if that's the case, why would they be bothering to talk to the FTC about it?

I'm thinking, "to see if they could get away with doing it", and how many palms would they have to grease to get there.

 

[captaincranky]

They may reduce some of the features of the full instal non sub versions.

This is what Adobe has been doing with Photoshop for several years now.

"Photoshop Elements", is the last free standing program they offer at present. At retail it's a hundred bucks. Photoshop proper is $120. so what the hell, right?

Well, the $100.00 you can wipe off your credit card at the next statement, but a subscription goes on forever. Then there's all the sales hype I imagine you'll have to endure while logged in on Photoshop. I won't even run Elements on a machine while it's connected to the web.

 

[takaozo]

This is not the case for a good majority of games. Most of the time I can just hit install, then play with no issues. There are some games that require some tinkering, but things work very well out of the box in most situations.

If Microsoft were to move Windows completely to the cloud, which I think will not happen, software support for Mac and Linux will increase. The reason why 3rd party support on Linux is not as good is because Companies do not feel that it is worth it to develop their applications for a smaller user base.

What distro/software are you using?
Do you install from win-x86 sources or ?
What about cracked games?

 

[HardReset]

Somebody better get to work on cracking the activation code for Windows 7 pretty soon. While it's not common knowledge, I'm about 99% certain the activation servers for Windows 7 are shut down as well.

Already done years ago. Using OEM key and simulated BIOS activation. You can search for more.

 

[takaozo]

Or use online KMS from private servers like msguides.com

 

[captaincranky]

Hi to you, Linux Mint

Hold on for a second there. Mint is "not you grandfathers Linux", which , "used less resources than XP"

Being 64 bit only, it's actually hungrier than Windows 7 at 32 bits, and tends to disassemble itself way faster as well after a crash..(YMMV).

 

[captaincranky]

Already done years ago. Using OEM key and simulated BIOS activation. You can search for more.

Good to know, thanks. Those phone calls are hell on earth.

Give a warm welcome to a destructive ecosystem, filled with scams, malwares and the need to use linux with 3 different antivirus software

I tried to use Mint recently. Not much joy, Although I was getting the hang of it. The only reason I didn't go with Ubuntu, (like most everybody else), at my latest go around was, that it's so damn ugly out of the box