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MS To Offer Vista For Free?

whitedust.net — Brian Proffitt of Linux Today speculates 'It is my suspicion that Windows Vista will be free.' going on to comment 'If they [Microsoft] do this, and I think it quite possible, they would certainly offer it as a free upgrade for those already using Windows XP or below.

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  • Arkaic, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Dupe.


    http://digg.com/software/Windows_Vista_to_be_free_

    Search, read, think.
  • KidVicious, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Um... Why would Micro$oft give up such a large amount of profit?
  • LordOfFli, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Probably because they are being paid by the RIAA and the MPAA.

    Microsoft Buffeted By Criticism Over Vista DRM
    http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=167101058

    Intel, Microsoft And The Coming DRM Clampdown
    http://www.techweb.com/wire/software/169400189

    Free or not I am staying far away from Vista.
  • voshika, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3As the article says MS don't make a lot of money from home licences of their operating systems... you obviously didnt even read it ;)

    Windows to home users is pretty much a loss maker anyway.

    However giving the soul platform for your flagship enterprise product; Office - for free... ensures both money and repeat custom (from upgrades).

    It's like giving lighters away free, they are still gonna make money on the ciggy's.
  • MikeZila, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Pipe dreams...pipe dreams...
  • FarcicalFart, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yea right.
  • DigitalGeek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0hmm... How interesting that would be...
  • speel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0PLEASE! thats like saying windows is going to switch to gnu ..
  • Xplorer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0If they are going to give it away then why would they even bother making 5 different SKU's????
  • 5blocksfree, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I'll be damned if I consider 'upgrading' to a crippled product. I made that mistake once with XP, and I'll not do it again. Microsoft knows damn well that once you want to do anything outside of a narrowly-defined range, people will have to pay for an additional 'upgrade' anyway. Add to this the DRM factor, and you've got one big hose job. Thanks Bill, but keep it.
  • Hgoale, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0If they did offer it for free, it would only be to personal computers. They'd be nothing without their corporation sales/licensing. If they _did_ just offer it for personal use, then Microsoft wouldn't barely any loss in sales since most of the copies out there are illegal or bought through companies like Dell.

    It wouldn't surprise me, would probably be a good idea for Microsoft, but probably won't happen.
  • acemilo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Actually its 7 skus, not 5, and even if MS paid me I wouldn't upgrade to this *****. It may as well be called windows xp drm edition, thats basically all it is. I will wait for all the drm to be broken, then when someone makes an easy to install iso of it, I'll be there, until then ***** vista.
  • bsharitt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0With all their various versions, I wouldn't be surprised if they offered a very basic, stripped down version(maybe similar to the one aimed at the developing world) for free.
  • dissident, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0yeah.. right... microsoft gets 80% of their revenues from windows and office.. the rest of their projects are just for fun really, and they lose money from most of them.

    Theyd never do that to their shareholders.
  • BugMeNot2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The RIAA is watching you.
  • TC-14, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Releasing Vista for free in my opinion is out of the question for Microsoft. Even i fpeople were to pirate it, Microsoft can still make profit from the sales after all the publishing and shipping costs are dealt with. Microsoft's business plan is profit in any form, be it money or users.

    There could perhaps be a discount for upgrading from a "genuine" copy of Windows XP Home/Professional to one of the lower end editions of Vista for a discounted fee, but royalty free distribution is something that I cannot see happening.
  • MyNightwish, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0with all those version of vista i cant see how they will give all thos kinds of vistas away for free, maybve the strip down version for free yes, but not all thos different versions.
  • Patrick_, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I highly, highly doubt this but it's entirely possible. It's also highly improbable, as someone else stated, M$ makes 80% revenues from Window$...

    I'm sticking with Linux even if Vi$ta is free, thank ya very much.
  • deadpixel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0i don't want it... even for free.
  • frontbrain, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Interesting but I doubt they will give it away for free, and if they did I still wouldn't use it if they keep all that DRM in and everything. If Microsoft offers it for free, it would only be to gain control over people. If they get everyone to go to Vista companies can start rolling out the MS backed DRM content without worrying about compatability and the Direct X only games. I wouldn't put it past them to try to prevent you from dual booting with another OS as well. For your own safety of course.

    They should call it Microsoft Windows 1984 edition.

    Aiming an edition at the developing world is interesting since that is where I have heard of linux making some progress on the desktop (or trying to), I could see them doing this.

    All the control that I have heard of in Vista may be OK with some people, but it won't make its way onto my PC.
  • pierre, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0It would be stupid to make it free. Instead, sell it for $99 so people might actually buy a legit copy like mac fans do when a new os comes out. How many people go to the store and shell out over $300 for a copy of windows XP...its absurd.
  • gatorsrule21, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0even though they should (it seems more like SP3) microsoft wouldn't skip on an oppurtunity to make millions, probably even billions of dollars in revenue
  • randtoul, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Not a hope in hell. They will take money from the RIAA and consumers.
  • elShaggy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It will be free, if you sign a contract saying you will be loyal to microsoft, and not pirate anything. you will also be able to live under thier watchful eye. And then they will charge monthly for use of other things ofter your first 3 free months. Suckers. Long Live apple. :)
  • Godspeed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Actually its 7 skus, not 5, and even if MS paid me I wouldn't upgrade to this *****. It may as well be called windows xp drm edition, thats basically all it is. I will wait for all the drm to be broken, then when someone makes an easy to install iso of it, I'll be there, until then ***** vista."
    i agree with that
    and every ones gonna get the shaft from this drm crap
  • DrunkenDevil, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0NO WAY in hell this is true.
  • petard, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0to all people complaining about DRM, just Shut up!
    It can play non-DRM files just like Windows XP, but ALSO lets you play DRM files if you own the file!
    And a lot of the people saying "i dont care if its free, i wouldnt get it" probably will get it anyways
  • Joe_rigby, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0XP is where I'm staying until I can learn and migrate to Linux.
  • ntufar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Shareholders will not let MS do it.
  • pophysis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Just Say NO to Windows http://digg.com/linux_unix/Just_Say_No_to_Windows
  • t.toe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0free or no, vista will not see my computers hard drives until the DRM has been stripped out of it. if then.
  • spartan777, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0elshaggy: in the contract they would also have the non-competition clause, where you say you'll never buy and apple or install linux. they would put in fine print that if vista detects an ipod they'll sue you for breaking the non-competition thing. and the thing won't be "compatible" with bittorrent, and also send "anonymous" user stats to them. it will have subliminal messages from the riaa and mpaa. like every 5 minutes the screen flashes "DONT PIRATE." of course the users will get over that, it wouldn't be more annoying that that paperclip in office. also, if you pirate a movie on blu-ray of hddvd it will disable your drive, like permanently. or if you listen to illegal music, it blows out your speakers, ensuring you don't ever pirate music again. or, if you play a pirated game, suddenly your card will overclock until it blows up. i bet that is the "game optimization" that they said were in vista platinum, uber, ultra, ultimate edition. uhhh, i could go on.
  • diggmonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Interesting theory but I can't see it happening.
  • KlipschFan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This may be the only way that M$ can compete with the OS X MacTel, especially if Jobs decides to become a software company after all.
  • archer75, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Don't blame microsoft for the DRM. The MIAA and RIAA want it so there it is. Take it up with them, not microsoft.

    You won't be able to play these videos in Linux or OSX at all.

    At least you can on Windows.

    Apple puts DRM on the songs they sell so how is that any different? I'll tell you how. Microsoft isn't putting the DRM on media. Just providing you a way to play it.
  • rrittenhouse, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yea RIGHT! haha. Im good ill stick with *nix.
  • SmeRndmGy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0good idea! free is the only price i would pay for a minor GUI upgrade. this will be a major blow against apple when they release osx for the pc. we all know apple wont give anything out for free, so this would give microsoft an edge.
  • saysaknow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I still wouldn't take it.
  • linuxbox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0petard, Windows XP does not have DRM like is supposed to be in Vista. So yes you can play non-DRM files in XP. XP != Vista
  • mrglass, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0i highly doubt it
  • JimXugle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I'm gonna buy a New Hard Drive for Vista... See how it performs and if it's crippled. If It is, I'll sell it on eBay for what it's worth. (squat)
  • EvilCowSan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0As it was stated, a free version would completely nullify the 7 versions of windows being planned. Also if MS is gonna throw their OS around for free, then why did they just implement the windows upgrade thing that requires a legit XP copy.

    The people that comment on the RIAA and MPAA make a good(and damn frightening) counter point. God knows the RIAA and MPAA have enough money(that's what you get when you don't pay your artists and you sue your consumers) to fund their wars in anyway including paying for a free OS that wouldn't let you do a thing thanks to TCPA/DRM.

    To those saying DRM isn't a problem, at least a year ago when TCPA was the buzz werd, It meant that all code had to be signed and approved at the chip level. This means complete control of what you do. The RIAA could make it so you could only view your legitimately purchased media a couple times etc. 'FrontBrain' is right, it will be windows 1984 edition.
  • FRAGaLOT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I'll get it free anyway at some point. I don't think Apple wants to make OSX available for everyone to buy and install since Apple will lose their control on his legacy of being a stable OS.

    Since there are so many different hardware configurations that OSX won't support fully, or not at all. Hardware manufactures will have to start releasing OSX drivers for video cards, sound cards, etc. which again leaves Apple out of the loop for stability of their own OS.

    The main reason why OSX is so stable and clean is because it only runs on specific hardware that Apple controls them selves. Unlike what Microsoft Windows.

    Even the OSx86 leak will only run on specific hardware that most PC users do not have (SSE3) or emulated hardware.

    So until Apple can more finely tune MAC OS, I doubt you'll see it running on a traditional PC configuration. but it sure would be nice to have that choice.
  • Gawd_it_HURTS, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yeah, it'll be free. I'll get it free like I get all my other *****.....Edonkey, Overnet, Bearshare, Bittorrent
  • foxhoundadmin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"If they are going to give it away then why would they even bother making 5 different SKU's????"

    actually, it's seven (7). i still couldn't see microsoft giving away even a bottom-of-the-barrel copy of vista for free. however, if they DO infact give away free copies of vista, then that's what you'll get--a stripped down version of vista. i'm thinking of staying miles, hell, lightyears away from vista. it'll be years before i pay to upgrade to vista. however, if m$ does infact give away free copies of vista, then i could see myself dual booting windows--one xp partition and one vista partition. hell, i'm gonna do that anyway. i'm not giving up xp for some drm'ed version of windows.
  • Gawd_it_HURTS, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0That's a ***** comment about "why OSX is SO stable". OSX is nothing more than Unix/FreeBSD, which is nothing more than Linux. OSX sucks and steve jobs sucks WHALES. I take that back. Steve Jobs sucks Bill Gates
  • fluffyturtle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I could see them offering a greatly stripped down version for free. As in so stripped down that if you wanted to do anything other than word processing or email you have to upgrade.

    Otherwise keep dreaming.
  • Absalon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0i have a feeling the vista version out there is going to be the ultimate version of Vista. Microsoft is developing a trend of showing off the super cool thing, then adding a couple SKU's and with each SKU taking things away from it. im just that the free version will be a basic stand alone version of windows but crippled. u might be able to install 4-5 applications, NO thirdparty. and certainly no File-sharing. it will be a "perfectly" ""secure' box. for the uber average pc user. limiting their options they have no choice but to be "safe" just like a MSNtv but with limited application support. that's right i said it first. quote me.
    -Absalon
  • foxhoundadmin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0i'm suprised none of you ever took a business class in college. well, not really, considering WELL over 50% of digg users aren't even old enough to goto college. m$ can't do this in our economy. the goverment doesn't allow it.

    http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=dumping

    note meaning #4.
  • Philbert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Maybe if they stop screwing with OpenGL I might be interested. My livelihood (3d) depends on software that uses OpenGL in a window, if that was crippled you can practically say good by to 3D movies and games being made on PCs.
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