Might be time to stock pile some back up components, main board, graphics card, processor, ram etc, newer boards might not support older operating systems, then you will have no choice.
I expect this approach would be a preferable business model as future income would be more predictable and translate into a higher share price.
Sales can be volatile whereas rent is predictable.
Alex
Seriously Microsoft are just plain greedy, it may well lean to their ultimate downfall. If they pull this stunt, I will be leaving them for sure. I would bet that I am not alone in this way of thinking.
Might be time to stock pile some back up components, main board, graphics card, processor, ram etc, newer boards might not support older operating systems, then you will have no choice.
Seriously Microsoft are just plain greedy, it may well lean to their ultimate downfall. If they pull this stunt, I will be leaving them for sure. I would bet that I am not alone in this way of thinking.
Peter ...I'm sure you won't be ' Robinson Crusoe ' with this sillly undertaking .... save a seat for me ....
Last edited by FlashDrive; 01-08-2018 at 06:31 PM.
Inevitable... Microsoft isn’t good at hardware, and there haven’t really been any killer new feature in operating systems since windows NT.
Without a compelling reason to buy a new OS every few years they’ll go under.
So they’ve created a new feature of their own - and it’s a real “killer” - in the form of a time bomb demanding money and holding your files to ransom.
They aren’t alone in this model, it has been tried before in the 1980s and 1990s by mainframe companies - all of which have died anyway except IBM.
I've been a sysadmin for the past ... (counts in head) 14 years (man....). The IT industry as a whole is moving towards the Software as a service model, presumably because its a good money spinner. Personally I dislike it. It has advantages, but it has disadvantages too.
Its also moving towards this "Fail fast" mentality which is giving me the ... poos... because we get half... rear... patches by Microsoft which break stuff more than they fix. This month has been terrible for patches.
It is for this reason at home that I have moved mostly to Linux. I do have a Windows install which I use for some games, all the rest (including that machine on a separate boot) I use Linux.
Linux does have its own problems, there's no question about it. But at least I can (largely) control the damn thing.
Mac: personally I loathe them. Differences of opinion, personality clashes, I'm a snob, call it what you like. However for some people they are very good. I fear however that Mac has lost its way since Jobs died.
I'll take my primary PC's offline if they go to a subscription model. Switch to a Linux system for online email etc. Fed up with these big greedy corporate extortionists ripping us off. We'll be paying rent just to breathe soon.
I supported users with MS Office 360 in my last job, a pain when the subscription renewal failed to connect. With 800 users all unable to work it becomes a real problem.
I've been a sysadmin for the past ... (counts in head) 14 years (man....). The IT industry as a whole is moving towards the Software as a service model, presumably because its a good money spinner. Personally I dislike it. It has advantages, but it has disadvantages too.
Its also moving towards this "Fail fast" mentality which is giving me the ... poos... because we get half... rear... patches by Microsoft which break stuff more than they fix. This month has been terrible for patches.
It is for this reason at home that I have moved mostly to Linux. I do have a Windows install which I use for some games, all the rest (including that machine on a separate boot) I use Linux.
Linux does have its own problems, there's no question about it. But at least I can (largely) control the damn thing.
Mac: personally I loathe them. Differences of opinion, personality clashes, I'm a snob, call it what you like. However for some people they are very good. I fear however that Mac has lost its way since Jobs died.
OS X is pretty good, but even Apple is being a ******* - older Intel based Macs can't upgrade to the latest MacOS - the UEFI bios is used as a weapon by Apple to ensure that you can't upgrade.
GNU/Linux is pretty damn good, has very few problems of its own making. The only real problems are due to 3rd party software developers who only release their software for Windows (and occasionally, OS X). WINE does a good job for most Windows software.
GNU/Linux's problem is threefold:
1) generally speaking, poor UI
2) far too many applications - for each application type (say, web browser) there's so many different apps that it's confusing for newbies. It also dilutes QA/QC and feature development imho, by splintering the developers. I know many open source fans cry that this is its strongest selling point, I personally disagree.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wavytone
Inevitable... Microsoft isn’t good at hardware, and there haven’t really been any killer new feature in operating systems since windows NT.
Without a compelling reason to buy a new OS every few years they’ll go under.
So they’ve created a new feature of their own - and it’s a real “killer” - in the form of a time bomb demanding money and holding your files to ransom.
They aren’t alone in this model, it has been tried before in the 1980s and 1990s by mainframe companies - all of which have died anyway except IBM.
It's becoming more and more common today. Adobe? The Sky? I personally think it's disgusting. Having to pay a subscription fee for a software dev to fix their bloody buggy software is outrageous and downright illegal. But, as usual, legislators get very confused when you mention software.
There are 2 big operating systems today - Microsoft Windows and Apple OS X. If Microsoft goes this way, you can bet your bottom dollar the greedy buggers at Apple will follow. And with only 2 real competitors, tying up 99% of the market, the rest of the 3rd party software companies will follow suit. Except for open source software of course (GNU GPL'd).
Microsoft has been feeling the waters with MS Office for several years now. It hasn't harmed "sales" of MS Office.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikolas
This will hopefully be the death nell for this overbloated, virus plagued system, good riddance
Nope. See above. People are stupid. They'll do it, cos they only know Microsoft and don't wanna learn anything else. Switching to Apple is dangerous - worsening products and product design and QA/QC make their products unfavourable to purchase.
But yes, it is a virus plagued system, and it would be good to see it gone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by acropolite
I have to agree, win 8 and 10 were the first nails in the MS coffin, a subscription based model will only drive more users to Linux.
Nah. Your average person is too stupid, and too lazy to want to figure out how to use Linux. If 3rd party devs don't port their software to Linux, people will not move. Linux has had this issue since the early 00s. it ain't gonna change anytime soon (in fact, Microsoft has deliberately interfered with open source competition at every *single* turn - ODF anyone?).
Inevitable... Microsoft isn’t good at hardware, and there haven’t really been any killer new feature in operating systems since windows NT.
Without a compelling reason to buy a new OS every few years they’ll go under.
So they’ve created a new feature of their own - and it’s a real “killer” - in the form of a time bomb demanding money and holding your files to ransom.
They aren’t alone in this model, it has been tried before in the 1980s and 1990s by mainframe companies - all of which have died anyway except IBM.
I have to disagree with pretty much everything you say here.
The revenue MS gets from it's hardware is more than it gets from it's desktop operating systems (think X-box, Surface etc). In fact, in 2015 PC operating systems revenue made up less than 16% of their total revenue.
Regarding the artticle, this sounds more like something that will sit alongside the current windows 10 that people are familiar with buying and managing, and will probably be a successful product, just not to regular consumers, think more business and enterprise consumers.
I have to disagree with pretty much everything you say here.
The revenue MS gets from it's hardware is more than it gets from it's desktop operating systems (think X-box, Surface etc). In fact, in 2015 PC operating systems revenue made up less than 16% of their total revenue.
Regarding the artticle, this sounds more like something that will sit alongside the current windows 10 that people are familiar with buying and managing, and will probably be a successful product, just not to regular consumers, think more business and enterprise consumers.
Windows mobile blows, and the surface has been a dismal failure in most markets.
XBOX One has a crappy GPU and the PS4 (let alone the PS4 Pro!) kills it in terms of performance. Sony also kills the Microsoft XBOX One both in sales, and game sales for the platform.
I highly doubt that Microsoft makes more money from its hardware sales than it does software - source please?
Windows mobile blows, and the surface has been a dismal failure in most markets.
XBOX One has a crappy GPU and the PS4 (let alone the PS4 Pro!) kills it in terms of performance. Sony also kills the Microsoft XBOX One both in sales, and game sales for the platform.
I highly doubt that Microsoft makes more money from its hardware sales than it does software - source please?