Free Windows 10 for Insiders?
Well, that is certainly what this sounds like. Granted, most people testing probably already came from legitimate versions. And what is implied seems to have been back up to some degree by Gabe Aul at Microsoft. Though, he has not in fact stated this explicitly. But then, maybe this isn't the sort of thing you want to run around stating explicitly.
As others have stated, there is a good chance that shortly after launch, or at the least within the 1 year free upgrade period this will probably get locked down. The insider program will continue after launch with Insiders continuing to get the chance to provide feedback and getting advance builds of the OS. But that doesn't mean this activation model will persist. In fact, since it looks like it will be possible to get out of the Insider program, it almost seems necessary.
But, with all of that in mind, maybe they won't lock it down. I am of course on the side of it being more likely that they will plug this hole eventually. But it actually isn't without merit to leave this option open.
Firstly, this avenue is of no use to the average consumer. They will have bought PCs with Windows pre-installed and would likely prefer to stick with more stable versions anyway. Microsoft gets OEM licensing fees, consumers never see the cost of the OS directly and everyone is happy.
The people most likely to take advantage of this gap are people with multiple PCs, VM's or people building their own computers. You need an existing PC to put the ISO on a disc or USB key anyway and in many cases these people also have legitimate Windows OSs too. VMs have always been one of those places where, outside of businesses no one would pay for a license anyway, and home PC builders are probably the most likely to pirate a copy of the OS anyway AND that is a shrinking market segment.
So, by and large, the people likely to take advantage of this aren't likely all that big of an audience to begin with.
But wait! There's more! If you read the article, you'll note that you need a Microsoft Account (MSA) to get into the Insider program AND you need to have an account on the PC linked to that MSA to get the activation. This is even better than Windows with Bing. That just forced OEMs to leave Bing and IE as the defaults for their respective purposes. This forces you to sign up for an MSA if you didn't already have one which would be a much better gateway to getting people into the Microsoft ecosystem. And in the case of the younger generation growing up in a market where phones and tablets are primary computing devices for many, there market of those with an MSA is likely on the rise.
Also, having an MSA is a pre-requisite for buying things from the Windows Store which they monetize and gets you free storage with OneDrive and numerous other things.
Beyond that, if these users actually contribute feedback on the Insider builds Microsoft gets value that way as well. It also means larger numbers for usage statistics and other useful metrics for the company.
But, this does seem unlikely. Or at least, there really is no precedent for this and it is kind of at odds with retail SKUs still costing $100+. More than likely is simply that the Insider program was more successful than they had hoped for. OEM Windows 8 machines generally have a product key in the BIOS, but Windows 7 and non OEM Windows 8 users who upgraded to the Preview may have lost their product keys and this could simply be their way of making sure they don't screw over people who should be able to upgrade legitimately.
On the other side, the general feeling from Microsoft employees has been that they want to get Window 10 to many people free or as cheaply as possible. Maybe this will be intentionally left open as a workaround due to the fact they can't seem to convince their board to support dropping prices.
In the end though... I think that is just wishful thinking.
As others have stated, there is a good chance that shortly after launch, or at the least within the 1 year free upgrade period this will probably get locked down. The insider program will continue after launch with Insiders continuing to get the chance to provide feedback and getting advance builds of the OS. But that doesn't mean this activation model will persist. In fact, since it looks like it will be possible to get out of the Insider program, it almost seems necessary.
But, with all of that in mind, maybe they won't lock it down. I am of course on the side of it being more likely that they will plug this hole eventually. But it actually isn't without merit to leave this option open.
Firstly, this avenue is of no use to the average consumer. They will have bought PCs with Windows pre-installed and would likely prefer to stick with more stable versions anyway. Microsoft gets OEM licensing fees, consumers never see the cost of the OS directly and everyone is happy.
The people most likely to take advantage of this gap are people with multiple PCs, VM's or people building their own computers. You need an existing PC to put the ISO on a disc or USB key anyway and in many cases these people also have legitimate Windows OSs too. VMs have always been one of those places where, outside of businesses no one would pay for a license anyway, and home PC builders are probably the most likely to pirate a copy of the OS anyway AND that is a shrinking market segment.
So, by and large, the people likely to take advantage of this aren't likely all that big of an audience to begin with.
But wait! There's more! If you read the article, you'll note that you need a Microsoft Account (MSA) to get into the Insider program AND you need to have an account on the PC linked to that MSA to get the activation. This is even better than Windows with Bing. That just forced OEMs to leave Bing and IE as the defaults for their respective purposes. This forces you to sign up for an MSA if you didn't already have one which would be a much better gateway to getting people into the Microsoft ecosystem. And in the case of the younger generation growing up in a market where phones and tablets are primary computing devices for many, there market of those with an MSA is likely on the rise.
Also, having an MSA is a pre-requisite for buying things from the Windows Store which they monetize and gets you free storage with OneDrive and numerous other things.
Beyond that, if these users actually contribute feedback on the Insider builds Microsoft gets value that way as well. It also means larger numbers for usage statistics and other useful metrics for the company.
But, this does seem unlikely. Or at least, there really is no precedent for this and it is kind of at odds with retail SKUs still costing $100+. More than likely is simply that the Insider program was more successful than they had hoped for. OEM Windows 8 machines generally have a product key in the BIOS, but Windows 7 and non OEM Windows 8 users who upgraded to the Preview may have lost their product keys and this could simply be their way of making sure they don't screw over people who should be able to upgrade legitimately.
On the other side, the general feeling from Microsoft employees has been that they want to get Window 10 to many people free or as cheaply as possible. Maybe this will be intentionally left open as a workaround due to the fact they can't seem to convince their board to support dropping prices.
In the end though... I think that is just wishful thinking.
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