VIDEO: Would You Pay a Monthly Fee to Use Windows?

I've used Linux Mint and Open Office and the problem will be that most people will not be able to adapt to the Linux ecosystem, so yes, they will pay to use windows IF it's a reasonable amount, which I consider to be no more than $5/month for basic Office (Excel, Word, PPT), and maybe $10/month for Office Pro. Like the old saying goes, you get what you pay for!

well... people just think about it too complicated...

you don't even have to go for mac or linux. just use win 7 or win 8 and forget about newer versions. done.

First of all I highly doubt Windows will do this, and if they do it will be either pay by month, or you could still just buy the OS. I've used plenty of Macs and have computers that run Ubuntu, Mint, Chrome OS, Steam OS and a few other Linux distros. However I still use Windows for my main PC and laptop. Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. I find them to be quick, user friendly, and very stable without getting rid of the freedom like Macs do, or the support likes Linux does.And people here are saying Microsoft support sucks, I absolutely love it, I have never paid a dime for support on my Microsoft products. My windows phone light sensor didn't work and they just handed me a new one and was in and out of the store within 30 min. I have dealt with Windows, Xbox support too and had all my problems solved quickly.And as far as viruses and 'Blue screen of death' being a household word, maybe that's because 91.98% of all PCs (Desktops, laptop and netbooks) run Windows, so if I was a hacker I would target the OS that has over 90% market share instead of Mac that has a 6.38% share. And the Blue Screen Of Death is a household word because Windows is a household product. Mac and Linux has their own share of bugs and glitches but are not as talked about because less then 10% of computers run them.Anyways that's just my opinion and everyone has a right to choose their own OS(s).

Not a chance, and for a couple of reasons. Like pretty much everyone has said, I'm against paying a monthly fee for software. I want to buy it and be done with it. Like the guys in the video said (perhaps a little tongue-in-cheek), I don't want my OS turned off if I run into some financial difficulty and can't afford the monthly payment.

Another thing is that one of "benefits" of a monthly subscription is that you wouldn't have to upgrade your OS on every release. It'd happen automatically as part of the subscription. So how would you have felt if you woke up one morning and discovered you were suddenly running Vista? Or your Windows 7 was gone, as well as your desktop, and you were on 8.0?

This is definitely the sort of thing to make me consider Google, or at the very least, burn the previous Windows version permanently into memory.

@EC130John,
I'm with you.
I have been using Linux off and on for a few years and never had a problem with it. My PC has never had a "Bad update" or has it ever crashed with a "BSOD".
I never had to have any security protection programs with any Linux version. With Win 8.1 on my current laptop I have ten security layers.

I'm currently a tester for Windows 10, if I don't get a discount when it is released, that will be the end of 10 for me.

I will not pay a subscription fee for anything M$ has.

People still run Windows?

The primary reason the mindless masses run windows is because it comes bundled for free with their new computer. Charging a subscription for Windows sounds like Microsoft shooting itself in the foot. If the people have to start thinking about their OS and weighing pros and cons about price I can see an avalanche of people switching to Linux & Mac.

I would never pay a monthly fee for any software. I just bought Microsoft Office Pro even though Office 365 may have been cheaper in the long run. I just payed $50 for a free, grandfathered google apps account simply because I don't want to may an annual fee for email.

If Microsoft ever goes to a subscription base on the OS, I will just stick with the latest version as long as possible. I just upgraded from XP to 8, so I could easily go another ten years on 8. I can tolerate it as long as I don't use the new tile interface.

i luv my chromebook, my windows computer is never used because windows 8 is terrible.......hell no. no pay.

hell no...won't pay a dime...they won't even get on the phone to help you with tech support ...Now the new thing is with all the computer sellers...Toshiba ...and Microsoft ....$99.00 and well offer our tech support to you ...comes with a two Problem support on issues...after that you have to pay $99.00 again...screw that ...I'll just buy apple ...

I can't watch the video right now so pardon me if my comment repeats anything covered in it. If Microsoft includes top-notch, U.S.-based tech support in the subscription, I would be receptive to paying for a subscription. But if a subscription were mandatory right now, I still wouldn't consider a Mac (for political reasons) or Linux (too difficult to live with), so I wouldn't have a choice, anyway.

@digitalnicotine7: Macs have a very small percentage (10%?) of the market; I don't consider that "much success". And there's no shortage of capable computer programmers who are working on Linux, yet that has an even smaller market share than OS X.

I would switch to Linux Mint before even considering paying MORE to use Windows. I happen to like Windows 8.1, but I feel the $99 I paid for the OEM version was enough.

That monthly fee would have to be about $0.03 if Microsoft wants to remain a competitive OS provider. I think we'd see more Linux distributions, and proprietary OS's by companies like Lenovo, HP, Asus, Toshiba, and Dell, (Apple does it with much success).

It's not like there's a shortage of capable computer programmers who could easily turn such a foolish action into an opportunity.

No I think of the computer more like an appliance and an OS is necessary to see the hard drive. This would be like renting your computer. I currently run Ubuntu and it is not pain free. For instance this weekends update crashed with firefox, Chrome, and Chromium until I updated my graphics driver. A lot of people are not going to be happy with Ubuntu but there are many other distro's to choose from. I once had a Fedora box that ran for four years without an update or an issue. I might even pay for that to happen again.

simple No !!!

FUD.

Let's see now.

This is the operating system under which all of the worst data intrusions have happened, because there are so many flaws in the system.

This is the operating system which makes it possible for foreign countries to get their cyberspies into our data infrastructure.

This is the operating system which got its start by stealing intellectual property from Apple under cover of a judicial reinterpretation of an agreement.

This is the operating system which made "blue screen of death" a household word, but certainly had nothing to do with making "friendly computer" any kind of widespread phrase.

And, finally, this is the operating system which they think they're going to make me pay a monthly fee to use?

The only really surprising thing here is that so many businesses, government organizations, and individuals have actually bought computers more than once with this virus-masquerading-as-an-operating-system running on it.

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Did I mention that I don't like Windows?

IF it is anything like Windows 8, they will have to pay me to use it.

Can you spell LINUX?
Sure you can!
L I N U X . . .
Very good!
Now, can you say FREE Operating System?
Sure you can!
I see long time PC users switching to Apple or LINUX, if they carry this out.