Microsoft launches ‘free’ Windows 10
Print Edition
MICROSOFT Corp yesterday launched its much-awaited Windows 10 operating system, almost three years after the launch of its predecessor.
The new software will be available in 190 countries and regions as a free upgrade for users of Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1.
The “free” strategy is a calculated gamble, designed to put Windows on as many devices as possible. The company would then make up for any lost revenue by selling services such as Office over the Internet.
The new operating system is designed to work across laptops, desktop and smartphones and is part of Chief Executive Satya Nadella’s push toward breaking Apple Inc and Google Inc’s stranglehold in the mobile arena.
Windows faces intense competition from Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, which have cornered the lion’s share of the mobile market.
“There are massive headwinds in Microsoft’s PC business, making it crucial that the Windows 10 cloud approach opens up new growth avenues for the Windows business,” FBR Capital Markets analyst Daniel Ives wrote in a note.
The immediate revenue hit from the “free” strategy is unlikely to be large, as Microsoft gets no more than US$500 million of its US$20 billion or so annual Windows revenue from upgrades, analysts have said.
The vast majority of revenue comes from hardware makers installing it on new PCs and businesses paying for multi-year licenses.
Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said last week that Microsoft was looking to generate additional revenue by building search and gaming capabilities into the Windows 10 interface.
Microsoft skipped Windows 9 altogether, to put some distance between the new system and Windows 8, which confused many users by losing the start button menu. Windows 10 brings back the button, and also comes equipped with Microsoft’s new browser, Edge.
New PCs and tablets running Windows 10 went on sale yesterday, while the operating system will be made available on smartphones and other devices later in the year.
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