Is Windows 9 really going to be free?

Recently, there have been a lot of reports about Microsoft's new generation operating system. However, the issue that the industry and consumers are most concerned about is probably the cost: Is Windows 9 really free? If so, is it only for Windows 8 users or for all Windows users?

Microsoft will hold a press conference to launch the new version of Windows in the early hours of Wednesday this week. The technical preview of Windows 9 may be released in advance, but the final version will not be officially released until the spring of 2015.

Windows 9 is free, which is the general trend

First, regarding whether Windows 9 is free, although Andris Diatlo, president of Microsoft Indonesia, recently said that Windows 8 users can upgrade to Windows 9 for free, Microsoft officials are still tight-lipped about this. However, various realities are gradually pushing Windows 9 towards being free.

As we all know, the Vista system of Ballmer's era had a mediocre market response, and the emergence of its successor Windows 7 helped Microsoft regain the confidence of the market and users. However, Win8 in 2012 was met with the same cold reception as Windows Vista. In addition, Microsoft's mainstream Windows XP and Windows 7 are both old systems, the former has been in service for 13 years, and the latter has been in service for 7 years. Microsoft urgently needs a new operating system to defend its position as the desktop hegemon. The launch of Windows 9 will be an important opportunity to change the outside world's view of Windows, and free is the best accelerator.

In addition, Microsoft missed the explosive growth of mobile operating systems, while Google and Apple quickly carved up the mobile market with Android and iOS respectively. According to Microsoft data from August 2014, Microsoft's global share of all hardware devices, including PCs, tablets and smartphones, was only 14%, of which WP phones only had a 2.5% share.

The launch of Windows 9 will bring another opportunity for the development of hardware devices. Although the cores of Microsoft's tablets and smartphones are now unified, the operating experience is torn apart and each is independent. Therefore, with the launch of Windows 9, the "Ren Du Meridian" between the two will be quickly opened up. The applications and games developed by developers once will be available on the two integrated platforms of Windows Phone and Windows RT, which is of great significance to Microsoft.

More importantly, consumers around the world are becoming more and more accustomed to free operating systems and updates, which has become a trend in the industry. Other mainstream operating systems, such as iOS, Android, and OS X, all offer free upgrades. In this free trend, if Microsoft insists on charging, it will slowly lose market share. After all, Microsoft's system upgrade fees have always been too high, with the retail prices of Win8.1 Standard Edition and Win8.1 Professional Edition being 998 yuan and 1998 yuan respectively. These factors have led to the proliferation of piracy on the one hand, and on the other hand have restricted the enthusiasm of old users for new systems.

It can be seen that the free Microsoft new generation operating system Windows 9 is an inevitable trend!

Two ways to make Windows 9 free

Considering Microsoft's revenue issues, there may be two plans for Windows 9 to be free.

First, it is completely free for the mobile field. At the BUILD conference in April this year, Microsoft announced that Windows 8.1 is free for tablets and phones below 9 inches. Therefore, Windows 9 for smartphones and tablets will continue the previous free policy, which will continue to promote Microsoft's market share in mobile devices.

Second, in the desktop field, the system is mainly free, supplemented by bundled value-added charges.

It was previously reported that Microsoft is considering offering free upgrades to existing Windows users, including Windows 8 users who can upgrade to Windows 9 for free. Old users of Windows XP and other operating systems will receive special discounts. The official has not made a clear statement on this. However, Windows 8 and Windows RT users can upgrade to Windows 8.1 for free through the Windows Store online store. Therefore, it is very likely that Windows 8 users will be able to upgrade to Windows 9 for free.

As for the idea that old users of Windows XP and Windows 7 will get special discounts, I don't agree. After all, the two versions of the operating system still dominate the global PC desktop. Windows 7's share has exceeded 50%, and although Windows XP is no longer supported by Microsoft, it is still used by many users. If it is necessary to charge for upgrades, even discounted upgrades will discourage these users, which is a problem that Microsoft must seriously consider as it continues to promote Windows 9.

For consumers, if Microsoft provides Windows 9 free upgrade to all users, everyone will be happy. But for Microsoft, which is losing revenue, it will inevitably look for new economic growth points, and providing cloud services is a good solution. After all, traditionally, the revenue from Windows is one of the two most important cash flows of Microsoft (the other is Office).

At the beginning of last year, Microsoft began to provide computer manufacturers with a free Windows operating system bundled with Bing, a move aimed at promoting Microsoft's network services. Therefore, in the desktop field, Microsoft will continue to promote Windows 9 in a similar way of free system plus paid value-added service bundles.

In summary, it is an inevitable trend for Microsoft to provide Windows 9, a new generation of operating system, to users for free. After all, you can't catch a wolf without sacrificing the lamb. Although the revenue will be reduced temporarily, Microsoft will continue to monopolize the traditional desktop market. In addition, once traditional desktop consumers benefit from Microsoft, they will be more willing to use Microsoft's paid value-added services, and even like and try Windows Phone and Windows tablets, which will generate additional economic benefits for Microsoft.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.