There’s been a lot of confusion with the words “Windows as a service.” Some believe it means you will have to pay a monthly subscription to use Windows — this is incorrect. Gabe Aul has taken to Twitter to clarify Microsoft’s position on the notion of “Windows as a service.” Here’s what he said:
@briguy943 “Windows as a service” just means that we’ll continuously keep it up to date. There is no ongoing fee.
— Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) May 12, 2015
Since the introduction of Office 365 — a subscription-based version of the productivity software — there have been persistent rumors that Windows would face the same eventuality. Obviously, this has caused some angst in the community, since the cost of a Windows license has traditionally been hidden in the cost of new computers.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that it’s the same old routine at Microsoft these days. The company is treating Windows as a service in the sense that, like Aul says, users will be kept up to date. This should reduce the amount of fragmentation that plagues the software, thereby making it easier to keep people in Microsoft’s ecosystem.
