Wouldn’t it be cool if Microsoft offered a subscription for all of it’s services? Hear me out, because it’s almost inevitable that Windows will soon be subscription based, and we’ve already got Xbox LIVE, Xbox Music and Office 365. Now, throw in 100GB of OneDrive storage and bam! You’ve got an all-in-one, convenient subscription for everything you need.
Let me introduce you to an idea called OnePass. It’s the next big thing, if you look at it from a feature filled perspective. It’s also an unofficial concept, so don’t go running off telling your friends about it as if it were real. Now that’s out the way, let’s talk about it shall we?
OnePass would allow consumers to pay for Windows, Office, Xbox LIVE, Xbox Music and 100GB of OneDrive storage all for $99 a year. You’ll also be able to choose between monthly and semi-yearly subscriptions too, but the yearly subscription will be for the best as it’s the cheapest and most convenient. Now, you’re probably thinking “How the hell would Microsoft make any money from this?”, I would hope they would have the numbering worked out a lot better than this.
Windows is too expensive. $99 for the base-line version of Windows is outrageous, and the industry standard is moving away from paid operating systems. Mac OS X is becoming free, Chrome OS is already free and Microsoft even had to give away Windows 8.1 to Windows 8 users for free. I can bet that within the next ten years, nobody will be buying Windows. Instead, they’ll be using some other alternative because Windows is simply too expensive.
Now, I’m not saying Microsoft would make more money from this subscription. In reality they’ll lose money. But, as the industry moves forward, Microsoft needs to make that change. Offering all their services under one convenient subscription would boost the amount of users who use each individual service. I know for a fact that not everybody uses Xbox Music, and OnePass would change that.
I already find myself squinting at having to pay for Windows, and then Xbox LIVE, Xbox Music, OneDrive Storage and Office all on top of that. I’d much prefer having it under OnePass, which could easily be managed from the Microsoft Account page.
Heck, it could even be customizable. Add your own services to the subscription for an additional price. Use Skype? You can add that to your subscription for $5.99 per month, or something along those lines.
Now, I’m not saying Microsoft would ever consider something like this, and even if they did I’m sure they’d have the pricing worked out a little better than this to make sure they earn the maximum amount of money possible, but they definitely could do it, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Microsoft had something like this planned for the future. However, I want to know your thoughts on the idea. Would it convince you to try other services? Would you even consider the subscription? Let us know below!
