Microsoft By Lee Mathews May. 24, 2014 11:02 am
The rumors you heard about Microsoft offering a free version of Windows are true, it seems. In just a few weeks, several Windows OEMs will unveil their first low-cost PCs and tablets that run Windows with Bing.
As expected, this isn’t a version of Windows that you’ll be able to purchase in stores. It’s being made available only to manufacturers like Acer, HP, Lenovo, and Dell and Microsoft’s goal is to help them produce smaller tablets (under nine inches) that cover “a broader range of price points.” That means cheaper, because Microsoft wants its partners to challenge devices like the Kindle Fire scores of Android tablets now that they’ve pulled the pin on the Surface Mini.
Windows with Bing*will*be free for smartphones, too. And yes, that means using Windows on a phone will make it cheaper for many manufacturers to build than the same device running Android. Why? Because Microsoft has Android patent licensing deals in place. Although they may only cost someone like Lenovo $8 or so per handset, that’s a pile of money when you’re talking about a couple million phones.
It’s worth noting that Bing is only going to be the default search engine on these devices. You’re not going to be stuck with it. If you don’t like it, you can change it to Google, DuckDuckGo, or whatever you want — just like you can with a store-bought copy of Windows.
Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc also announced that these new devices will still include Office, too. On smaller devices, that likely means Office Home and Student will continue to come pre-installed. On a smartphone, that might mean a free year of access to Office 365. Assuming some of those users like what they see, they’ll pay for a subscription once the trial runs out and that delicious recurring revenue is what Microsoft is really after in the Satya Nadella era.
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As expected, this isn’t a version of Windows that you’ll be able to purchase in stores. It’s being made available only to manufacturers like Acer, HP, Lenovo, and Dell and Microsoft’s goal is to help them produce smaller tablets (under nine inches) that cover “a broader range of price points.” That means cheaper, because Microsoft wants its partners to challenge devices like the Kindle Fire scores of Android tablets now that they’ve pulled the pin on the Surface Mini.
Windows with Bing*will*be free for smartphones, too. And yes, that means using Windows on a phone will make it cheaper for many manufacturers to build than the same device running Android. Why? Because Microsoft has Android patent licensing deals in place. Although they may only cost someone like Lenovo $8 or so per handset, that’s a pile of money when you’re talking about a couple million phones.
It’s worth noting that Bing is only going to be the default search engine on these devices. You’re not going to be stuck with it. If you don’t like it, you can change it to Google, DuckDuckGo, or whatever you want — just like you can with a store-bought copy of Windows.
Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc also announced that these new devices will still include Office, too. On smaller devices, that likely means Office Home and Student will continue to come pre-installed. On a smartphone, that might mean a free year of access to Office 365. Assuming some of those users like what they see, they’ll pay for a subscription once the trial runs out and that delicious recurring revenue is what Microsoft is really after in the Satya Nadella era.
More...
