For my “convenience” and because in this way they can show ads and clickbait
Also: I SET A FUCKING GROUP POLICY THAT DISABLES THE SEARCH BAR; WHY THEY FUCKING IGNORE IT???
For my “convenience” and because in this way they can show ads and clickbait
Also: I SET A FUCKING GROUP POLICY THAT DISABLES THE SEARCH BAR; WHY THEY FUCKING IGNORE IT???
They do it because of greed and the everlasting thirst of large companies to grow bigger and bigger.
They literally gave Windows 10 and 11 away for free if you had Windows 7 or 8.
Many if not most people pay for Windows in the form of licensing costs included in the price of a device, mainly laptops. Most laptops come with Windows preinstalled, and Microsoft earns with every laptop sold with Windows preinstalled. People building their own PC and getting an OEM key for cheap off of eBay or pasting a one-liner into PowerShell are the minority.
Do you really expect people to go out of their way to purchase a retail Windows license when they already have a perfectly valid and activated version of Windows preinstalled on their device?
And now that Windows 10/11 is a nice mix of adware, bloatware, nagware and spyware, do you really think it’s worth $199 (for the “Pro” version)?
It’s a business model Microsoft deliberately chose. Guess what? They were doing just fine before doing what they do now, despite of a few “software pirates”.
I’d happily pay even a subscription fee for Windows if Microsoft didn’t try to shove their crap down my throat every chance they get.
I wouldn’t pay a subscription fee for windows without the bullshit, but that’s partly due to the value of their competition. Without the bullshit though I’d likely be ok with buying a new version every major pc upgrade or if the new edition offered a serious value improvement. Otherwise I’d hold on until such a situation. The move from 10 to 11 was whatever until I got the ads. I’d also probably consider linux every time I have to pay to upgrade. But their bullshit converted me to give it a second chance and I won’t go back. Linux happens to stand on its own merit now.