56 minutes ago, mSparks said:

as of series x/s the only substantial difference between pc hardware and xbox hardware is that chip being on. It lets the OS lock the user out of modifying the software by using the tpm chip to encrypt everything.

If you've used msfs on PC you've probably already seen it to some degree with XBOX for PC.

Yes but why would they want to do this? I'm not going to pay them any more money? I still dont fully understand why Windows 11 is being offered for free? There must be some catch other than them having my details? How will Windows 11 make them money?

Edited October 11, 20214 yr by jarmstro

12 minutes ago, jarmstro said:

Yes but why would they want to do this? I'm not going to pay them any more money? I still dont fully understand why Windows 11 is being offered for free? There must be some catch other than them having my details? How will Windows 11 make them money?

As @GoranM so likes to point out, you dont own any of the software on your windows machine, locking it up with hardware encryption ensures you dont do any of that pirate stuff like modify things the people who do own it dont want you to (e.g. premium msfs planes) or "accidentally" make unauthorised copies.

Its like gizmo only protected by hardware (because modifying software is easy, hardware not so much)

Also means when they discontinue free pc online multiplayer the choice will really be pay or dont play.

Edited October 11, 20214 yr by mSparks

5 minutes ago, jarmstro said:

Yes but why would they want to do this? I'm not going to pay them any more money? I still dont fully understand why Windows 11 is being offered for free? There must be some catch other than them having my details? How will Windows 11 make them money?

Apple used to charge for their OS updates as well and no longer do.. but mostly likely because of all the embedded software they put in and the MS Store, OneDrive, Office subscriptions etc.

I picked up a Windows 10 Pro license some time ago as I needed it to run on Bootcamp to run some software. It's not much better than the home edition, but I found it an incredibly annoying system, with constant popups, apps/ads I didn't ask for, like Skype, long update cycles when shutting down, reminders to fix my MS account, or sync with OneDrive and all other things I don't want nor did I ask for. No OS should get in your way, but each iteration of Windows is getting worse and worse... I dread to think what's in 11 (and hopefully they don't just decide to update my OS for me without my permission)

27 minutes ago, tonywob said:

Apple used to charge for their OS updates as well and no longer do..

The big difference there tho is Apple do change for it, and quite a lot - its included in the cost of their hardware.

MS mostly don't make hardware (that anyone wants to pay for above cost), so have to resort to other means, like selling all your documents and data to the highest bidder, and selling access to your hardware to any governments that think you might be a threat, from which a rather large advertising industry has grown up around.

Let's hope Win 11 does not get as bloated as 10. I only have 15 GB left of my 64 GB partition after six years worth of updating (incuding regular cleanups of leftovers).

 

P.S:

Microsoft is a huge contributor to the Linux ecosystem and open source in general. A far cry from Ballmer's "Linux is cancer" statement from 2001. Someday Windows may even become nothing more than a fancy Linux distro with customer support that is paid for by advertisement and premium services.

2 hours ago, jarmstro said:

I still dont fully understand why Windows 11 is being offered for free?

You can still instatll win10 for free. From teh installer on there website.

Mostly because more users are going with linux , well that's my assumption

18 minutes ago, Humpty said:

Mostly because more users are going with linux , well that's my assumption

Highly doubtful..... at least on Desktop....

Now phones and tablets, that's a different story 

15 minutes ago, tonywob said:

Highly doubtful..... at least on Desktop....

Now phones and tablets, that's a different story 

Don't know but this what i am seeing in my organisation , we are now completely on laptop mostly due to WFH and 80% users are on dual boot for Vscode. 

I see no other reason for MS giving away free OS. So if they want every single PC / laptop on MS Win they would need to provide it free , i am not paying a 200-300 bucks for it when i get stuff done on the freeone. Yeah gaming is a completely story

Edited October 12, 20214 yr by Humpty

44 minutes ago, Humpty said:

Mostly because more users are going with linux , well that's my assumption

Its not free, your the sale. How do you think all these social media mobs are raking in the billions., peoples ignorance.

4 minutes ago, mjrhealth said:

Its not free, your the sale. How do you think all these social media mobs are raking in the billions., peoples ignorance.

my desktop at home W10  I didn't pay anything for it. But it went ahead and activated it. My other office laptops running win7 were formatted and installed with W10  , they also are activated (no the win7 license was not used as an upgrade to w10)

For those thinking they get a free windows license, forget it. Every pc sold comes with the so called Microsoft tax, I suspect even the Linux ones.

And if you are building your own pc, expect to open your wallet for a windows license.

The upgrades to 10 and 11 are free tho, but that is because it is  cheaper for Microsoft not to deal with multiple versions of their OS, due to the now obligatory security patches.

Second, the big companies make more money now with services, then with off the shelve products. Windows in that strategy is a means to buy you in the Microsoft ecosystem (see Azure, office 356, etc).

In that light, MSFS is foremost a showcase what Azure is capable off.

8 minutes ago, soaring_penguin said:

For those thinking they get a free windows license, forget it. Every pc sold comes with the so called Microsoft tax, I suspect even the Linux ones.

And if you are building your own pc, expect to open your wallet for a windows license.

 

 

Yes for branded one's there is probably a fee / tax that might go to MS.

Mine is an assembled one by myself that is the one which has w10 activated. But then what about laptops that are four years old but are still activated for W10 ?

This "secure boot" thing is confusing. Reading the literature seems to suggest that once you've enabled it and installed Windows that's your PC locked to your copy of Windows forever and you can't then boot into another OS. Have I got this right? So in other words it hands control of your PC over to Microsoft?

1 hour ago, jarmstro said:

This "secure boot" thing is confusing. Reading the literature seems to suggest that once you've enabled it and installed Windows that's your PC locked to your copy of Windows forever and you can't then boot into another OS. Have I got this right? So in other words it hands control of your PC over to Microsoft?

NO. If that ever happens trust me Windows will no longer exist