Last Updated on March 6, 2020
But since Windows 10 might be the last Windows version ever – as Microsoft plans to update it regularly instead of developing and releasing a completely new version every couple of years – it is really important to get everyone on board, even if it means giving up hundreds of millions of dollars in license copy revenue.
Don’t worry, because this business model isn’t hurting the company in any way. There are several other options when it comes to making money with the operating system besides licensing.
By offering the product free of charge, the company is removing the entry barrier for all consumers (which are currently much more than a decade ago). This allows Microsoft to monetize their software utilizing a completely different strategy.
By installing and using Windows as your operating system, you are now inside Microsoft’s ecosystem: you can download apps from the Microsoft store, you might use Microsoft’s OneDrive to store your documents and files in the cloud, and you will definitely want to use Microsoft Office.
All these small things cost the user money that goes straight into the pockets of the tech giant and are a strong incentive for consumers to stay within the Microsoft ecosystem.
4. Microsoft still sells licenses
Finally, just because average consumers can use a license for free, that doesn’t mean that Microsoft has stopped selling them. Other companies still need to buy Windows to install on their corporate computers and manufacturers that make pre-built computers will continue to spend millions in Windows licenses.
Not to mention the consumers that cannot live with that “Activate Windows” watermark constantly ruining their user experience and will gladly spend over 100$ to get rid of it.
