Here is a date which should worry you: July 29th 2016. This is the date
July 17th, 2017 is at the heart of perhaps Microsoft’s most disingenuous attempt yet to force users onto Windows 10. It has tried numerous tricks like automatically downloading Windows 10 on your computer and placing it in a secret folder (even if you declined the upgrade), and gradually reducing the ease of saying no with malware-like pop up choices such as ‘upgrade now’ or ‘upgrade tonight’ (see below).
Microsoft is leaving users with little to no choice about upgrading to Windows 10. Image credit:... [+]
But July 17th, 2017 is the killer. This is the last possible date Microsoft will allow Windows 7 or Windows 8 to be used on a cutting edge computer and still receive essential support like security patches. If this sounds a bit odd that’s understandable because Windows 7 and Windows 8 were meant to be supported until 14 January 2020 and 10 January 2023 respectively. But under the new rules that only applies if your hardware stays in the dark ages.
Right now these rules are being forced on businesses only, but there seems no reason it won’t be expanded to consumers. Microsoft isn’t fooling anyone, even traditional allies are angry. But the real fear for Windows 10 owners is not that this date hurts Windows 7, which is on 55% of computers worldwide, but what it says about Windows 8 and its 10% market share...
Windows 8 Is Windows 10
This is actually a near literal statement. The dark secret of Windows 10 is it is built around the core of three year old, uncool Windows 8. Windows 7 has a similar dark secret, it is built around the core of the 10 year old and truly reviled Windows Vista. They’re good OSes built from poor ones.
As such it is frustrating but perhaps understandable that Microsoft’s blog post ‘Windows 10 Embracing Silicon Innovation’ would herald the new platform’s optimisation when using new hardware and announce the curtailing of support for Vista-based Windows 7 on the same chips. But to take the same action with Windows 8 is clearly ludicrous.
'Get Windows 10' notifications and upgrade pressure is has now been increased - again. Image credit:... [+]
I quizzed Microsoft on this point and received the following response: “The guidance we’ve received is to direct you to Terry’s blog: Windows 10 Embracing Silicon Innovation from Jan 15th. I’m sure you’ve already seen this but they currently have nothing further to share outside of this blog.”
Yes, Microsoft will continue to pass off associating Windows 8 with Vista-based Windows 7 while proclaiming the core of Windows 10 as designed for “embracing silicon innovation” - a core that’s actually built on Windows 8. And here’s where the real fear comes in...
Core Contradictions
Windows 10 is supposed to be “the last version of Windows”. That after this there will be no ‘Windows 11’, just a slew of ongoing updates as the platform evolves forever. The contradiction being its (Windows 8) core is deemed so strong that Windows 10 should never expire. Except it does. Support for the six month old OS actually lasts just two years longer than the three year old now sidelined and discredited Windows 8.
Again I asked Microsoft to answer some obvious questions:
- Why does a never ending OS have a support expiry date?
- Will the Windows 10 support date change with new updates?
- What guarantees do customers have that the support date cannot be negatively impacted using tactics like the hardware restrictions placed on Windows 8?
The response came via the Microsoft’s public relations team: “We have looked into this for you and wanted to let you know that Microsoft is declining to comment on this at this time.”
Microsoft's lifecycle support page shows 'Windows 10' is meant to be supported until 2025, but... [+]
Of course it would be easy to let Microsoft off here and declare it is just quietly sweeping Windows 8 under the rug because it was a flop. But that ignores a far more important point: Microsoft has shown, for the first time, that it is prepared to compromise pre-existing Windows support pledges to further the adoption of a new OS. It has also shown it is not prepared to fully explain how support for this new OS will operate.
So What Does The Future Hold?
The worst case scenario sees Microsoft evolve free Windows 10 into a SaaS (software as a service) model complete with monthly subscription in a few years time (Windows 10.1?). The precedent for enforcing this is also now there: users can avoid the subscription by staying on Windows 10 until support expires in 2025, but Microsoft can repeat its Windows 8 trick of removing support on new hardware so all Windows 10 computers become antiquated.
The best case scenario is Microsoft only tried to kill off Windows 8 using disingenuous reasons because it thought no-one would really care. That’s morally dubious, but it could therefore be a one-off tactic. Meanwhile the company is only quiet about future support for Windows 10 because it genuinely has no idea how it will play out yet. That would make the company ill-prepared but honest.
Either way come July 29th, 2016 Windows 10 will cost just as much as previous versions of Windows for anyone who has yet to upgrade. So during the six remaining months of the free upgrade program Microsoft is conscientiously setting fire to the Windows 7 and Windows 8 ecosystems while repeatedly pointing billions towards Windows 10 as an appealing life raft.
The problem with all this is it’s hard to trust a life raft when it’s given out by a company who deliberately set everything ablaze to make you get on it in the first place. And it’s even worse when that company claims to have no comment on where the life raft is headed...
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