Microsoft Testing License-Free Windows Phone

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Kieran Warren

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If they want to make money out of it still then they would need to offer better products on the store. Google offer all kinds of TV shows, movies, books, magazines alongside the apps and this is where they make their money on android (apart from ads). So Microsoft would really need to step up their game in this area if they want it to be profitable. Personally I feel a paid system allows more money to go directly to development and would prefer it, even if it means the phone costs a little bit extra.
 

11796pcs

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Typical Microsoft, late to the party and now trying to make up for lost time. I'm not saying Windows Phone should have been free from the beginning, but Microsoft should have wizened up years ago when they saw their market share stagnating.
 

drwho1

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Microsoft Testing License-Free Windows Operating System.....That's what I read.... Too bad, it would make a lot of sense.Notice that I never said a FREE OS, just an OS without License Fees, this would result in a less inflated price/cost to the consumer. As for the phone, I really just don't care.
 


Well they already have their xbox music and video services running on Windows Phone... granted with a limited experience until WP8.1 is released.
Personally it is far too rich for my blood, but it does exist already.
 

amk-aka-Phantom

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What better way is there to saturate the market with your operating system than to offer it for free?
Push it onto every PC via aggressive contracts with OEMs and drive competition out of business. It worked for Windows. And where's Linux, which is free? :D
Google offer all kinds of TV shows, movies, books, magazines alongside the apps and this is where they make their money on android (apart from ads).
People actually buy this BS? :D
 

JD88

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Windows phone actually doesn't offer anything different or better than what is already available, and is actually way behind in a lot of areas areas. Also, all of the "new" features that will be offered in 8.1 have been copied from iOS or Android. The User interface argument is nonsense because Android can be made to behave in exactly the same way by installing a different launcher. In order to gain market share, an operating system has to actually innovate. You can't show up 5 years late to the party, offer no improvement whatsoever, and expect to get market share.
 
What better way is there to saturate the market with your operating system than to offer it for free?
Push it onto every PC via aggressive contracts with OEMs and drive competition out of business. It worked for Windows. And where's Linux, which is free? :D
Google offer all kinds of TV shows, movies, books, magazines alongside the apps and this is where they make their money on android (apart from ads).
People actually buy this BS? :D
I honestly think people aren't using linux just because the learning curve is a bit higher and its not as widely known. Not to mention the fact that 99% of OEM pcs (not counting apple) are windows with the odd google notebook or android AIO.Lets face it, if people had to pay for windows each time they bought a PC as enthusiasts do, more people would be on linux simply because its free
 

JD88

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Not only that, but you can't easily buy a Linux PC. Walk into Best Buy and every PC other than Chromebooks run Windows. Even Amazon only offers a couple of Ubuntu based options. Without a major corporation to market and back a product, it won't succeed. Microsoft works hard and spends millions to make sure Windows is pre-installed on every computer possible. In a perfect world, every PC would be sold with a choice of operating systems and perhaps a $50 discount if you choose Linux since there is no license fee nonsense.

Also, I'm not convinced the learning curve is that much higher for most users. The biggest hurdles are getting the operating system running properly on systems that don't have dedicated Linux drivers. Once you are past that, Linux is not really any harder to use than Windows.

 

11796pcs

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Also, I'm not convinced the learning curve is that much higher for most users. The biggest hurdles are getting the operating system running properly on systems that don't have dedicated Linux drivers. Once you are past that, Linux is not really any harder to use than Windows.
Every time I've tried to migrate to Linux I've found some issue where I've had to dig into countless forums to resolve the issue then proceed to punch in incomprehensible code into a command prompt. This coupled with the fact that there do not exist GUIs for everything in Linux, kill any hope that I or most people will migrate to Linux. Put simply, myself and the vast majority of people just want our computers to work and if a problem surfaces, to be easily fixable. Unfortunately, Linux does not currently allow for that.
 

jasonelmore

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Microsoft really needs to offer Windows Phone OS for FREE regardless of what market its in. You cant charge for a OS when your trying to gain market share, especially when your main competitor, is giving theirs away for free.Sure you lose some margins up front, but it will be greatly offset by the number of devices you sell, and the ecosystem tax that would be gained with it.
 

voreo

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If i get a smartphone id want it to be one of the 8 ones, simply cause i have no problems running 8.1 on my new build, runs alot smoother than 7 did :/
 

usbgtx550

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Not only that, but you can't easily buy a Linux PC. Walk into Best Buy and every PC other than Chromebooks run Windows. Even Amazon only offers a couple of Ubuntu based options. Without a major corporation to market and back a product, it won't succeed. Microsoft works hard and spends millions to make sure Windows is pre-installed on every computer possible. In a perfect world, every PC would be sold with a choice of operating systems and perhaps a $50 discount if you choose Linux since there is no license fee nonsense. Also, I'm not convinced the learning curve is that much higher for most users. The biggest hurdles are getting the operating system running properly on systems that don't have dedicated Linux drivers. Once you are past that, Linux is not really any harder to use than Windows.
To illustrate the ease to use Linux, I've actually revived an old laptop with Ubuntu that my parents now use without any problems. The only inconveniences they face is lack of support. That is the one thing that is killing linux.
 

back_by_demand

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$23 to $30 for a license, over a 2 year contract this is roughly $1 a month, so if people are going to be "bribed" into using Windows Phone because of cheaper prices then dropping the license is negligible. Android handsets may have a free OS but that hasn't stopped providers gouging the end user with massive upfront handset cost and huge monthly contracts. So railing on MS for the fee is a bit stupid really. I have a Windows Phone Ativ S and the wife has an Android SGS3 - they are practically identical for hardware yet I prefer the WP8 OS - it doesn't matter how good or fast or cheap the OS becomes the only people you will convince are those on the fence, whereas fanbois will always stick with their own brand of Kool Aid.
 

lpedraja2002

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I've used every phone OS except for blackberry starting out with Windows phone since its early days. One thing that I liked about WP was the OS's simplicity, the minimalist UI and the incredibly optimized smoothness up to the mango update. Windows phones have microsoft word, excel and power point which came extremely handy to me when I had to make last minute edits on essays and presentations. The bad thing was that you couldn't attach them to the emails being sent, you could only do so through skydrive which I hated to do and not everyone knows how to use. Anyway Microsoft biggest mistake was not listening to its consumers. They made a feedback page with countless of suggestions from users with high votes so everyone wanted that specific feature but the latest update only brought a small increment of features to the phone. The worst insult to me is that theres still no hdmi support! But if they somehow get the stubborn stick out of their ass and provide its user with many features I wouldn't mind switching back to the OS after my 2 year contract ends with my LG G2.
 

Osmin

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The biggest pain for me was the simple lack of folders for organizational purposes and lack of apps for many popular home automation products. Not every app has live tiles enabled and for many, I would prefer a simple small tile. Without the ability to create folders, you could not organize similar apps without spreading hundreds of apps throughout countless pages. This forces you to search by typing the name of the app instead of going to a known location in fewer pages. The use of Live Tiles takes a lot of space on a small screen so folders would be ideal.
 

Ilander

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One thing I'll add here is that this news comes in along with Intel announcing mobile chips that are Operating-System Locked. Microsoft might give you the software, but the chip makers follow their orders and make sure you can't do *anything* with it.
 
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