Where will the money come from

[kevin_tenza]

MS has changed so much and is still changing. Their services are everywhere, with most being free. Windows 10 is just around the corner and and it'll be a free upgrade with the subsequent (lifetime) updates also being free. So can anyone tell me... How is MS going to be making their money? Since they are winding down the cash cow that was the purchasing of the windows OS. I just can't wrap my head around these decisions on a business point of view.

 

[niexus]

When buying new PC you would still have to buy Windows license, as windows 10 license is life long for your hardware. But it's just my guess. And also pro plans for onedrive, office 365, and enterprise services.

 

[Don Geronimo]

More likely than not, Microsoft will start making their money like so:

• Sales on the Windows Store (I don't remember the exact number anymore, but it used to be a 20% cut of sales of paid apps; Microsoft also takes a percentage cut, too, IIRC, on apps that use their Advertising SDK; I'm not sure of the margin of music and video sales).
• Sales on premium Microsoft Services (Office 365, OneDrive, Xbox Live, Skype Unlimited, Music Pass, etc.)
• Enterprise sales of Windows Volume Licenses, etc.
• Retail copies of Windows 10 after a year, or people who don't have a valid license to own it
• Hardware sales

At least, I think that's how Microsoft is planning to make money.

 

[casualoak]

Retail windows sales always has been very small part of windows revenue. Generally people never upgrade. Now when windows is free, most people may upgrade, the cost of support of will go down, and may open new revenue streams. The OEMs and enterprise still have to pay to Microsoft for the OS, and this is the biggest chunk of windows revenue. So most likely this approach will bring more money for Microsoft.

 

[Chinocop]

Exchange, SharePoint,
SQL Server, windows and office enterprise, Visual Studio ... those are MSFT's cashcows