[jordanzhninja]

Only the standard edition.
Back in the XP and Vista days, $400 Windows laptops were guaranteed to be pretty much garbage. But thanks to Intel's recent improvements in mobile, and the improvements in Windows 8, they are not so bad anymore.

But because Chrome OS is free and Windows is $100, OEM's can make a $300 Chromebook with the same hardware as a $400 Windows laptop.

If they can make Windows 9 run well, not flawlessly, but well enough not to suck on cheap hardware, and they make it free to OEM's, we now have a $300 Chromebook with the same hardware as a $300 Windows Laptop.

Essentially, Windows 9 being free to OEM's will have the potential to lower the price of a laptop by $100. That's huge for consumers. This will mean that Windows Laptops could become as cheap as Chromebooks, essentially destroying their purpose.

What do you guys think?

[David P2]

Only the standard edition.
Back in the XP and Vista days, $400 Windows laptops were guaranteed to be pretty much garbage. But thanks to Intel's recent improvements in mobile, and the improvements in Windows 8, they are not so bad anymore.

But because Chrome OS is free and Windows is $100, OEM's can make a $300 Chromebook with the same hardware as a $400 Windows laptop.

If they can make Windows 9 run well, not flawlessly, but well enough not to suck on cheap hardware, and they make it free to OEM's, we now have a $300 Chromebook with the same hardware as a $300 Windows Laptop.

Essentially, Windows 9 being free to OEM's will have the potential to lower the price of a laptop by $100. That's huge for consumers. This will mean that Windows Laptops could become as cheap as Chromebooks, essentially destroying their purpose.

What do you guys think?

That's actually quite a good point... and since the theme seems to be gearing toward cloud based stuff (note how the default save location in Win8.1 is your Onedrive). Office 365 is online based. So yea, good way to get rid of Crapbooks I would say.

[tgp]

Unless Microsoft would get their revenue from somewhere else, a move like this could also destroy themselves.

[David P2]

Most of their revenue comes from the enterprise side (selling Server and all the gubbins that go with it, such as Exchange and SQL), and Office.

[jordanzhninja]

Unless Microsoft would get their revenue from somewhere else, a move like this could also destroy themselves.

Remember that even though Microsoft still charges for Windows, with every other OS being free it isn't sustainable for Windows to be a cash cow anymore. They need to make there money through their services, like Office and Azure.

[trwrt]

I don't think the OEMs have ever paid $100 for Windows. It was more like $50 if I remember right. In any event, it looks like Microsoft might already be doing something along these lines, given that a few laptops in the $200-250 range are set to come out soon.

[StephanW]

If they can make Windows 9 run well, not flawlessly, but well enough not to suck on cheap hardware, and they make it free to OEM's, we now have a $300 Chromebook with the same hardware as a $300 Windows Laptop.

Forget that thought please. It just needs RAM.

[anon(8921886)]

Microsoft give there OS for free if the size of the screen is under ... I don't now what it was, but on smaller screens it is free!

[bilzkh]

Given the lightweight nature of Microsoft's operating systems, coming up with a good but cost-effective reference design for OEMs shouldn't be too tough. I think a standard 11-12 inch laptop with 2GB RAM, 32 GB SSD or eMMC, and some Atom CPU (BayTrail or its successor) should be possible to pull off in the $299 range, especially if a touchscreen is omitted (as Windows 9 will be desktop friendly).

If Microsoft could push a thin and light reference design with good battery life and solid performance (for day-to-day tasks such as web browsing and email), it should have a winner on its hands. Just get HP, Toshiba, Asus, Acer, Lenovo, Dell and anyone else (e.g. Chinese and Indian firms) to adopt and push it.

As for not giving Windows OS away for free, I don't think Microsoft has a choice. The OEMs are cheap, and they will push the cheaper option to the market regardless of the consequences or effects on the wider market. Microsoft needs to shift its dependence away from the Windows OS and towards its services, e.g. Bing, Skype, Outlook, Xbox and Office.

How this is done is a tough problem. One method could be to push ads everywhere, but that won't go well in terms of image. Another way could be to push free versions of each service, such that each app is "good enough" for daily tasks and gets the device user to orbit around Microsoft and avoid Google's offerings. The user could either end up buying into Microsoft's services and/or take their habits to work, thus influencing their workplace to adopt (or maintain) Microsoft's offerings.

In the long-run I'd work on pushing users (especially those on low-cost devices) to depend on the Windows Store for apps, or at least drop the need for x86/Win32 applications. This could be a gradual process whereby low-cost devices are targeted towards people who don't have a need for a full out Windows PC, but a 'device for web browsing and YouTube.' cost laptops lock users from installing stuff not found in the Store, and eventually, push devices based on Windows RT and ARM. The point is to steer attention towards the Store and universal apps.