New
#1
This is a rather confusing spreadsheet and at first glance it appears like MS is talking about a subscription model, when it is not.
The part of the article that comes after what Brink has quoted is this:
In other words, it's basically like taxes and depreciation.. They're collecting money up front, but they're not applying it right away, but rather over a 3 year period.The company clearly states in their slide deck that “there is no change to the software licensing business model and the associated method or timing of customer billings or cash collections,” meaning they will still charge up front but defer the revenue over a longer period.
This change will only impact shareholders of the company and is another stake in the ground that the old way of buying and selling of software truly is in the past. Further, it goes to show how Windows 10 is truly a change to the way Microsoft typically conducted its operations with Windows becoming a service rather than a standalone sale.