Clarified:the free upgrade offer to Win 10 is ending July 29th, really

larc919 said:

Microsoft may want to be a bit wary of getting too greedy with Windows. They aren't the only people capable of coming up with a computer OS. And some of those others would love nothing better than sticking it to Microsoft by stealing lots of their Windows customers.

I agree. I've recently invested a fair amount of research into Ubuntu (both server and desktop versions). It's probably a viable solution for a lot of people.

The point that annoys me the most is when I pay for DVDs and CDs for a record collection (not cheap) and then the recording industry works deals behind the scenes with Apple and/or Microsoft to prevent us from ripping those to a digital copy and then playing them on our computers or portables. We used to be able to do that but Apple realizes that if they can force you to do so, you might just pay for the digital version a second time on iTunes just so that you can have an "authorized" copy. Really...? /sarcasm

hawkman said:

MS has allready said it will miss its 1 billion target date

I always thought that 1 billion was a Pie in the Sky number. It never hurts to dream though. :)

BunnyJ said:

I think that you're making a lot of assumptions here.... And there is no reason to think that there will be a charge for drivers in the future.

It just feels to me that we're being lulled into this one-year-of-free-Windows-10-for-life promise without engaging the logical side of our brains to ask how all this might possibly play out in the future. We upgrade somewhat blindly and hope that we won't be screwed later. It would be nice for Microsoft to make a statement promising that it won't charge for the things we've received for free in the past as part of the whole package.

BunnyJ said:

It would go against what they have stated concerning the Windows 10 service. When 10 came out it was clearly stated that it would be a free upgrade until the 29th of this month and all future updates/upgrades would be free. There is no reason to think that this will change.

We all have our opinions. For me I trust a big corporation like MS about as far as I can spit into the wind.

BunnyJ said:

Well, you have the option to use Linux. It's free.

What the heck does Linux have to do with it?

With many large consumer based corporations, the ethics surrounding profit, marketing and consumer trust is often a delicate walk on egg shells. (Sometimes very thin egg shells!)
MS has to be careful and honest and I think they are, but their marketing is so wrapped up in hype and secrecy that if often spawns rumors of mistrust and questionable behavior.