[pdkl95]

> You also paid nothing for it.

Windows requires payment, just not in dollars. The data gathered from "telemetry" (spyware) is valuable.

edit: I'll assume from the downvotes that some people want to pretend that pattern-of-life data isn't valuable

[wongarsu]

> I'll assume from the downvotes that some people want to pretend that pattern-of-life data isn't valuable

I'm pretty sure it's from people who either payed for Windows and just got a free upgrade, or who directly bought Windows 10. Computers with "free" Windows obviously also have the price of Windows factored in. The closest you get to free Windows is with Dreamspark (their MINT student program), and even that costs money for the university.

[pdkl95]

Like many in posts in this thread, the "free" I was replying is the Win10 upgrade. Unlike previous upgrades that cost money, many people instead had to pay for that upgrade in data.

Obviously Windows is sold in other forms, and new pre-built computers still have a Windows Tax.