[spriggan3]

> I don't understand why they need to make these cuts. It's Microsoft - they surely have access to extremely cheap hard drives through bulk purchasing. What's 10GB?

Microsoft didn't become what it is by giving away stuff for free, quite the contrary.

[nroets]

In the past, Microsoft has provided a lot of free stuff, provided you have a valid Windows license. Browsers, video players, development tools etc.

[darkclarity]

Online storage is a physical object that requires dedicated infrastructure, whereas software can be built and forgotten about.

[mgo]

Not really, all of those things mentioned need constant security patches even if they don't receive new features. You can't have an insecure Microsoft free application on a non-EOL Windows. They patch things all the time. Sure it doesn't seem like as big of a cost as hard drives, but Microsoft needs to pay engineers and QA guys to fix those programs. Nothing is done for free.