[vstollen]

It's mind boggling how user-hostile one can make a piece of "premium" software.

You pay 145€ for the Home or 259€ for the Pro Edition and they treat it like it's freeware.

I want my computer to support me in achieving what I want to do, but Windows just keeps grabbing attention with intrusive ads and never-ending notifications.

[IshKebab]

Yeah I think the issue is that for most people it is freeware. Very few consumers are actually paying €145 for Windows. They might have got Windows 7 with their PC (I believe the actual cost is around $10) a literal decade ago and paid nothing since.

I can see why Microsoft are trying to explore other revenue sources. If they give Windows away they make a huge loss but if they charge for upgrades nobody will upgrade and it will become a support nightmare.

[lostgame]

We used to call seeing ads in Windows ‘adware’. Now we just call it ‘Windows’.

I’m dead serious - unless you have a specific business reason like most do to use this POS, I can’t imagine anyone actually choosing to use Windows over the alternatives. What a seriously awful piece of software.

[userbinator]

For many, it was a "free upgrade".

[TowerTall]

I bought 1 pro license for Windows 8. I have used that key ever since. Countless virtual machines and reinstall / hardware upgrade has accepted that key the past 10 years.