[jonathanstrange]

It's not free at all. If you buy Windows through the official channels it's quite expensive. If you buy it on the grey market, it's dirt cheap, though.

[BizarroLand]

And even if you pay $1,000,000/day to use it, it still spies on you and sells your data to outsiders.

[shiroiuma]

Exactly, yet lots of people are happy to keep using it and paying the price to do so, despite the existence of free and far superior alternatives.