[wvenable]

> Why not make the consumer/developer version free for all and only charge for the enterprise versions.

Probably because Microsoft makes a lot of money licensing the OS to PC and device manufacturers.

Most end-users already don't pay exclusively for Windows -- it's bundled in with the price of the device. What's the purpose of making Windows free if most people, with the hardware to run it, are already entitled to it?

[rfolstad]

If windows was free for schools, consumers and developers for the last 15 years I think the tech landscape would look much different than it does today in Microsofts favour. Also I dont think that it would affect their revenue that much. If i'm not mistaken most of their revenue comes from enterprise licensing.

[apalmer]

Ummm windows even today, own 93% of the desktop market. You think giving it away would have improved on that? The only significant desktop OS that they could have taken share from is OSX where people are paying the same or more.

Microsoft makes money from selling OSs and from selling Office. The suggestion to stop selling OS's for some kinda freemium model, just doesnt make sense.

[tbomb]

My school (university) was all Windows. Plus, if you were in the CS programs, you had free access to the Microsoft Developer Network which gave us free product keys to XP, Vista, and Windows 7; along with a host of other MS products. On top of that, copies of Windows and MS Office were subsidized for students. Allowing anyone attending the school to purchase copies for under $10.

[wvenable]

Consumer products and licensing accounts for 20% to 40% of revenue vs. Enterprise products and licensing. So yes, it would affect revenue pretty significantly.

It's odd that so many people seem to believe Microsoft doesn't make significant money selling their operating system to consumers (via OEMs).