And then Linux will finally get the attention it has always deserved.

Hopefully this is just some business related version and not for standard consumers

That feel when you just moved to Linux and you still enjoy Halo and Forza.

This is good news for everyone.

I would definitely pay a subscription for windows 12 if hell froze over and it was the only operating system on Earth. I have very little experience with Linux, limited entirely to my steam deck, and it certainly hasn’t been awful. It isn’t what most of us are used to but it’s not like it’s completely insane and unusable.

Ok and I’ll just crack it like I do with every other windows version.

Once I paid $250 for Windows pro and a month later my licence key stopped working, and Microsoft didn’t do shit.

I even bought it directly from them!

Never paid money for Windows since.

Is it possible to invest in Linux?

Fuck that noise

They should make everything subscription corporations cant have enough money.

I’ve started to transition into linux to prepare for the future. It’s been good so far.

I’ve seen some people saying that there’s no way Microsoft is this stupid. Some really, really, really obviously bad choices (see: Wizards of the Coast’s OGL debacle) have been made because MBAs got greedy and convinced themselves it would be fine. I find it hard to believe that Microsoft would fuck up this badly, but it’s not out of the spectrum of possibility. What I think is more likely is that this is one of those ‘leaks’ where they’re testing the public reaction, like when Wizards leaked the changes to the OGL via journalists. Hopefully (or not, if you’re a Linux fan) Microsoft plays it smarter than Wizards, because Wizards saw the immense public backlash, gave the sorriest corporate half apology ever, and then proceeded to double down, and it blew up in their face big time.

Windows was kind of cool until Windows XP (Windows 2000 was also really good), because at the time you felt like you had software where you could see that lots of engineering went into it, and most importantly that you could feel you owned (EULA-aside obviously): you pay once for the license and it’s done, the OS is immediately usable. Recent Windows versions went through enshittification and Microsoft now harasses you from time to time to join their online services. Even on the first boot you immediately get harassed to create a Microsoft account and allow them to use your data, and you need to say no many times. Microsoft still makes you feel like you aren’t done paying.

It’s frankly hilarious how Microsoft is killing its own product. Windows went from something that used to be good and felt like a real software engineering product (Windows 2000 and XP) to something now that feels like a sketchy malware-infused phone app.

Windows 12? Did they ever explicitly revoke the “Windows 10 will be the last”?

I thought 11 was an exception die to the hardware requirements.

But I guess any big enough change can be a new reason for the next.

Would fit in with the fact that Microsoft has just patched the remote activation exploit that was used for years.

The idea that windows would require a subscription for an OS pisses me off more than I thought.

Good way for them to guarantee a exodus of people switching their OS.