If it can happen in China I could also happen in India sooner or later as India. Microsoft is propose to tackle the software piracy in china by offering the Windows 10 free upgrades to all windows 7 pirated users. The Chinese consumer market is heavily pirated according to the information provided by the Reuters and Microsoft is planning to make its biggest move by offering the free upgrades to Windows 10 to all windows users regardless of their software certification status.
This move is made by the Microsoft as an attempt to get legitimate versions of its software onto machines of the hundreds of millions of Windows users in China as the recent studies have shown that three-quarters of all PC software is not properly licensed there. The announcement in this regards was made by Terry Myerson, who runs the Microsoft operating systems unit, at the WinHEC technology conference in Shenzchen, China. “We are upgrading all qualified PCs, genuine and non-genuine, to Windows 10,” he said in a telephone interview with Reuters. The plan is to “re-engage” with the hundreds of millions of users of Windows in China, he said, without elaboration. Myerson said Windows 10 would be released globally sometime “this summer”. That is the first time Microsoft has put a time frame on the release, although it has been expected in autumn, based on Microsoft’s release history. Microsoft is working with Lenovo Group Ltd, the world’s biggest PC maker, to help roll out Windows 10 in China to current Windows users, added Myerson.
Although this is the good move by the software giant but Indian market is not yet ready for this according to Vikram Dhanda, senior vice president, IT, shared services, at Aegis told ET how many users wanted to move back to Windows 7 after getting frustrated with the Windows 8 user interface. He feels a free upgrade to Windows 10 will be too little too late. “Delayed gratification is the term used for this kind of inducement but I don’t think it will work. The reason is that we have become intolerant of irritants particularly when there are so many choices and alternatives that are available,” he said. The degree of the failure of Windows 8 can be seen from its installation figures. Even after two years of launch, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 combined have a desktop operating system market share of only about 12%, according to the portal Netmarketshare. Windows XP on the other hand commands a 24% market share even though Microsoft stopped supporting the OS in April this year.
Acording to Micheal Silver, VP and research director at Gartner “The cost of the software is not what has prevented most organisations from moving to Windows 8, it’s the cost of compatibility testing, application remediation and doing the actual upgrade,” Silver said even a free upgrade to Windows 10 will not be enough to push enterprises to adopt it and expressed his scepticism over Microsoft’s ability to offer a smooth transition to Windows 10 for enterprises. “A free software upgrade is not a slam dunk that organizations will deploy it,” he said.
Tata Motors, which has more than 20,000 PCs installed, has only a small number of them running on Windows 8. When asked if they will consider moving these 20,000 systems to Windows 10 if it’s offered as a free upgrade, chief information officer Jagdish Belwal said the cost of the OS was not the only concern for him. “In enterprises, it is more about your security, compatibility and manageability. We manage 20,000 computers centrally. For us it becomes imperative that all tools and processes that we use to manage these systems work on the new OS.”
“I am hopeful that with Windows 10 Microsoft will address the issues plaguing the previous version.” The performance of Windows 10 is going to be critical for Microsoft in view of Windows 8 having received a lukewarm response and XP’s sunset, said Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst at Greyhound Research.”We believe under Satya’s leadership, Windows 10 should be able to win back the trust on their OS,” he said, referring to new CEO Satya Nadella.
According the these information the fate of windows 10 does not look bright at least in Indian corporate sector, but yes the private sectors with less number of PCs and individuals will surely welcome the decision of the Microsoft in India and world over. Let’s wait and watch till the actual release of Windows 10, and of course you can also tell us what do you feel about the entry of windows 10 regardless of “FREE or PAID” are you ready for it ?
