I called Windows 11 an unnecessary upgrade. My reasoning was that it had compatibility issues and didn’t really add anything to Windows 10. Of course, it includes better security. But, spoiler alert, most of these improvements were already in the Windows 10 20H2 release (the October 2020 Update). You just have to turn them on.
So what’s the point of Windows 11? I think it’s to slowly get you used to the idea of Windows as a Service (WaaS).
Microsoft has been migrating users to this Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) model for years. Today, you can already subscribe to the easy-to-use Windows 365 Cloud PC. Or, if you want more control and functionality, there’s Windows 365 Enterprise or Azure Virtual Desktop. But these are all more commercial games than consumer games. And, while Microsoft loves its business customers, it still loves its home sales. (Of course, the difference between home and work is blurring more than ever thanks to the growing work-from-home movement.)
With all of this in mind, when I look at recent changes to Windows 11, I see clear signs that Windows 11 is the Trojan bringing WaaS to everyone, whether you like it or not.
First, Microsoft integrated a Microsoft Subscription Manager in the Windows 11 February 2022 Update. Check it out: Look in Windows 11 Settings menu > Accounts and you will find a new section called “Your Microsoft account”. There you’ll find your Microsoft 365 subscription status, how full your OneDrive cloud storage is, and other details.
Believe me, he says – having a subscription to our cloud services is an integral part of Windows. Relax, accept that Windows is now part of a cloud-based desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) world.
Expect? Didn’t Microsoft say it would only add features to Windows 11 once a year? Ahem, yes. But Microsoft lied. Windows 11 will receive service, web, and online experience packs whenever Microsoft wants to update them. That moan you hear in the distance? It’s Windows 11 system administrators who worry about the mischief hidden features will bring with them.
Leaving that aside, there is a subscription absent from this new feature – remember what I just said about mischief? – and that’s Xbox Game Pass. It’s almost as if Microsoft is thinking business first with this update, and fun with your Xbox games second.
Then, a few weeks later, Windows 11 Insider Preview build 22567 for the Dev Channel arrived. And what should we find there? Why, Windows 11 now requests your credit card information from Windows. Of course, Microsoft has been asking for your credit card information for transactions through your Microsoft account webpage for ages. So what’s the problem ?
Well, it makes Windows a little easier to use for purchases. What I think is important is that, in combination with the subscription feature, it makes it easier for you to pay not just for Microsoft 365, but for Windows itself. Windows will no longer be a one-time purchase. It will forever be a subscription service with one foot in your PC and the other increasingly firmly in the cloud.
While I like the DaaS model in its place, I also like having my operating system under my control and primarily on my PC. So I will continue to use the Linux desktop as my primary OS. Like everyone else, I hope you’re okay with trusting Microsoft for all your IT work, because now more than ever, Microsoft, not you, will be making the decisions.
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