> The new business model, starting with giving Windows 10 away for free
There isn't a new business model, and Microsoft is not giving Windows 10 away for free. What it is offering is a free upgrade to Windows 10 to people who have paid for Windows 7 or 8. This isn't really any different from iOS and Android users getting free upgrades on devices they have also paid for. It's what people expect.
> Finally, for most users, updates are now automatic and can't be turned off. That means any workarounds that are contrary to Microsoft's new business model can simply be turned off remotely by Microsoft.
You can't turn off updates to Gmail or Facebook either. Same goes for most mobile apps. Or your Chromebook.
What has changed is that Microsoft is building a cross-platform mobile ecosystem in which Windows 10 is a mobile operating system. Think: cloud-first, mobile-first, and Software as a Service. (Windows 10 will run on phones.)
Now, I'm not saying that the permissions required in Windows 10 are right. What I am saying is that the permissions suitable for a cloud-based cross-platform ecosystem* with a built-in intelligent agent and deep learning (AI) capabilities are not the same as the ones required by an old-fashioned standalone operating system, and should be evaluated in that context.
* Windows 10 devices (phones, tablets, PCs, games consoles), OneDrive, Azure, Office 365 (PCs, Macs, tablets, smartphones), Windows Store, Bing, and dozens of apps on Windows 10, iOS and Android etc. This is comparable to the iOS and Android ecosystems, not to standalone Linux.
You have just stated that there isn't a new business model, and then immediately described in considerable detail a dramatic change where lots of people get a free new version of the OS (which has not happened before) and that new version is no longer a traditional desktop OS like previous versions of Windows but instead a new kind of thing that is about being cross-platform, cloud-friendly, mobile-first, service-driven, and generally more like what Google or Apple would offer. You also glossed over all the spyware and the ads that you can pay^Wsubscribe to remove even running basic software locally on your own system, though you did mention some of the other paid services that Microsoft have made pretty clear they will be promoting via Windows 10. If that isn't a fundamental (and user-hostile) change in business model, I don't know what is.
It's not a change in Windows 10's business model. It's still a paid-for operating system.
> that new version is no longer a traditional desktop OS like previous versions of Windows
It's no longer a traditional desktop OS, but that change is not new to Windows 10. It was already the case with Windows 8.
> You also glossed over all the spyware and the ads that you can pay^Wsubscribe to remove even running basic software locally on your own system
Not really. Windows Store apps behave just like other people's store apps. It's exactly in line with the current culture of "free". I'd guess that Microsoft doesn't like it any more than you do, but thinks it needs to become like Android to prosper in a world that's averse for paying for stuff, or even thinks that paying people to write code is evil.
Windows 10 is designed for people who aren't interested in computing and don't want to be bothered with having to maintain their PC.
There's certainly a change in the technology approach, but the idea of developing point releases may have been sub-optimal for five or 10 years. The idea with Windows 10 is to use Big Data from actual usage to drive continuous improvements. Exactly like Gmail, Facebook etc.
There isn't a new business model, and Microsoft is not giving Windows 10 away for free. What it is offering is a free upgrade to Windows 10 to people who have paid for Windows 7 or 8. This isn't really any different from iOS and Android users getting free upgrades on devices they have also paid for. It's what people expect.
> Finally, for most users, updates are now automatic and can't be turned off. That means any workarounds that are contrary to Microsoft's new business model can simply be turned off remotely by Microsoft.
You can't turn off updates to Gmail or Facebook either. Same goes for most mobile apps. Or your Chromebook.
What has changed is that Microsoft is building a cross-platform mobile ecosystem in which Windows 10 is a mobile operating system. Think: cloud-first, mobile-first, and Software as a Service. (Windows 10 will run on phones.)
Now, I'm not saying that the permissions required in Windows 10 are right. What I am saying is that the permissions suitable for a cloud-based cross-platform ecosystem* with a built-in intelligent agent and deep learning (AI) capabilities are not the same as the ones required by an old-fashioned standalone operating system, and should be evaluated in that context.
* Windows 10 devices (phones, tablets, PCs, games consoles), OneDrive, Azure, Office 365 (PCs, Macs, tablets, smartphones), Windows Store, Bing, and dozens of apps on Windows 10, iOS and Android etc. This is comparable to the iOS and Android ecosystems, not to standalone Linux.