Microsoft offers pay-as-you-go data SIM for Windows 10 devices Microsoft will include its own SIM card in some Windows 10 devices, thanks to a partnership with French mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Transatel. Customers can install an app from the Windows Store, though it does appear to be little more than a set of instructions for suitably equipped Windows 10 devices. Microsoft's …
How long before this sort of thing becomes standard then?
How long before the monthly fee includes the Windows License (for just one user naturally)?
Stop paying and not only do you lose connectivity but you lose access to your data.
The perfect storm then?
Well not for the majority in these parts if past experience is anything to go by.
"How long before the monthly fee includes the Windows License (for just one user naturally)?"
Never. I have no idea why some people on here are spouting this rubbish about MS forcing monthly fees on us all and stopping us accessing our PCs if we don't pay up. That's several times in the last couple of days. I bet nobody can provide any actual evidence of this other than simple MS bashing paranoia. It doesn't even stand up as an idea once you apply your brain and some common sense....
oops - thought and common sense - I may be in the wrong place........
You do make some good points. However the sceptic(or should that be septic????) bunch that we are around here (fanbois apart) don't believe anything that MS says these days.
They lots of credibility with the W10 release going from
"get it free while you can"
to
"we are going to download it in the background so that when you cave in, it is already on your machine"
as well as all this data slurp. How else could they know how many pictures have been views unless their software tells them eh?
Personally, I doubt that they will go down to the OS level as a pay monthly SAAS for a couple of years.
I do know one thing and that I will do to MS what I did to Adobe and that is give them to fingers. But that is the old skinflint that is me. YMMV naturally.
Personally, I doubt that they will go down to the OS level as a pay monthly SAAS for a couple of years.
I concur. But if what they've told us is true, that is the only possible route in the long-term.
In a few months' time, the free downloads will cease[1]. Anyone getting a new machine after that time will have to pay the licence fee. But that is a one-time payment; that will last the life of the PC.
Now Windows 10 is the last version of Windows[2]; there won't be a Windows 11. So there are no upgrade fees - it's a rolling upgrade. Thus MS will sell even less in the way of OSes than at present, since the churn rate of PCs has dropped.
Thus MS will lose an awful lot of revenue by moving to this rolling update regime. That's not sustainable: either there will be a change of plan, or there will need to be some other sort of monetisation. That either means selling out the end-user, or some sort of subscription.
Vic.
[1] Or so Microsoft has told us.
[2] See [1].
Just reinstall Windows 7 and Office 2007 (or, you know, Ubuntu, for the ultimate in security), tho for the ultra paranoid there's...
https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10 (the one I use), &
http://www.majorgeeks.com/news/story/donotspy10_the_first_ever_anti_spy_tool_for_windows_10.html
https://www.ashampoo.com/en/usd/pin/1004/security-software/Antispy-for-Windows-10
I was travelling with a guy that used it to do trading while travelling, he thought it was a total bargain.
It was funny to see everyone desperately trying to access WiFi at any given stop while he mostly just connected without fuss or used cellular when he wanted to.
It wasn't perfect by any means but the international nature was the critical point.
Of course, this was guy that wanted a satellite data service and device so he could use data while crossing the pacific on a slow boat to China.
It's just peanuts to some.
Is there any UK telco that actually offers this?
I can pay £10 to Three and get 1000MB of data on my phone and it never expires.
If I want to put a sim into a MiFi, I can only buy 1GB that lasts 30 days.
Different places in the UK have better coverage for one telco than another, so, being able to take out one sim and drop in another would be very handy, having two sims that need topping up every month is not so handy. The telcos obviously want me to commit and keep feeding them money, but, that very desire means that I have no intention of giving any of them any money. So, where 2 or 3 of them could make a tenner our of me every few months/years (and probably from others too), they all get nothing.
Thing is I only need sporadic usage, mainly for the kids to be able to do homework whilst away for weekends in the summer. So, I may only need a few MB each weekend. That's why paying hundreds of MBs is a waste of money.
It's just annoying that I can use the data as and when I want in a phone, but, in a tablet or mifi it's time-restricted.
According to their T&Cs, Three's 321 SIMs can only be used in phones - not tablets or MiFi devices - and tethering from a phone is not allowed.
Another option I've found is GiffGaff which charge 20p/day for up to 20MB and 20p/MB thereafter with no charge for unconnected days and no expiry. Alternatively, you can top up with a GigaBag that adds, for example, 500MB for £5 but expires after a month.
Alternatively, HP's 3G-enabled tablets include 250MB/month for 24 months from the original purchase date with no further charge. However, top-ups and any extension to the 24 months look expensive.
3 don't allow the use of 321 SIMs in tablets, dongles or MiFi units. I've tried and it doesn't work. I've asked them repeatedly why they do this but have never had an answer. They seem to be shooting themselves in the foot. It would be a perfect solution for the casual data user.
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