14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 will be free for those who are running Windows 7 or 8.1 on their computers, but a new report claims that the company is now looking to make more money with the new operating system offered to manufacturers for their high-end devices.
Digitimes is reporting, citing its always unknown “sources from the upstream supply chain,” that Microsoft is planning to increase Windows 10 licensing fees for PC makers that want to install the new operating system on premium notebooks.
Needless to say, these manufacturers are now concerned that this move could impact their profits on the short-term, especially because final pricing is expected to remain the same when these devices hit the market.
Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo are all expected to be impacted by Microsoft’s change of strategy, which according to the same source is aimed at devices equipped with high-end hardware such as Intel Core i7 processors and full HD displays.
Windows 10 with Bing
On the other hand, Microsoft is encouraging manufacturers to create more affordable Windows 10 devices and while it might be charging more for high-end devices, it’s offering the new operating system either free of charge or with very low fees to those building low-end models.
Windows 10 with Bing is based on the same idea as the Bing-branded version of Windows 8.1 and comes with Bing as the default search engine and MSN as the home page in the browser. Microsoft is offering this particular version of Windows 8.1 (and will soon offer a Windows 10 SKU too) to make sure that more affordable devices hit the market running its new OS.
Microsoft is yet to confirm Digitimes’ report, but we’ve reached out to the company to get an official statement and will update the story should we receive an answer.