Microsoft Confirms Windows 10 New Monthly Fee: 'Enterprise E3' Release Date & Features – Will Subscription Pricing Affect Millions of Consumers Who Upgraded for Free?
While some users are excited about the Windows 10 Anniversary Update this August 2, others are worried about the arrival of Windows 10 subscriptions. Microsoft has confirmed its plans of monetizing Windows 10 through its new subscription model called "Windows 10 Enterprise E3."
'Windows 10 Enterprise E3' Subscription Fee, Release Date & Features
PC World reports that Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president of the Windows and Devices Group at Microsoft, has announced in a conference in Canada that the tech giant is set to introduce a monthly subscription fee of $7 per user per month starting next fall. But the good news is that new subscription charge is only applicable to enterprises and not to consumers.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The special enterprise tier called "Windows 10 Enterprise E3" will be joining Microsoft's Assure and Office 365 as subscription service. According to Mehdi, "Windows 10 Enterprise E3" would be great for cloud providers as they would be able to offer Windows 10 along with its other premier Microsoft services on a subscription basis.
"For the price of a cup of coffee and a donut per day, you can get enterprise-class security on a per-user subscription basis. If you're a cloud provider, this is now phenomenal," Mehdi stated.
Will New Subscription Pricing Affect Millions of Consumers?
For now, consumers should not worry about the new subscription pricing as it is not applicable to the Windows 10 consumer edition or related to the free Windows 10 upgrade currently offered by Microsoft. A Microsoft spokesperson told PC World in an email that "Windows 10 Enterprise E3" is intended to give enterprise features and functionality to their business customers.
It can be recalled that Microsoft announced last year that Windows 10 will be the last version of Windows. The huge announcement made consumers wonder whether the tech company will offer Windows subscriptions in the future.
Gordon Kelly of Forbes believed that Microsoft will soon offer Windows 10 monthly subscriptions for consumers. He, however, added that he is confident that these monthly subscriptions will not affect consumers who have already updated their OS to Windows 10 for free.
Microsoft revealed on March that Windows 10 is the version that has the fastest start, with over 270 million active devices within few months. Consumers who are still using the old version of Windows have until July 29 to upgrade to Windows 10 for free. After the deadline, Microsoft will already charge $119 for both Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Professional.
