I cannot say I am surprised by this, but is interesting.

https://www.forbes.com/si...pdate-windows-7-8/amp/

Yikes!

Well after 15 years of lurking, I'll finally move to Linux. I believe Bitwig is the only decent DAW which runs on Linux.

SimpleManZ
Well after 15 years of lurking, I'll finally move to Linux. I believe Bitwig is the only decent DAW which runs on Linux.

I have used Linux for over 10 years for other things and it is a solid OS, but if I was serious about audio and wanted to change from Windows, I would probably bite the bullet and switch to a Mac.

Why am I not surprised?
I'm loving my Win 7 machines even more now!

I dunno, everyone loves to poop on Microsoft but my experience with Windows 10 has been great. I certainly would say I've gotten my money's worth, having bought W8 when I built my PC and upgrading to w10 for free. As long as charges were reasonable I would probably be OK with it.

All that "articles"... MS has "site licenses" with yearly fee for long time. They have subscription versions of Office. And I guess they are moving forward, so introduce new forms of subscriptions.
 
But I do not remember (correct me if I am wrong) they ever had subscription ONLY versions of something. It was always possible to buy everything "once" (I am not talking about the price, but about a possibility).
 
Windows 7-8 will be "out of service" relatively soon, that is not a solution.
 
Changing to Apple is like moving from one prison to another. With MS you can at least choose the room, with Apple you can not.
 
Cockos was releasing Linux versions of REAPER all the time. But they was "just for test". They have many Linux port fixes recently, have made Linux board in the forum and "promoted" the download to the main page (still as "Evaluation"). I guess REAPER 6 will officially support Linux.
Also note REAPER is long time Linux+Wine friendly.
 
Tracktion has official Linux version for all products (but my experience with it was not good).
 
Bitwig has official Linux version.
 
Steinberg officially mention Linux is recent VST SDK.
Many VSTs are developed with JUCE, that means they can be compiled for Linux in no time (without extra development cost), if producers consider to do that.
 
So, if Cockos can release own (== well written) bridge to run windows plug-ins (current bridges are not perfect) and RME (Motu or some other player) can release Linux drivers, much more people can switch completely.
 
Note that "conservative" design of Linux (thanks to embedded and server solutions based on it) is perfect for "install once - run forever" approach. Desktop platforms (MS,Apple) tend to change the rules all the time to sell new products. Good for toys, one season clothes and may be for mobile phones. Somehow stupid for "hardware like" music workstations.

I pay close attention to MS, as I'm a corporate IT guy.  This is just another service the MS will be offering, and will not affect 99.9% of Windows users.  See:
 
https://www.howtogeek.com/360938/no-microsoft-isnt-turning-windows-10-into-a-paid-subscription-service/

OAN, I would gladly pay a small one-time fee for an ad-free, no ****, lean and mean version of Windows.

There's nothing in that article that's "panic worthy".
I have a subscription to MS Office 365.  With tax, it's $7.51 a month.
You can still purchase a standard license for MS Office.
 
Sometimes a subscription type plan makes sense... other times it doesn't.
ie: I use Photoshop, Premier Pro, After Effects, Illustrator, and Audition.
To purchase a bundle license for those programs (and to keep it up-to-date) would cost a lot more than the $50/month Adobe Creative Cloud subscription.
 
Apple may ultimately go the monthly subscription route.
They already offer monthly services (Apple Music, iCloud Storage, etc).
 
The downside to a subscription is that you don't own the license.
If you stop paying for the subscription, the application will no longer function.
Most subscriptions have an option to pay yearly.  At that point, the line is getting blurry.
 
As long as monthly subscription costs the same (or less) as a normal license, I don't have a problem.