Microsoft is breaking its open and extension-friendly ethos with VSCode in order to cripple GitHub Copilot competitors with restricted APIs.
Microsoft is breaking its open and extension-friendly ethos with VSCode in order to cripple GitHub Copilot competitors with restricted APIs.
Wait, Windows is free now?
You can run it without paying for a licence. It’ll remind you to buy one now and then and you can’t do some QoL stuff like changing the wallpaper, but you never actually need to buy a licence.
Generally they don’t care, they want you in the ecosystem. I don’t know if they explicitely label it as free, but you can download an ISO, install it, and log in and I believe you’re good to go now. Or if you have any Windows 7-10 key I believe they are honored. (Someone call me out if I’m wrong, it’s been a while since I installed Windows). But I don’t think they care at all anymore, I think it’s been more about bringing people into their platform.
What’s better for Windows? a 1 time purchase of $99 or give that away for free then charge $150/year for Office?