this post was submitted on 01 Apr 2026
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Wow. This is absolutely has to be the reason. There is nothing better than a recurrent revenue stream. Look at Spotify, Netflix business model.
Really. And even better, now they can granularize Windows even further. Windows 11 Home or Pro? Naw fam, that's not enough. You'll have the baseline Windows 12 sub for $10 per month...seems reasonable, right? Except that's the baseline. That's the version that can only make use of, at maximum, 4 CPU cores. Want to use all the cores in your bomb ass new processor? You need to bump up to the $20 per month subscription which includes the CPU-MAX add on. Not a fan of the basic Windows wallpaper? Well, fret not! You just need to download the Personalization add-on for an additional $5 per month and now you can change your wallpaper. Hey, is that a new GPU you got there? Yeah, you're going to need to spring for the Gamer bundle...$20 a month for that, on top of the base sub. Oh and don't forget about your local storage...they can subscription lock that, too. "You don't even need local storage anyway! Just use OneDrive!!! It's only a few bucks extra per month!!"...deliberately priced far less than the local storage subscription so that they can scrape all your shit for marketable data which you'll see in the fine print of the ToS they're allowed to do with abandon.
Go to turn on HDR..."sorry, you need the graphics booster add on". Try to output 5.1 audio? "Sorry, no can do, you get 2.0 only, peasant, you didn't sign up for the media add-on." Want to throw another stick of memory in your rig to extend it's life? "Sorry, base Windows can only use 16GBs...you need the performance package to address anything more."
And you know what the best part is? This shit would all likely be legal. Know how I know? Because Windows enterprise server and software licensing is already like this, and has been for years.
Shit is so fucked man...
Heated seats in luxury cars.