>The actual change is this: MS want to move to an annuity revenue model whereby users "subscribe" to Windows like they can to Office 365. The annuity revenue model creates continuous, recurring income streams (and dependency) rather than once-off bulk sales every few years. It becomes a set and forget payment system rather than having users re-think whether they want the next version or not. This has nothing to do with tech and everything to do with money and customer lock-in.

And that's downright scary. If you have any account from which you once paid something to Microsoft, you may find that it's now being turned on to automatically pay to Microsoft whenever they think it's time.

I had a "set and forget" link between my Paypal and Skype - so I could call Serbia from the US at the less horrible rates (still not extremely cheap, but far better than what phone minute peddlers were charging), so it would pick next $25 when my account fell below $2. Then Microsoft bought Skype and I once paid for the premium version, so I could have my timezone spread family in a group chat. And bing-o, the next two years Microsoft took automatic payments for this service without me moving a finger. Note that "automatic" and "premium" weren't even set on the same year, nor towards the same company, nor towards the same service. Luckily, I caught them both times within minutes, and wen through some serious clicking around to cancel that. And, ah, the same service is now free, because the google has it for free.

Now if I still had a card with any money on it and knew that Microsoft knows the number, I'd ask for a new number.

Microsoft simply can't be trusted.