Windows 11 – What’s In It For Microsoft?
Microsoft has recently announced the upcoming Windows 11 release and said it would be a free upgrade for current Windows 10 users. This is the first time in history that Microsoft is giving a Windows for for free. So, naturally the question rises “What’s in it for Microsoft?”.
I am not a tech expert, but I do little bit of web coding and blogging from Maldives. I do blogging mostly on hotels, islands and travel within the Maldives. But, occasionally I do get caught up in random interests and this is just one of them. Here’s my thought, from Maldives, about the world’s second trillion dollar company’s most popular software of all time.
Do you honestly believe it is free?
If you do you may have to think otherwise, that is after reading this post. Microsoft is one of biggest companies in the world. If the company had a habit of giving free products I am sure they would not have made themselves so rich. Like other companies they are trying to generate maximum profit for their shareholders.
Since Microsoft has officially announced that Windows 11 will be a free upgrade for those already using Windows 10, if you are one of them you will get the free upgrade. I would not doubt about that even though I refuse to believe that is actually free in terms of benefits to Microsoft. As people say there is always a catch in free products. So, what’s the catch in Window 11? There are so many strings attached, let’s get to it.
1. Failed internet browser business is taking another shape
Once upon a time Microsoft was the king and ruled the world in internet browser business. That was the time of Microsoft Internet Explorer which came bundled with Windows versions as the default browser. Microsoft enjoyed several years milking the cow without much competition. Then came the age of FireFox which made the sea rough. After several years the Google Chrome was born and smashed both into dust. But, Microsoft did not give up, they kept releasing new versions of Internet Explorer only end up in fails. Mostly recently the Microsoft release their newest Edge browser with competitive performance, aesthetics and features to compete Google Chrome. Since Edge is not any superior to Chrome, at least not remarkably, Microsoft so far has not succeeded in grabbing any significant market share in the browser business.
I do have few blogs and based on the traffic analysis I can see that over 70% of the traffic is coming from Google Chrome. Rest being distributed among Edge, Firefox, Safari it does not make Microsoft any significant despite pursuing their interest for years.
I have not personally experienced Windows 11. I just watched some previews on Youtube and watched their interviews about the new features in Windows 11.
This makes it obvious to me that Microsoft has imbedded some money making techniques in their new Windows version. Some part of the new features appear to have targeted the same objectives as that of their internet browsers. I am talking about the new widget feature in Windows 11.
Advertisements or sponsored placements on Windows 11 Widgets could potentially generate millions of dollars in revenue per year. Exactly how much it would generate is uncertain at present. The revenue would also depend on how often the users use that feature. If it takes trend the potential is huge and Microsoft could add in more features and make billions of dollars in an year.
2. E-Commerce platform in future
The widget feature on Window 11 has far more potential that anyone could image at present. By the way, if Microsoft sells Windows 11 how much could have they earned? I would say billions. So, by giving for free they may be able to generate even more.
While Window 11 is not based on a complete new rewrite of the software it may be unfair to sell as a complete new version of the operations system. Bad business practices could eventually lead to losing trust by consumers, so it makes more sense to give for free and generate the revenue indirectly by utilizing user’s interactions on Windows.
At present, everything depends on how much the users would use Widget feature. If used a lot this feature could one day turn to an e-commerce platform like Amazon. A small market share from Amazon means millions of dollars in revenue and Microsoft could grow faster as it is more deep-rooted in customer’s devices than Amazon. Who knows in the next decades it would not overtake Amazon? Right now, I only see potential. I don’t think anybody could predict the future trend at present, because the potential is huge and everything depends on user reaction.
3. App Store – Software marketplace
The feature is already on currently Windows. But, it is apparent that Microsoft wants to promote this feature like the Google PlayStore or Apple AppStore. Currently there is no popular market place for Windows based software, other than the Microsoft Store. It has been quite a while that Microsoft has been pushing this to gain more attention by the users. Microsoft Store offers Xbox games, PC Games, Movies and of cause Windows Software. With the introducing of Window 11 the company would start selling Android softwares by partnering Amazon and Android apps would natively work on Windows 11 as per the interviews.
Conclusion
Window is the most widely used Operating System in the world, it is the case in Maldives as well. Under the leadership of Satya Nadella the company has been taking unpredictable turns. I would say the company has become more acceptable to open source softwares, competition and market dynamics. I am based in Maldives, have only internet to read about the practices of Microsoft. So, based on my findings this is what I think about Microsoft.