Microsoft Corp. will likely not charge Windows 8 users for the operating system’s upgrade codenamed “Blue,” according to technology industry analysts.
Microsoft has yet to issue a formal statement concerning the any payment model for the operating system also known as Windows build 9364. However, several analysts believed the software company will be irking a lot of customers if it would charge them now to upgrade to Blue.
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Windows Blue is more like a “service pack-plus-feature pack,” according to Brett Waldman of analyst firm IDC. He finds it hard to believe that Microsoft would try charge users for Windows Blue.
Many users will likely be upset if they were made to pay for the first update to Windows 8, according to Michael Cherry of independent research and analyst organizations Directions on Microsoft. He said the general sentiment would be that any changes or new features released this early should have been included in the OS in the first place.
The situation is a difficult balancing act for Microsoft which is adopting an annual update release for its products, according to Michael Silver of Gartner Inc.
On one hand, Microsoft faces possible customer ire if they should charge for an update this early. However, Silver said. Microsoft would not want to set a precedent by giving away Blue for free.
However, he said, at least this one time, users might not have to pay for the Blue update.