One of the most persistent questions I hear about Windows 10 involves what happens when the free upgrade offer ends. Is Microsoft going to start charging subscription fees? After a close look at the company’s financials, I’m convinced the answer is an emphatic no.

We’ve had this advice drummed into our heads for years: If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

That guideline is usually correct, which probably explains why I continue to hear from skeptics convinced that Microsoft’s free Windows 10 offer is a trap. Here’s how the argument typically goes, as expressed in this actual excerpt from the comments to a recent post here:

Windows as a service, to me, means that they will eventually charge a subscription or something similar, to actually use your computer. [Microsoft] will make a very basic functionality free, but if you want to do anything of consequence, you will have to pay a subscription fee. That is the master plan, if MS can get away with it.

SOURCE: zdnet.com