Ever since the somewhat mixed responses Microsoft got for their current operating system Windows 8, it's been an uphill battle for the tech giant (surely somewhat softened by the terrible PR time Apple is having at the moment with #bendgate) and their good will among consumers. How to combat that? How about some free operating systems?
The Indonesian news site Detik (thanks to a heads-up from PC Gamer) has a statement from the president of Microsoft Indonesia Antonio Diantoro confirming Windows 9 will be a free update for all Windows 8 users, not unlike the most recent update Windows 8.1.
Android and Apple users are used to free upgrades, so this is not just an OS update for Microsoft, but a chance to be thought of positively and more consumer-friendly once again. This would definitely be a first for Microsoft, as updates within an edition have always been free, but an actual upgrade being without cost has never happened.
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Diantoro has only explicitly said that 9 will be free for users of 8, so people with 7 or Vista are still in the dark. It seems like it'd be a great way to get everyone (or at least, a lot of people) on board with the latest iteration of their software. Do you know of any public institutions near you that still use XP? I know of some machines that still have NT on them!
Windows 9 is set to release somewhere in April 2015. An exact release date is not known yet, but we'll probably hear something tomorrow at the Windows press conference.