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Comment by santoshalper | Hacker News Reader

I don't think Microsoft would intentionally compete with Windows, but it does seem as though they are preparing for a world where Windows is no longer their golden goose, or at least hedging their bets. Given that Windows has already decisively lost the battle for servers, this seems prudent.

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It’s already no longer their golden goose. It’s about 6% of total revenue (see http://bullfincher.io/companies/microsoft-corporation/revenu...).

Microsoft could give Windows away for free and be fine. Of course it’s still a lot of money, so they’re not going to leave a multibillion dollar business on the table. But strategically, preserving its revenue is not their priority.

How many percent of their revenue funel are dependent directly or indirectly on windows beeing the peoples workstation funneling them towards their subpar products?

Probably some amount. I agree Windows is strategic, but do definitely could see them giving it away and/or fully open sourcing it.

It is most likely impossible, given the amount of code that is probably still under contractors copyright, or other kinds of licenses.

They don't have to provide the source to give the OS away for free.

The difference between BSD and GPL in one sentence.

In the Enterprise, they'll fight tooth and nail to maintain that synergy. In the small business and consumer markets, people are having a very slow divorce from Windows, and Microsoft is well aware. MS365 is an ok product and can absolutely thrive on its own without Windows.

Without the "i grew up with that pipeline "that is windows? I have doubts.

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