I suspect that with MS is just changing with the times. I don't know how long W10 will be free, but from what I read most often is that, like Google/Android they figured they can make more money from commissions on the app store and selling your info to advertisers than they can with constant upgrades.

I guess they figure that Linux made a dent, Google/Android is doing well, and it's just a matter of time when the OS isn't the killer app anymore. So by keeping you in the MS family by giving away W10, they can sell you things in the Windows store, sell your personal data like Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. already do, and make the profit under the table instead of above board.

Now that is all conjecture, and there are some articles I've read that disagree, but this is what I read most often.

Remember, if it's free, you aren't the customer, you are the product.

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