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Microsoft’s Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turne has confirmed Windows 10 will not be “loss leader” when it is released later in 2015. Turne said... Microsoft VP Confirms Windows 10 Will Not Be A Loss-Leader

Microsoft’s Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turne has confirmed Windows 10 will not be “loss leader” when it is released later in 2015. Turne said this in response to questions on whether Windows 10 would be free. Loss-leader means the product will ship at a profit loss, to gain more popularity.

This tactic has been used a lot more in software, due to each unit not representing a certain manufacturing cost. Microsoft’s only needs to cover the payment for each worker on Windows 10 and the R&D that went into the new OS. There will be price options available for Windows 10 customers. This leads into the potential price drop for Windows 8 customers or the removal of price altogether, as a thank you for buying the rather underwhelming update.

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Microsoft will hold a consumer event in late January to reveal all of the features coming to Windows 10. The event should include price points for Windows 10 and possible pre-orders for beta testers.

Users have been testing Windows 10 for the past few months on the Developer Preview. Microsoft has already shown new features like the Start Menu and different multi-window tools for power users. It is clear Windows 10 is made to appeal to the power users, who are still running Windows 7. Windows XP is slowly dying away, after Microsoft officially dropped support for the 25 percent of users still supporting the OS.

Windows 7 will most likely become the de-facto leader on the PC market if Windows 10 fails to deliver. However, Microsoft has started a pattern of good and bad releases, and Windows 10 looks set to be a good release—if it follows the pattern.

[Image via winbeta]