Microsoft May Up Prices for Windows 10 Pro for Workstations

Something is afoot with pricing on certain versions of the Windows operating system over at Microsoft. ZDNet reports that when Windows 10 Pro for Workstations lands it will change the way Microsoft licenses and prices software for computer maker partners. Any price increase from Microsoft will certainly mean price increases to the end-user from the computer makers.

Reports indicate that Microsoft will license Windows 10 Desktop operating systems by the processor family. This means that any PC sold running an Intel Xeon workstation processor would be affected by the pricing change. One source claims that a price increase of $144 per OS will happen for systems with processors running four or fewer cores. PCs running Xeon processors with more than four cores will see pricing increases of $214 per OS.

Windows 10 Pro for Workstations will be a paid upgrade when it rolls out according to the reports, but the catch is that Microsoft hasn’t yet said how much that upgrade will cost. The upgrade will be available for Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro.

Windows 10 Pro for Workstations will be required for systems with Intel Xeon processors or AMD Opteron processors inside, but optional for all other systems. Reports also indicate that Microsoft will extend the ability for Windows 10 users to downgrade to Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 until October 31, 2018. The cost to downgrade from Windows 10 Pro for Workstations to those older operating systems will be $244 per license more than the cost now for machines with over four cores and $174 for PCs with four or fewer cores.