Microsoft 365 for Consumers rumoured to include Windows 10 OS subscription

We reported a few weeks ago that Microsoft has become increasingly serious about offering a bundle of apps and services to consumers in the form of a Microsoft 365 for Consumers bundle.

The bundle was believed to consist of Office 365 Personal and Home products, without Windows 10, but with Teams for Life (a consumer version of Teams and possibly a password manager included, according to ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley.

Now a new rumour has emerged which suggests the subscription service may, in fact, include Windows 10, according to WindowsUnited’s sources.

They write:

We have received confirmation from a trustworthy source who is familiar with the subject, Microsoft 365 will actually include Windows 10 for consumers.

This does not mean every PC buyer will be forced to send Microsoft a monthly payment to keep their OS working (though this is exactly what Office 365 users have to do). According to WindowsUnited the subscription will include special Windows 10 features not available to regular Windows 10 users, meaning it will be a value-added product rather than the baseline of Windows.

Of course, Microsoft could build this special Windows bundle by moving features currently available to everyone to a special tier, or, god forbid, make regular Windows 10 ad-supported unless you pay for Microsoft 365.

We have heard earlier that the product is not expected anytime soon, with Mary Jo expecting it to arrive in Summer 2020. It was originally expected Summer this year.

It is difficult to see what the value proposition of the Microsoft 365 for Consumers is beyond the already great value to Office 365 for Home, which includes 1 TB of OneDrive storage for up to 5 people and all the major Office apps. Microsoft has however talked up the integration of their various apps, and I hope they do not degrade the user experience of Windows 10 to encourage regular users to subscribe.