Have you ever imagined using Windows as a subscription-based service? Maybe, as lead to us from Microsoft’s latest job listing. Microsoft has its own cloud platform known as Azure which many organisations and developers are using for different purposes. A new job listing has revealed that Microsoft is developing a new product in which they will offer Windows as a Service. First and third party service providers can also build on this Windows version as a service. Even though this sounds similar to what Azure is offering right now, we speculate that this could be the consumer version of Windows offered as a service.
Here’s the official Job Listing:
We are a team focused on developing services that will power Microsoft’s ability to offer Windows as a Service. You will help will build the software platform that allow 1st and 3rd party service providers to onboard their services on to the Microsoft’s new consumer membership program. You will prototype and develop services that connect partners with consumers to offer an integrated Microsoft membership experience. You will also have the opportunity to collaborate with multiple teams within Microsoft to strive toward the common goal of delighting our customers through the membership service.
The ideal candidate is self-motivated, experienced, flexible, and great to work with in a small team setting. The candidate shows tremendous design and drive required for this effort with an ability to produce high quality code for prioritized features delivered to end-users on a rapid cycle. You will have the opportunity to mentor junior members as well as help us create a service driven culture. You will have the opportunity to excel and grow your career by delivering a great quality product at a fast pace. You will also be willing to work cross-teams and build and maintain great partnership with other teams.
This position requires 5+ years of software development experience, including shipping products and integrating with large scale cloud services. Proven experience in shipping large scale services or server products is preferred. You should have demonstrated expertise in dealing with distributed systems with multi-threaded code and high performance integrations with running services. Ideal candidate has worked on web based experiences, loosely coupled service architecture, REST APIs, security, and knows how to harness these to create smooth working service. Experience with managed code and multithreaded, asynchronous programming is required. Experience with Azure or cloud services is desired but not required. Experience with cross-team work and delivery is also a plus. A BS or MS in computer science or related discipline is preferred.
Microsoft’s new CEO Satya Nadella earlier mentioned that he will be pushing Microsoft as a devices and a services company, a cloud and mobile-first company. I believe this a right step by Microsoft because we are already seeing how successful Office 365 is, now the question of whether Microsoft will able to replicate the success of Office with Windows looms only future will tell. By introducing Windows as a service Microsoft can also cut down the price of Windows and get more people to use Windows platform. But only for the short term. A subscription model means you a pay a sum in segments (weekly, monthly, half-yearly) for using a service, you might just end up spending more on Windows for long term usage.
What do you think? Are you comfortable with how Windows is being offered now, or do you prefer the subscription model? Let us know in the comments section below.
