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Last spring, the idea of 'Windows 365' popped up several times and the logic behind it was that Microsoft would soon offer a subscription based Windows service. Much like Office 365, the rumors hedged that Microsoft would charge an annual fee for the OS instead of a typical one-time fee that is generally quite expensive.

But, seeing that Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 will be free, for anyone upgrading from Windows 7 or 8, 'Windows 365' did not materialize in the way that many had speculated.

Even though Microsoft has not fully detailed its Windows 10 pricing strategy, such as what does a license cost for someone building their own PC and after one-year, what is the upgrade charge for Windows 10, we do not believe that Microsoft is targeting an annual subscription charge for Windows, at this time.

Although, Microsoft has recently filed for a trademark for 'Windows 365', which adds a bit of fuel to the subscription based version of Windows. While this trademark could be a defensive claim, to make sure it is not taken by another company, if and when Microsoft does announce a subscription version of Windows, 'Windows 365" would likely be the name.

As of right now, it does not seem like Microsoft is planning to release 'Windows 365' in the immediate future, as they are pushing Windows 10 at every possible instance. For now, know that Microsoft has claimed this branding right, but as for what they will do with it, only time will tell.

Source: USPTO | Thanks for the tip @manan!