It's about time. They should have had this awhile ago.

this is a really good idea and about time too what would the cost difference be to completely end dvd/bluray disc sales and make it all usb? could even make the sticks un-writable so only the game will ever be on it

This is good for progress....I built my PC back in 2013 without any drives, so I've been without any kind of optical drive last few years. Think I've only needed to use it maybe 2 or 3 times.. PC games as well however should also make this transition to USB sticks, I don't like at all where they're trying to push us with PC games which is 100% the digital format (Steam, Origin) because if you look at the paperwork, you're really just RENTING the game... I would much rather have something on a USB stick so I know I own it with my own two hands. I can now get that with Windows 10 which is a bonus

I wonder how long they will do that... I very much like the idea of getting the image and installation on an USB stick, but that costs... I still remember back in the day there was the Netbook edition of Norton's Internet Security. Came on an USB stick (because netbooks seldomly have optical drives), but just a year after I bought it they stopped selling it. I think it was too expensive to put out the USB sticks.

I wonder how long they will do that... I very much like the idea of getting the image and installation on an USB stick, but that costs... I still remember back in the day there was the Netbook edition of Norton's Internet Security. Came on an USB stick (because netbooks seldomly have optical drives), but just a year after I bought it they stopped selling it. I think it was too expensive to put out the USB sticks.

It wont cost more than if it was on DVD.

Microsoft Windows 10 Home will cost 119 USD, Microsoft Windows 10 Home Pro is a steep 199.99 USD

It wont cost more than if it was on DVD.

Yeah, for us... but I'm not sure microsoft will get a USB stick with the files on there for the same price as making a dvd. That's why I said I wonder if they will change that in the long run.

I like this... USB drives are cheap enough. Windows Vista has the coolest Packaging though #___#

An ms certified usb isnt cheap. I reckon this will increase cost of the OS a fair bit if buying retail and you know damn well that retailers will further inflate the price as they'll try to pass it off as some sort of technical revolution.

USB flash drives expensive ? ahahahahaa aa sorry

Oh i like that! I'm running my PC without an Optical Drive for atleast 4 years now. The only thing i have in my Drive Bay is a Fan Controller for my Case Fans.

Oh i like that! I'm running my PC without an Optical Drive for atleast 4 years now. The only thing i have in my Drive Bay is a Fan Controller for my Case Fans.

Same here, everything should be digital or local.

This is good for progress....I built my PC back in 2013 without any drives, so I've been without any kind of optical drive last few years. Think I've only needed to use it maybe 2 or 3 times.. PC games as well however should also make this transition to USB sticks, I don't like at all where they're trying to push us with PC games which is 100% the digital format (Steam, Origin) because if you look at the paperwork, you're really just RENTING the game... I would much rather have something on a USB stick so I know I own it with my own two hands. I can now get that with Windows 10 which is a bonus

You were always just renting the games, you never own the rights to the game only own a license to play the game, that's how it always has been, that hasn't changed, don't try and fool yourself into thinking any different.

USB flash drives expensive ? ahahahahaa aa sorry

Yes? Comparatively speaking. DVDs can cost, by now, probably 20 cents to make each, maybe lower, it was around 30 cents in 2006 Compared to a USB drive, which is hard to get information on, but i'd say they'd have to use a 16gb USB drive, or an 8Gb, which both will probably cost them $1.50-$5, that number is even harder to both get and calculate due to different manufacturing processes, cheaper memory controllers vs higher quality, etc. I'd expect it'd Microsoft to not go the cheapest but probably not the most expensive to make sure their product will work. Is it a lot of money when it comes to $119/$199 products? no, is it a lot of money when you order 10's of thousands of them? yeah, even at my estimate that'd be: 10,000 DVDs @ $.20=$2,000 10,000 USBs @ $3=$30,000 Again, the USB specifically may be wrong, but they aren't as cheap as DVDs to make, individually that's not a problem, but when you have to make a ton, that's a problem.

About damn time, I'd gladly pay a few extra bucks if that what it takes (though I shouldn't pay anything if the update is free for my 8.1 cd-key...), I stopped using my optical drive for I can't remember how long.

I have a Blu-ray optical drive and it is one of the most important pieces of hardware in my PC, I cant get digital 3D movies so I need it to watch 3D movies using Discs. 3D movies direct to a 3D Projector = better than 3D cinema experience I already use USB for installing windows 8.1 and Ms office hopefully Ms will allow us to create our own USB windows10 drives

You were always just renting the games, you never own the rights to the game only own a license to play the game, that's how it always has been, that hasn't changed, don't try and fool yourself into thinking any different.

So I'm still renting my car that I bought and paid in full from my dealership years ago ? You're making zero sense, and about owning the rights to the game what in the heck are you even talking about? where's your common sense/logic? it's about that one single game that I own, and not the rights to it or whatever you're going on about I go into a store buy a physical boxed copy of Witcher 3/Windows 10, and I have that for the rest of my life because it's something I can hold in my own two hands and nobody can take that away from me. I go on Steam purchase it digitally, wherein they reserve the right to take it out of my library/make it unplayable any time any reason they see fit... for various reasons I won't get into, could be anything. A simple analogy I can use if you're not comprehending is I go into a dealership I buy a car in full, I OWN that car, Nissan or Honda can't come take it back, it's MY property.... if I leased/financed it on the other hand, well then that's a different story, and that's what you get with Steam, you pay full price to basically lease a game.

So I'm still renting my car that I bought and paid in full from my dealership years ago ? You're making zero sense, and about owning the rights to the game what in the heck are you even talking about? where's your common sense/logic? it's about that one single game that I own, and not the rights to it or whatever you're going on about I go into a store buy a physical boxed copy of Witcher 3/Windows 10, and I have that for the rest of my life because it's something I can hold in my own two hands and nobody can take that away from me. I go on Steam purchase it digitally, wherein they reserve the right to take it out of my library/make it unplayable any time any reason they see fit... for various reasons I won't get into, could be anything. A simple analogy I can use if you're not comprehending is I go into a dealership I buy a car in full, I OWN that car, Nissan or Honda can't come take it back, it's MY property.... if I leased/financed it on the other hand, well then that's a different story, and that's what you get with Steam, you pay full price to basically lease a game.

Dude, you paid for license when you buy games, IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN LIKE THAT. If you want to make yourself believe otherwise, that's your own fault, doesn't make it true. You have always, and will always, only and ever, pay for a LICENSE to PLAY the game. Retail, digital, does not matter. 99% of games that are actually worth playing that do not require steam/origin/uplay/etc. have some sort of CD-Key authorization, and that's been like that since, 2001?2002? When those CD-Key authorizations services go away, you lose the ability to install your game, aka, you lose the ability to play it unless you never delete it, that's no different then Steam/Origin/uplay other then you get a pointless, inactivatable, physical copy. Before that, you still only bought a LICENSE TO PLAY the game, they just had no "real" way to revoke that license. You have never, and WILL NEVER buy a game, unless you pay the hundreds and thousands/millions of dollars to purchase the game. Until that, you have NEVER bought a game, you have always bought a license. Again, if you choose to not understand that, that's fine, doesn't make it not true. Like with ANY license for ANY product out there at all, those licenses always have in their agreements when you purchase the product even if you decided not to read it, to revoke said license, the only difference is HOW they revoke it. But again, this isn't Steam/Origin/Uplay/etc. problem as they have had for years without those, online activations of some sort So if you still have a problem with understanding this, answer this: What good does it do to have your physical copy of the game when you can't activate the CD-Key that is required to install the game because your right to play the game has been revoked, either because you did something you weren't supposed to do, or the service is no longer available? Name any games, now, or within the last 5 years, other then games released by CD Projekt RED, that are actually GOOD games, that require no CD-Key activation of some sort? And to your not understanding why i am talking about licenses and etc., the paperwork has always been the same, you TALKED about the paperwork, trying to argue that it has changed, when in reality, it hasn't, so i am directly talking about what you are talking about, even if you don't understand it.

Look at it another way, I bought and have a physical disc of Skyrim and Metro 2033. Installation required an active Steam account. So just because I have the physical discs in my possession, your statement about them removing it from my library for whatever reason would still hold true. Having the physical disc means nothing other than having something that takes up space on a shelf or in a closet.

So glad they're doing this now, I really hate physical media, be it games music cds or DVDs blue rays, hate all that, would rather it all be digital then I could replace all that media with book shelves, books I like 🙂

I'm the opposite, books i hate as the digital space you need is minuscule while the physical space is huge. Movies and TV i nearly always still need physical media for. Moving an OS to a USB stick is still physical media tough, it's just not an optical one, and not sure i care either way. It might be a faster install, but it's a higher cost and space wise a DVD is probably better for storage, but a USB drive is easier to carry around.

With the decline and fall of CD and DVD-ROMs on-line distribution has taken a huge step forward, meanwhile sometimes you can't be online so how do you install something ? Well, Microsoft will sell Wi... Microsoft To Sell Windows 10 on usb-sticks

this is great news, I still say the prices are still to high though special for pro