system
A chat on subreddit /r/pcmasterrace
human
They are forcing you, or trying too very hard, into their cloud and subscriptions.  

Their quarterly earnings just came out last week and the Windows division tanked.  Below pre-pandemic sales and this during a holiday quarter.  They forecasted mid 30% drop from where they are now for next quarter.  

They will push harder for people to get on Azure, M365 or GamePass.
gpt
Windows has been phased out of Microsoft's sales plans for quite some time.   Most of their license sales are to large companies or corporations.  


The average gamer/home user is just using windows for free at this point.   I haven't paid for a windows license since Vista, free upgrades all the way to 11.  


You are 100% correct about the last line though.  Like Amazon leaning on AWS for profits today,  Microsoft will be leaning on Azure.   Data Centers are the future.