The OS will be available free of charge for makers of small tablets

Apr 2, 2014 18:06 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft has finally decided to make Windows completely free of charge, but only for manufacturers who are planning to build tablets with screens smaller than 9 inches in size.

At the same time, phone makers that decide to embrace Windows will also benefit from a free license, Microsoft’s Terry Myerson revealed today at BUILD.

No other details have been provided, but it’s pretty clear that prices are expected to drop significantly, and Microsoft also expects to see many more devices running its modern OS versions hitting the shelves in the coming months.

What’s more, Redmond is also expected to bring its very own small tablet to the market, possibly called Surface Mini, which could compete with devices such as iPad mini and Nexus 7.

Previous reports have indicated that Microsoft could even make Windows free of charge for desktop computers, as part of a Bing-branded version that would promote products belonging to the software giant and showing ads across the Modern UI.

This won’t happen anytime soon however and the only free version of Windows that’ll actually get to see daylight is actually this build aimed at OEMs that decide to install the operating system on smaller device and thus support the adoption of the modern platform.