Apple has always offered iOS upgrades to its iDevice users for free, and has recently begun using the same model for its desktop and laptop PCs as well. One of the surprises of Microsoft’s recent Windows 10 event was that Microsoft is apparently going to follow the footsteps of Apple and will offer Windows 10 as a free upgrade to existing Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 users when it is released later this year. In addition, Microsoft has said that users of its mobile variants – notably excluding Windows RT – will also get the upgrade for free.

The other interesting aspect is that the OS will be the same whether used on a PC, tablet, or smartphone. The idea, in the words of Microsoft’s Terry Myerson, was to position Windows as a service to developers and to allow them to develop one application for use across all Windows-based devices. Providing the free upgrade to Windows 10, in turn, may not only spur sales of Windows-based mobile devices but also make the overall Windows ecosystem more attractive to consumers and enterprise customers.

What this could mean to Windows PC and mobile device makers is a potentially far more attractive market, at least in the short-term. The ability for developers to create apps for every type of device could allow developers to more easily make decisions regarding scarce programmer resources, making the Windows ecosystem more attractive and providing more bang for the buck. It will also make the Windows on mobile devices more valuable to consumers, who are likely to have a better choice of applications, a problem that has dogged Windows Phone users for some time.