Just last week during Apple’s iPad event, it was revealed that new Mac computers would come with iWork and iLife installed for free, and that the company would offer upgrades to their latest operating system, OS X Mavericks, for free as well. While it seemed like this was an offer with no clock on the table, we guess there are still some users out there who might be wondering if there is a time limit to this offer and if it was a one-time deal. Well the good news is that if you were worried that this was indeed a one-time deal, fret not because during Apple’s financial results conference, the company’s CFO, Peter Oppenhemer, confirmed that iWork, iLife, and future OS X updates would be offered for free for the foreseeable future.
According to Oppenheimer, “We wanted all of our customers to have access to our very latest software so they can get the best features […] We wanted to make it a part of the experience.” Apple’s decision to make OS X Mavericks free has seen a sharp increase in the operating system’s adoption rate, which according to the figures suggested anywhere between 6-8% within 24 hours of the operating system’s release. It is an interesting move by Apple to offer up their software for free and we guess we will have to wait and see if this strategy will pay off. What do you guys think?