Microsoft is trying to one-up Apple's free U2 album, by offering the U2 album and 99 others for free, to all Windows 8 and/or Windows Phone users.

The deal will be available on the Music app, under Holiday Freebies. Users will be able to download all of the albums without paying a cent, a pretty excellent deal.

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Artists on the freebies deal including Kanye West, U2, Eminem, Lana Del Rey and more. There is plenty to choose from and plenty of genres for each type of music listener.

If there isn't something on the freebies list, Microsoft is also offering 80 percent off major albums like Nirvana 2004 box-set, "With the Lights Out" for just $1.99, an incredible price.

Unlike Apple, Microsoft is not forcing customers to download the new album either. Users can pick and choose at their own discretion, something we are glad to see implemented.

Microsoft can use the free albums for three different pushes. The first is the Music app - iTunes has been dominant for a long time - but recent reports claim the music service has been losing sales throughout most of 2014.

The second is Windows Phone, up to 3.6 percent from 3.3 percent mobile market share at the start of 2014. Having these free music downloads might be incentive to pick up a Windows Phone and should keep current users loyal to the brand.

The final reason behind the big surge in free albums is to make Windows 8 and 8.1 more appealing. Right now, only 15 percent of Windows users run the latest version of the OS, with 50 percent on Windows 7 and 20 percent on Windows XP.

Having these free incentives, only available on Windows 8 or Windows Phone, might secure Microsoft a few more upgrades and customers.

However, Microsoft is paying for these free album downloads from its own pocket. If it cannot justify the amount of sales with actual numbers increase, it might turn out to be a bad decision, offering all of these free albums to users.

The deal will only last through the holiday season, after which Microsoft will revert back to old prices.

TagsXbox Music, free albums, free music, Windows 8, Windows Phone