4 ms·

I've read[1] that it's possible to legally obtain LTSC without volume licensing by purchasing a few other Microsoft thingies. Is such a method how you did this,

I've read[1] that it's possible to legally obtain LTSC without volume licensing by purchasing a few other Microsoft thingies. Is such a method how you did this, or did you unfurl your sails? Btw (rant incoming), this isn't a spiel against piracy. If Microsoft complains that people pirate LTSC without providing an easy legal way to obtain it, they can cry me a river. I just switched over to Linux from Win7 early this year; between spying on you, stability and data loss issues from firing their QA department, the auto-installation of Candy Crush, and the intentional difficulty in getting LTSC which doesn't have these problems, they lost me from ever switching to Windows 10. Which is an absolute shame, because if it weren't for those dealbreakers, it would actually be a good OS, and I would be using it on my desktop. Maybe someday I'll spin up a QEMU gaming VM, but if they ever make LTSC impossible to obtain, I'll just try to forget Windows 10 exists entirely. [1]https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/2167558-explicit-instructions-for-purchasing-a-windows-10-ltsc-license https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/2167558-explicit-inst...

gruez 6y ago
>Is such a method how you did this, or did you unfurl your sails? Neither. Ended up using a msdn key.
- bilegeek 6y ago
  If it's safe to say so - I don't wanna jeopardize your methods here - how did you obtain it? As far as I can tell, normal consumers can't buy them "legit", but they are "illegitimately" resold anyways, which makes rejection of their "validity" during activation a possibility (assuming Microsoft finds out, of course).
  - gruez 6y ago
    >which makes rejection of their "validity" during activation a possibility (assuming Microsoft finds out, of course). AFAIK Microsoft doesn't revoke existing activations, so you should be fine unless you need to reinstall. If you dont want that risk, a locally hosted kms server (running in a VM for maximum security) achives the same thing.
    - bilegeek 6y ago
      Good to know. Also, I never knew about kms servers; TIL.
  - Tijdreiziger 6y ago
    It's not illegal to resell software (at least in the EU).
    - bilegeek 6y ago
      Illegal != breach of contract. They control the activation servers, they can just refuse activation if they felt you've violated the contract.
      - Tijdreiziger 6y ago
        "Europe's highest court ruled on Tuesday that the trading of 'used' software licenses is legal and that the author of such software cannot oppose any resale." [1] [1] https://www.computerworld.com/article/2505356/eu-court-rules-resale-of-used-software-licenses-is-legal----even-online.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/2505356/eu-court-rules...
        nottorp 6y ago
        Tuesday, July 3, 2012. Did that ruling change anything in practice? I don't see ads for used Windows licenses anywhere.
        Tijdreiziger 6y ago
        For example: https://www.kinguin.net/category/19429/windows-10-professional-oem-key/ https://www.kinguin.net/category/19429/windows-10-profession...
        nottorp 6y ago
        I don't see anything about that being a used key. On the contrary, it warns you it can only be activated once for one hardware combination. Edit: those are usually MSDN or volume license keys that shouldn't be resold but will activate nevertheless. Reselling those may be legal only in the EU, but still, they're not used.
        6y ago

gruez 6y ago

>Is such a method how you did this, or did you unfurl your sails? Neither. Ended up using a msdn key.

bilegeek 6y ago
If it's safe to say so - I don't wanna jeopardize your methods here - how did you obtain it? As far as I can tell, normal consumers can't buy them "legit", but they are "illegitimately" resold anyways, which makes rejection of their "validity" during activation a possibility (assuming Microsoft finds out, of course).
- gruez 6y ago
  >which makes rejection of their "validity" during activation a possibility (assuming Microsoft finds out, of course). AFAIK Microsoft doesn't revoke existing activations, so you should be fine unless you need to reinstall. If you dont want that risk, a locally hosted kms server (running in a VM for maximum security) achives the same thing.
  - bilegeek 6y ago
    Good to know. Also, I never knew about kms servers; TIL.
- Tijdreiziger 6y ago
  It's not illegal to resell software (at least in the EU).
  - bilegeek 6y ago
    Illegal != breach of contract. They control the activation servers, they can just refuse activation if they felt you've violated the contract.
    - Tijdreiziger 6y ago
      "Europe's highest court ruled on Tuesday that the trading of 'used' software licenses is legal and that the author of such software cannot oppose any resale." [1] [1] https://www.computerworld.com/article/2505356/eu-court-rules-resale-of-used-software-licenses-is-legal----even-online.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/2505356/eu-court-rules...
      - nottorp 6y ago
        Tuesday, July 3, 2012. Did that ruling change anything in practice? I don't see ads for used Windows licenses anywhere.
        Tijdreiziger 6y ago
        For example: https://www.kinguin.net/category/19429/windows-10-professional-oem-key/ https://www.kinguin.net/category/19429/windows-10-profession...
        nottorp 6y ago
        I don't see anything about that being a used key. On the contrary, it warns you it can only be activated once for one hardware combination. Edit: those are usually MSDN or volume license keys that shouldn't be resold but will activate nevertheless. Reselling those may be legal only in the EU, but still, they're not used.
      - 6y ago