4 ms·

Microsoft should just admit defeat and give Windows 10 keys away for free

11 points by D13Fd 6y ago

D13Fd 6y ago
The article does not discuss the revenue Microsoft is still likely making from selling Windows 10 to OEMs, which I imagine is why it has not yet done this.
ntw1103 6y ago
They sort of already have. You can install Windows 10 without any key, and without registering. There will be a water mark on the bottom corner of the screen, and a couple of the settings will be difficult to change, but all the upgrades work(if you want them) There is no expiration with functionality either.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- mrlonglong 6y ago
  You need a licence key if you want to customise your desktop, which is a big pain in the proverbial if you can't.
  - ntw1103 6y ago
    It is possible to set the background without entering a key, and there are a couple other things that are possible too, but it is far from easy.
yuppie_scum 6y ago
How exactly have they been defeated?
- nezgar 6y ago
  Grey market Win10 keys like this are probably a part of it: https://www.ebay.com/itm/373546396164 https://www.ebay.com/itm/373546396164 Edit: After reading article, indeed above method is noted. Also many people will never need to enter product keys since they're embedded in their hardware by OEM's...
- ChickeNES 6y ago
  Well in my case I've been using the same Windows Vista pro key for almost 15 years now, from Vista to 7 to 10
phendrenad2 6y ago
Oh man, this is so stupid. If Microsoft gives away Windows 10 keys, it'll hurt companies like Dell and Lenovo who pay Microsoft to prebundle Windows. Guess who won't have to pay Microsoft to prebundle Windows? All of the cheap custom PC sellers on ebay and amazon. Everyone (except those who are so computer illiterate they can't figure out how to install Windows) will just buy a PC without Windows and install it themselves.
- 3836293648 6y ago
  >Everyone (except those who are so computer illiterate they can't figure out how to install Windows) Also known as the vast majority of users. They might manage if forced, but the vast majority of users are too scared to even try
parched 6y ago
I have the opposite problem. I run windows 7 on a low-end piece of hardware just for a home built arcade machine running emulators. It needs windows to drive the front end software (Hyperspin). Trying to run this on Windows 10 is a nightmare. The disk activity on win 10 is horrendously and slow, plus Hyperspin doesn't natively run on 10. I had to reinstall win7 on that system recently, and it absolutely refuses to do the online registration for it even though it's a valid (MSDN) license key. I think maybe they took the servers down or something because I get a comms error. So now after 30 days it keeps popping up a dialog box every 10 minutes saying that "I may be the victim of counterfeiting". How helpful of them. I still don't have a solution for this so if anyone has an answer I'd be glad to hear it.
- rasz 6y ago
  KMSpico - emulates local network activation, install automation to repeatedly activate every month. Second option is get a laptop/prebuild PC with Win7 key already burned into the bios and run your software on it.
mrlonglong 6y ago
I bought a Windows 10 Pro key for just 15 GBP a while back just to play Elite Dangerous. I ended up installing on my spare computer as the game wouldn't run under a VM hosted on Linux. No need to pay the full tax to Microsoft.

11 points by D13Fd 6y ago

The article does not discuss the revenue Microsoft is still likely making from selling Windows 10 to OEMs, which I imagine is why it has not yet done this.

ntw1103 6y ago

They sort of already have. You can install Windows 10 without any key, and without registering. There will be a water mark on the bottom corner of the screen, and a couple of the settings will be difficult to change, but all the upgrades work(if you want them) There is no expiration with functionality either.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
mrlonglong 6y ago
You need a licence key if you want to customise your desktop, which is a big pain in the proverbial if you can't.
- ntw1103 6y ago
  It is possible to set the background without entering a key, and there are a couple other things that are possible too, but it is far from easy.

yuppie_scum 6y ago

How exactly have they been defeated?

nezgar 6y ago
Grey market Win10 keys like this are probably a part of it: https://www.ebay.com/itm/373546396164 https://www.ebay.com/itm/373546396164 Edit: After reading article, indeed above method is noted. Also many people will never need to enter product keys since they're embedded in their hardware by OEM's...
ChickeNES 6y ago
Well in my case I've been using the same Windows Vista pro key for almost 15 years now, from Vista to 7 to 10

phendrenad2 6y ago

Oh man, this is so stupid. If Microsoft gives away Windows 10 keys, it'll hurt companies like Dell and Lenovo who pay Microsoft to prebundle Windows. Guess who won't have to pay Microsoft to prebundle Windows? All of the cheap custom PC sellers on ebay and amazon. Everyone (except those who are so computer illiterate they can't figure out how to install Windows) will just buy a PC without Windows and install it themselves.

3836293648 6y ago
>Everyone (except those who are so computer illiterate they can't figure out how to install Windows) Also known as the vast majority of users. They might manage if forced, but the vast majority of users are too scared to even try

parched 6y ago

I have the opposite problem. I run windows 7 on a low-end piece of hardware just for a home built arcade machine running emulators. It needs windows to drive the front end software (Hyperspin). Trying to run this on Windows 10 is a nightmare. The disk activity on win 10 is horrendously and slow, plus Hyperspin doesn't natively run on 10. I had to reinstall win7 on that system recently, and it absolutely refuses to do the online registration for it even though it's a valid (MSDN) license key. I think maybe they took the servers down or something because I get a comms error. So now after 30 days it keeps popping up a dialog box every 10 minutes saying that "I may be the victim of counterfeiting". How helpful of them. I still don't have a solution for this so if anyone has an answer I'd be glad to hear it.

rasz 6y ago
KMSpico - emulates local network activation, install automation to repeatedly activate every month. Second option is get a laptop/prebuild PC with Win7 key already burned into the bios and run your software on it.

mrlonglong 6y ago

I bought a Windows 10 Pro key for just 15 GBP a while back just to play Elite Dangerous. I ended up installing on my spare computer as the game wouldn't run under a VM hosted on Linux. No need to pay the full tax to Microsoft.