4 ms·
Couldn't users just install Windows 7 without a license key? The trial period initially lasts 30 days and can be extended up to 120 days, I believe.
by yohui 12y ago
Couldn't users just install Windows 7 without a license key? The trial period initially lasts 30 days and can be extended up to 120 days, I believe.
- tdicola 12y agoOh that would be too funny if you could do it. Given how MS fired all their Windows org QA folks it wouldn't surprise me if something like that slipped through too.
- cwyers 12y agoOr they don't care if you do it. The number of people willing to do that is small, the amount of money they would pay for Windows if they couldn't do that is probably even smaller. They are literally willing to replace every pirated copy of Windows 7 in the world with Windows 10 just for the marketshare. They don't want another zombie OS like XP, they want people in the Windows Store and Xbox Music and Xbox Video, they want people using Project Spartan and Cortana. They are doing everything they possibly can to get Windows 10 into as many consumer hands as possible without totally gutting their OEM licensing fees (which they are willing to take a hit on to compete with Android and Chromebooks) or cutting into their enterprise fees. They are putting up JUST enough barriers to getting free Windows 10 to keep their actual Windows profit centers (OEM and enterprise) paying happily, while passing it out like candy at a parade to consumers, who have as a rule never paid for Windows directly anyway.