Cheapest way to get Windows 10 Home/Pro legally?
Discussion
Evening all, ill start by saying that ive not built my own PC for a good 15 years or so, so im a bit out of touch with the market. The reason for getting back into it is so i can play Microsoft flight simulator. Back in the day i used to get OEM keys from Ebuyer which came with a disk, I assume that a fresh install is done off of a USB drive now? With regards to Home or Pro, is there any benefit in the latter for a gaming PC?
Anyhow the main issue is price as the numbers seem to be all over the place! I can get a product key from some suspicious looking websites for under a tenner right up to paying retail at £200ish. What are peoples recommendations for getting a legal copy as cheaply as possible? Any help appreciated
Anyhow the main issue is price as the numbers seem to be all over the place! I can get a product key from some suspicious looking websites for under a tenner right up to paying retail at £200ish. What are peoples recommendations for getting a legal copy as cheaply as possible? Any help appreciated
Edited by LP670 on Thursday 29th October 21:40
CubanPete said:
Im on a mac at the minute so dont have Windows 7 to upgrade from unfortunately.Always seem to be advertised in their magazines so presumably legal
£39.99 for Pro - https://store.pcpro.co.uk/p36876-windows_10_profes...
£29.99 for Home https://store.computeractive.co.uk/p36880-windows_...
£39.99 for Pro - https://store.pcpro.co.uk/p36876-windows_10_profes...
£29.99 for Home https://store.computeractive.co.uk/p36880-windows_...
PF62 said:
Always seem to be advertised in their magazines so presumably legal
£39.99 for Pro - https://store.pcpro.co.uk/p36876-windows_10_profes...
£29.99 for Home https://store.computeractive.co.uk/p36880-windows_...
+1 for the Dennis Publishing deal.£39.99 for Pro - https://store.pcpro.co.uk/p36876-windows_10_profes...
£29.99 for Home https://store.computeractive.co.uk/p36880-windows_...
100% legal, unlike the some of the cheap keys on ebay -- I admit to trying one of the cheap keys from eBay. Absolutely refused to activate and the seller didn't give a toss!
The ebay stuff is usually 'genuine' from a Microsoft point of view. However the seller is not totally above board - often it is someone in a company with a volume licensing agreement who just generates keys - however they dont tell you that on ebay so as a buyer you don't know. So it's a bit of a grey area, but it's not worth Microsoft's time and effort to stop it happening, so it works fine.
I used GamekeyDiscounter.co.uk for an Office key the other month and it was fine. Activation a bit of a pain in the arse, had to activate by phone, but once that was complete it successfully linked to my Microsoft account and has updated/behaved as expected.
Apparently they are old OEM codes which are perfectly legal to buy and sell; although Microsoft would rather you didn't know that, they cannot stop you doing so.
EDIT - Windows 10 Pro key on the above website = £10.
Apparently they are old OEM codes which are perfectly legal to buy and sell; although Microsoft would rather you didn't know that, they cannot stop you doing so.
EDIT - Windows 10 Pro key on the above website = £10.
Edited by Condi on Friday 30th October 15:54
The_Jackal said:
If you are going to buy a shifty OEM licence from ebay firmly in the grey area, why not just install a cracked version of Windows?
Working and legal are two different things.
If you own a license key the you're entitled to sell it on. OEM keys are cheap for companies to buy and so it is hardly surprising some are sold on far cheaper than a retail key. Microsoft might not like it, but the EU have said that it is legal. Working and legal are two different things.
Once you've validated the key then it is no different to buying a copy from the shop, and will get all the updates and improvements. A cracked version presumably won't ever be valid and so won't benefit from the updates?
Screw Windows spy and bloatware products. More bugs than a junkyard dog
Fortunately Microsoft has admitted it's failings and is moving into the Linux OS.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2020/05/0...
Look at Linux Mint instead. Free and open source.
https://www.linuxmint.com/about.php
Fortunately Microsoft has admitted it's failings and is moving into the Linux OS.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2020/05/0...
Look at Linux Mint instead. Free and open source.
https://www.linuxmint.com/about.php
Condi said:
If you own a license key the you're entitled to sell it on. OEM keys are cheap for companies to buy and so it is hardly surprising some are sold on far cheaper than a retail key. Microsoft might not like it, but the EU have said that it is legal.
Once you've validated the key then it is no different to buying a copy from the shop, and will get all the updates and improvements. A cracked version presumably won't ever be valid and so won't benefit from the updates?
Cracked versions have always got updates. Quite often the installs are less problematic that official installations.Once you've validated the key then it is no different to buying a copy from the shop, and will get all the updates and improvements. A cracked version presumably won't ever be valid and so won't benefit from the updates?
Besides, any old Win7 version can be freely upgraded to Win10.
I never questioned whether they work. Its just they were never allowed to be sold privately. And if you can overlook that, you can overlook cracking.
Just cos something is sold doesnt mean it's legit, look at kodi.
You could simply opt not to buy a key for W10 at all. Just install it and don't bother ever activating it. It will work absolutely fine, the only thing it won't let you do is customise the desktop. And of course you have to put up with a watermark in the bottom right corner of the screen reminding you to activate it.
NMNeil said:
Look at Linux Mint instead. Free and open source.
https://www.linuxmint.com/about.php
Looks like Microsoft Flight Simulator, the game that the OP specifically mentions as the reason for starting this thread, is not supported on Linux?https://www.linuxmint.com/about.php
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1250410/Microso...
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff