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About LinkBacksJust out of interest how do Microsoft know if your activation is pirated?
Just out of interest how do Microsoft know if your activation is pirated?
Microsoft seem hell bent on following a similar path to the Apple model.
Apple are a hardware manufacturer who give away the OS (software) for free so i think a logical path for Microsoft who are a software manufacturer is to give away the hardware for free. :-)
So, I am running a legit version of Windows 7. I upgrade to Windows 10. And decided that meh, don't like it. Can I re-install Windows 7?
So where in the updated blog post does it say Windows 10 will be free for insiders and they will receive a fully activated version? The controversial words which caused all the fuss of the RTM remaining activated after updating from the preview have been removed. Those tweets were posted before the article was changed.Originally Posted by GuidoLS
No account required for upgraders, unless you want to use the app store (and, by extension, using some of the apps, which are quite clearly labeled on any number of topics, such as MSA required, XBLive account required, ad supported, etc) and none of which are even remotely close to being required for operation.Once available on July 29th, you do not need an MSA to upgrade Windows 10 on your Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 PCs if they are not receiving Insider Preview builds. You will not be required to use an MSA on new PCs that come with Windows 10 preinstalled or clean installed from media. Some features in Windows 10 do require an MSA to use, such as downloading apps in the Windows Store.
So the more simple answer is, if you don't want to make a Microsoft Account, upgrade one (or more) of your legitimate 7 or 8.1 licenses, with the knowledge that there are certain parts of the overall environment you will not have access to until you create such an account. Notice I said environment and not OS. The items in the app store are not part of the OS. They aren't required. Most of them aren't even worth the time to be called optional, although I do rather like the MS Jigsaw puzzle game. It also likely means that you won't be able to do the whole XBone streaming thing without some sort of account, but then again, you need an account to run the XBone online, so six to one, half dozen to the other.
As far as being required to have an MSA to upgrade from Insider to RTM, you more or less have to have an account to acquire the software *from Microsoft*. I won't discuss the legality of acquiring it through other methods. You don't have to have one to install it, or make a local account. I don't know if it will upgrade without one - when I installed it on a fresh PC to see if you could do a local account, I didn't bother to check, because I had no intention of leaving it on that machine - I'll only do so much for free, and these are the kinds of questions that the staff writers at Hexus could easily answer if they'd take the time to do it. I'd be truly shocked if they didn't have at least a machine or 3 either sitting in a corner, or readily available after some minor assembly.
Finally, the Tech Editor over at Ars is Peter Bright, Twitter handle be darned. It's the little things that make all the difference.
There are no qualifiers. Other than having an MSA. This is NOT part of the 7/8.1 upgrade program. It might help if they did a better job at separating out the two, but I'm guessing that if they did, there'd be yet another conspiracy theory popping up, so they're just leaving well enough alone.Windows Insiders running the Windows 10 Insider Preview (Home and Pro editions) with their registered MSA connected to their PC will receive the final release build of Windows 10 starting on July 29th. This will come as just another flight. I’ve gotten a lot of questions from Windows Insiders about how this will work if they clean installed from ISO. As long as you are running an Insider Preview build and connected with the MSA you used to register, you will receive the Windows 10 final release build. Once you have successfully installed this build, you will also be able to clean install on that PC from final media if you want to start over fresh.
Educated speculation -
You were able to downgrade from 8/8.1 to 7. It was a popular feature. It's a safe bet that it will continue. Otherwise, there's no official word.
I believe Microsoft have stated before a while back that Insiders will receive the full RTM version, but qualified that by saying you still need to have a valid Win 7 or 8 license to fully activate it. This just looks like them saying you will need to also be in the Insider program to do it.
i would certainly agree that Microsoft's wording has been awful, not just here but when this story also appeared in similar form on the web a few months back after another iffy statement, and also the Windows will be free for pirates debacle as well. With their terrible usage of words (which is unforgivable since they are an american company), people really shouldn't try and second guess any statements Microsoft make unless it's totally clear and unambiguous.
I think it's highly likely MS will look to tie everyone down to Win10. Reading through the waffle and considering the hefty amount of weasel words used by various people at MS, I get the distinct impression MS want to bind people on Win10 so they can cut support for the other operating systems ASAP.
One example - people thought that by not installing a certain update on 7, their install would be perceived as completely legit, and for the most part, that is/was true, with one minor caveat - it's not rocket science to query the system to see if that particular update has been installed. MS has never (to my knowledge) actually accused any single user of piracy - they just flash a warning that your Windows install may be counterfeit, giving the 'end user' the opportunity to make things right without any repercussion.
Or, to put it another way, if you're playing a game of Marco Polo, and someone yells out Marco, and you respond with Table Tennis, people will look at you sort of cross-eyed.
/cue the Darth Vader walk-out music....
Because supporting WinXP for 20+ years was an incredibly good financial investment for MS... and they're legally obligated to support Win7 until 2020, and 8.1 until 2023 - so not exactly ASAP.
I don't mean to be nit-picking here, but Gabriel did not fully confirm the 'forever' of Bright's question with his reply. I am reading this and still believe I'll end up buying Windows 10 at some point despite my two PCs with eligible Windows 7 versions. This is mainly because MS has not yet unequivocally stated weather or not the free upgrade is bound to hardware or not. It shouldn't but it seems like it is. I hope it's not. I'd feel cheated by MS if they cancel my eligibility whenever I upgraded a core part of my PC.
Still, I am switching over and now even consider reinstalling that latest insider build. I left the insider program some weeks back because it became to much of a hassle and the bugs were annoying. I don't want to feel screwed over by MS; it feels like I will be, however.
Roger that. Going to signup with a fake name this week
OEM licenses have ALWAYS been machine bound, period. Retail licenses have always been one at a time limited - period. I believe, without any official word to base things on, that the 'free to rtm' version is going to be the same license as the OEM license - machine bound, for life. I don't see any reason why MS would change their OEM licensing agreements after 20+ years, nor do I see where anyone who is doing a free upgrade on an OEM machine feels entitled to move that license to another machine. I can see being allowed to revert, and that's already a standard 'feature'.
The only real issue I see as being a possibility is if someone wants to revert from 10 Pro back to 7 Ultimate - although I suspect that case is going to be less than 1 in 100,000 or less, as the average user had absolutely NO use for Ultimate, and truth be told, 99% of the power users didn't, either. And once again, I fail to see any indication that MS is going to change their licensing for the retail editions. One machine at a time.
I can't seem to downgrade back to win8.1 because win10 seems to think my original user has been deleted (which isn't true) and just declines downgrading lol. "useful" feature it is!
New releases are always filled with "useful" features, personally I won't be upgrading until I actively have to, unless DX12 is a substantial improvement and even then only when DX11 starts being insufficient, I personally just find upgrading OS too much of a risk most the time. If its not unwanted features its things not working as planned so I just stick to installing new when it comes to changing OS.
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