Is buying windows worth it ?

[HenryFan]

So I just build my pc and in curious it is worth it buying windows 

[lewdicrous]

If you're looking to remove the watermark and enable personalization, then sure.

[gloop]

Personally, yes, I think buying Windows is worth it, but it depends on the price.

 

You can get it for $110 officialy from Microsoft, or you could get it for around $20 from a reseller on something like EBay. 
 

Then, there are programs that can get you to Windows 10 Pro for free but I cannot tell you where to find them as it is against the Forums ToS. 

[terminator5105]

2 minutes ago, lewdicrous said:

If you're looking to remove the watermark and enable personalization, then sure.

other Than that there really isn't any advantage to buy it 

 

[gloop]

11 minutes ago, terminator5105 said:

other Than that there really isn't any advantage to buy it 

 

Yes there is. 
 

For Windows 10 Pro you have Virtualisation, and you have higher RAM limits. 

[Oshino Shinobu]

2 minutes ago, gloop said:

Yes there is. 
 

For Windows 10 Pro you have Virtualisation, and you have higher RAM limits. 

I'm not aware of HyperV being locked by activation on Windows 10 Pro or a RAM limit increase after activation. 

 

Would you be able to provide a source for this? I can't find anything about it. 

 

I just enabled HyperV on a Windows 10 Pro VM that isn't activated, no issue. 

[gloop]

Just now, Oshino Shinobu said:

Would you be able to provide a source for this? I can't find anything about it. 

For my personal W10 Home, if I try to enable Hyper-V it says I need an Upgraded License. 
 

My license is bought from Microsoft, not bought from a reseller or something. 

[Oshino Shinobu]

Just now, gloop said:

For my personal W10 Home, if I try to enable Hyper-V it says I need an Upgraded License. 
 

My license is bought from Microsoft, not bought from a reseller or something. 

That's because you're using Windows 10 Home, which doesn't support HyperV, it's nothing to do with whether it's activated or not.

 

If you use Windows 10 Pro, you can enable HyperV without needing to activate it. 

 

Here's a W10 Pro VM I have with HyperV enabled which isn't activated:

 

[gloop]

Just now, Oshino Shinobu said:

That's because you're using Windows 10 Home, which doesn't support HyperV, it's nothing to do with whether it's activated or not.

 

If you use Windows 10 Pro, you can enable HyperV without needing to activate it. 

 

Here's a W10 Pro VM I have with HyperV enabled which isn't activated:

Ah Ok, my mistake. I’ll edit the post to reflect that info. 

[wall03]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_10_editions#Comparison_chart

[AdvilLobotomite]

I would get a key from the grey market (G2A). But I would never recommend using free software to activate windows.

[Quinnell]

I personally buy most of my Windows keys from reddit.com/r/microsoftsoftwareswap.  I use /u/s5ean and so far every key has been legit.  Obvious disclaimer: This is gray market. The keys are legit but they're being resold.

 

Best to avoid 'free' Windows activations though.. it's not legal.

[Roswell]

1 hour ago, gloop said:

Personally, yes, I think buying Windows is worth it, but it depends on the price.

 

You can get it for $110 officialy from Microsoft, or you could get it for around $20 from a reseller on something like EBay. 
 

Then, there are programs that can get you to Windows 10 Pro for free but I cannot tell you where to find them as it is against the Forums ToS. 

 

1 hour ago, AdvilLobotomite said:

I would get a key from the grey market (G2A). But I would never recommend using free software to activate windows.

 

33 minutes ago, Quinnell said:

I personally buy most of my Windows keys from reddit.com/r/microsoftsoftwareswap.  I use /u/s5ean and so far every key has been legit.  Obvious disclaimer: This is gray market. The keys are legit but they're being resold.

 

Best to avoid 'free' Windows activations though.. it's not legal.

Supporting the gray market is worse than just straight up pirating. Those keys are typically stolen from volume accounts without consent, it’s essentially theft.

 

A large portion of stuff from those sites are also a result of stolen credit cards. 

[AdvilLobotomite]

17 minutes ago, Vitamanic said:

Supporting the gray market is worse than just straight up pirating. Those keys are typically stolen from volume accounts without consent, it’s essentially theft.

 

A large portion of stuff from those sites are also a result of stolen credit cards. 

Good point. But unlike pirating, it isn't outright illegal.

[homeap5]

1 hour ago, AdvilLobotomite said:

Good point. But unlike pirating, it isn't outright illegal.

But it's worse than using pirated activators. At least you don't pay for piracy and not supporting grey market. It's better to be just single pirate (even with wooden leg and a parrot).

[GoodBytes]

Windows is the software you use the most. A game is a few hours of usage comparatively and is 60$. Considering that Windows is an OS, and a computer without an OS is as useful as a door stop. As the name says it operates your system. Considering that far simpler software cost several times the price of Windows (Abode software, Autodesk and more, yes those are far simpler than a "PC OS" (Linux based or Windows). I think the full price tag is pretty good.

 

I don't see Windows 11 anywhere near in sight, and MS seems to be content offering the OS as a service, so I would expect you get several years out of your purchase. And if things changes, well Microsoft has had the habit of providing deep discounted upgrade licenses to those who, well, upgrade. 

[Quinnell]

50 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

I don't see Windows 11 anywhere near in sight, and MS seems to be content offering the OS as a service, so I would expect you get several years out of your purchase. And if things changes, well Microsoft has had the habit of providing deep discounted updgrade licenses to those who, well upgrade. 

I have always been a bit skeptical of the claim that "Windows 10 is the last Windows."  I expect they'll eventually want to completely overhaul the code-base and need to release it as a new OS.  

 

Windows 10 is definitely not going anywhere for a very long time.  Even full price isn't exactly terrible.  However....

2 hours ago, Vitamanic said:

large portion of stuff from those sites are also a result of stolen credit cards. 

...I'm not ashamed to use gray market resellers to my advantage.  I am pretty sure the gray market I use on reddit is not the result of theft or stolen credit cards.  In my case, it's people with access to volume licenses reselling the keys they don't need.  I believe it's against Microsoft's policies for that type of license but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Roswell]

3 minutes ago, Quinnell said:

In my case, it's people with access to volume licenses reselling the keys they don't need. 

That’s not how it works. It’s someone who has access to activation selling you keys. Guess what happens when Microsoft deactivates the volume license? The business that the keys were stolen from need to purchase yet another contract and you keep your key because Microsoft doesn’t want the PR nightmare of millions of people having their software deactivated.

 

It really is theft. Receiving stolen goods.

[Quinnell]

10 minutes ago, Vitamanic said:

That’s not how it works. It’s someone who has access to activation selling you keys. Guess what happens when Microsoft deactivates the volume license? The business that the keys were stolen from need to purchase yet another contract and you keep your key because Microsoft doesn’t want the PR nightmare of millions of people having their software deactivated.

 

It really is theft. Receiving stolen goods.

They get them from volume services like MSDN or Dreamspark.  Yes, there's a risk of the license deactivating if the seller ever cancels their subscriptions but that has never happened with the seller I go to for nearly a decade now.  Pretty sure the guy makes a profit off the deal.  

Gray market implies risk.  

[Roswell]

48 minutes ago, Quinnell said:

They get them from volume services like MSDN or Dreamspark.  Yes, there's a risk of the license deactivating if the seller ever cancels their subscriptions but that has never happened with the seller I go to for nearly a decade now.  Pretty sure the guy makes a profit off the deal.  

Gray market implies risk.  

Again, that’s not how it works. MSDN accounts only get 5 keys. The overwhelming majority of these keys are not from legit accounts, they’re illegally acquired.

[Quinnell]

2 minutes ago, Vitamanic said:

MSDN accounts only get 5 keys

Pretty sure that's inaccurate.

[Roswell]

30 minutes ago, Quinnell said:

Pretty sure that's inaccurate.

Used to be 10, now it’s five. Regardless, common sense dictates that key resellers aren’t using MSDN or any other legitimate means to sell their hordes of keys.

[Doqtori]

12 hours ago, HenryFan said:

So I just build my pc and in curious it is worth it buying windows 

I read on Reddit that the original actually free, no watermark, link is still up but unlisted. Will have to look around to find it, though

[AdvilLobotomite]

9 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

Windows is the software you use the most. A game is a few hours of usage comparatively and is 60$. Considering that Windows is an OS, and a computer without an OS is as useful as a door stop. As the name says it operates your system. Considering that far simpler software cost several times the price of Windows (Abode software, Autodesk and more, yes those are far simpler than a "PC OS" (Linux based or Windows). I think the full price tag is pretty good.

 

I don't see Windows 11 anywhere near in sight, and MS seems to be content offering the OS as a service, so I would expect you get several years out of your purchase. And if things changes, well Microsoft has had the habit of providing deep discounted upgrade licenses to those who, well, upgrade. 

Honestly this is convincing. I might have changed my mind when it comes to W10 licenses...

[LogicalDrm]

Considering the price for even retail version and that everytime you use PC, you also use Windows. The price is about same as with motherboard or CPU, and half of GPU. When those eventually get replaced, you will still have Windows license.

 

Yes, always worth it and regardless of the price.