How many run Windows 10 without the key?

[Shivetya]

I have read that I am legally able to download Windows 10 Home 64bit from Microsoft and install it through bootcamp. I am figure there have to be others running it this way. Have you found any issues with support for games?

The reason this comes up is by February I will lose access to Guild Wars 2 and World of Warships, both being games with Mac ported clients that are going away.

 

[casperes1996]

I have read that I am legally able to download Windows 10 Home 64bit from Microsoft and install it through bootcamp. I am figure there have to be others running it this way. Have you found any issues with support for games?

The reason this comes up is by February I will lose access to Guild Wars 2 and World of Warships, both being games with Mac ported clients that are going away.

Yes, it’s perfectly legal and fine.

Running without an activation key comes with two “major” drawbacks.
1)
You will not be able to use personalization features like changing the wallpaper.

2)
There will be a semi-transparent watermark in the bottom right corner; It will show on-top of some programs, but not all.

I did run it like this for a while with no issues for gaming at all, but I got a key from my university so just activated it with that; If there are any more limitations now than back then I wouldn’t know

 

[cdcastillo]

Yes, it’s perfectly legal and fine.

Running without an activation key comes with two “major” drawbacks.
1)
You will not be able to use personalization features like changing the wallpaper.

2)
There will be a semi-transparent watermark in the bottom right corner; It will show on-top of some programs, but not all.

I did run it like this for a while with no issues for gaming at all, but I got a key from my university so just activated it with that; If there are any more limitations now than back then I wouldn’t know

This!👆🏽

I've been using it without a key on a VM that only has infrequent and mono purpose use for about 3 years. No problems at all.

 

[Erehy Dobon]

To me it's worth paying $7-8 for a Windows 10 activation key for UI customization.

But that's just me...

 

[casperes1996]

To me it's worth paying $7-8 for a Windows 10 activation key for UI customization.

But that's just me...

I would agree at this point in life. But 5 years ago I wouldn't have with the economy of being in high school and not having any job. I'd gladly pay for and support software development, but whether the personalisation features are a good value proposition, if all you use Windows for is play some games in your spare time; Well, I'd understand if it isn't to many people, and I'm sure Microsoft's abundance of analytics pays a lot of the bills anyway

 

[Shivetya]

To me it's worth paying $7-8 for a Windows 10 activation key for UI customization.

But that's just me...

I have never seen a Windows 10 key for that price. I just don't see the value in wallpaper/etc for a hundred dollars which is what I have been finding. Less than fifty and I would buy it as it would be like any other good title

 

[MBAir2010]

Kinda silly chagrining money for an os in 2020
what is Microsoft really doing to do with that $7-8$, reopen a store?

 

[casperes1996]

I have never seen a Windows 10 key for that price. I just don't see the value in wallpaper/etc for a hundred dollars which is what I have been finding. Less than fifty and I would buy it as it would be like any other good title

You can usually find them on various online key resale places for much less than the "official" pricing. Some more or less ethical in the way they operate, but legal and legit.

Kinda silly chagrining money for an os in 2020
what is Microsoft really doing to do with that $7-8$, reopen a store?

Well I think they need to charge something since they do make a substantial amount of money from licensing it to OEMs and if they gave it to consumers for free, licensing it to OEMs might seem a bit pointless
Surface aside, Microsoft sells software not hardware. An OS is quite a big software product and it seems valid to charge for that. They can't include it in the price of the computer like Apple does, because they don't sell the hardware. They sell the software.

 

[Erehy Dobon]

You can usually find them on various online key resale places for much less than the "official" pricing. Some more or less ethical in the way they operate, but legal and legit.

Some of them advertise or pay for "sponsored posts" on Windows tech or PC gaming sites. Right now Wccftech.com, TechPowerUp.com and DSOGaming.com have sponsored posts ("New Year Sale!") from software key stores. There's usually a sale every month or so.

Since I'm American I pay with a credit card that does not have foreign transaction fees. The price in the shopping cart is the price I pay.

Windows 10 Home or Pro keys for $6.50-$8. MS Office keys are understandably more expensive but I recall I paid around $35 for a copy of MS Office 2019 Home & Student so no annual 365 subscription fee and I don't have to waste disk space on stuff I'm not going to use (like Access or Outlook) which is important for my Acer ultrabook's limited SSD size.

 

[BeatCrazy]

I don't have to waste disk space on stuff I'm not going to use (like Access or Outlook) which is important for my Acer ultrabook's limited SSD size.

Why you buy/use 365, you don’t have to download or install the applications that you don’t use.

 

[Erehy Dobon]

Hmm, something some people might consider. In any case, I still need the main three programs: Word, Excel, PowerPoint.

The Office 2019 Home & Student key is currently $34.43 non-recurring, less than $11.50 per year if I keep this for three years. That's reasonable for me.

 

[casperes1996]

Some of them advertise or pay for "sponsored posts" on Windows tech or PC gaming sites. Right now Wccftech.com, TechPowerUp.com and DSOGaming.com have sponsored posts ("New Year Sale!") from software key stores. There's usually a sale every month or so.

Since I'm American I pay with a credit card that does not have foreign transaction fees. The price in the shopping cart is the price I pay.

Windows 10 Home or Pro keys for $6.50-$8. MS Office keys are understandably more expensive but I recall I paid around $35 for a copy of MS Office 2019 Home & Student so no annual 365 subscription fee and I don't have to waste disk space on stuff I'm not going to use (like Access or Outlook) which is important for my Acer ultrabook's limited SSD size.

Sure there are absolutely legit and ethical places that sell keys at that price point too!
I don’t know what the “American credit card bit” reference though. Is that not standard? I’m from Denmark and my card can be used on foreign currencies with no extra charge either.

But there are also unethical key stores, like g2a; Though I don’t know if they specifically sell Windows keys

 

[Erehy Dobon]

Sure there are absolutely legit and ethical places that sell keys at that price point too!
I don’t know what the “American credit card bit” reference though. Is that not standard? I’m from Denmark and my card can be used on foreign currencies with no extra charge either.

Most American credit cards have a foreign transaction fee for purchases made outside the USA. Understandably European cards don't have this.

These inexpensive software key stores often are based in Hong Kong so Americans using those credit cards would see an additional fee because the transaction took place outside of the USA.

This isn't a big deal for a one-off purchase of a $8 software key but it does add up when you are travelling internationally. I have two credit cards that do not have the foreign transaction fee.

Remember that a lot of American credit cards offer reward programs. Without a doubt some of that is paid for by foreign transaction fees.

Many of the American credit cards that waive the foreign transaction fees are premium credit cards and often have an annual membership fee (the American Express charge cards do this). There are a handful of travel-focused cards that also do away with the foreign transaction fee.

Back to the original topic, I have used at least one of those off-shore software key stores and the redemption codes are recognized by Microsoft. The ones that regularly advertise on popular websites are legit to my knowledge.

 

[casperes1996]

Most American credit cards have a foreign transaction fee for purchases made outside the USA. Understandably European cards don't have this.

These inexpensive software key stores often are based in Hong Kong so Americans using those credit cards would see an additional fee because the transaction took place outside of the USA.

This isn't a big deal for a one-off purchase of a $8 software key but it does add up when you are travelling internationally. I have two credit cards that do not have the foreign transaction fee.

Remember that a lot of American credit cards offer reward programs. Without a doubt some of that is paid for by foreign transaction fees.

Many of the American credit cards that waive the foreign transaction fees are premium credit cards and often have an annual membership fee (the American Express charge cards do this). There are a handful of travel-focused cards that also do away with the foreign transaction fee.

Back to the original topic, I have used at least one of those off-shore software key stores and the redemption codes are recognized by Microsoft. The ones that regularly advertise on popular websites are legit to my knowledge.

Ah interesting. I always thought that the reward programs and paying for credit cards and having several of them and such was kinda odd since my card is basically just a card that holds my bank account. There's nothing fancy going on. No rewards, I don't pay to have it, it's just a card that's connected to my bank. And my bank as a whole allows for a 50k kr overdraw but the card's got nothing to do with that.

But yeah, legit in the sense that the key works - most sites are like that. Some are shady and unethical in that they will trade with stolen keys and such though