Microsoft OS's for testing puroses of software - are there any "free use" licenses?

T

tankman1989

Gawd
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
588
I'd like to test/compare some software packages, probably 10-15 at a time, on either virtual machines or older desktops or laptops and none of them have OS's of current viability (they have Vista I believe). So I'd like to test anythig from Win 7 onward as well as possibly multiple OS's for the same software to see if there are any issues with different OS's.

Does anyone know if MS has any programs to get either temp licenses for their software like 7-30 day licenses or any kind of "research" license? I know they used to have Technet which I loved but they seemed to have done awaywith that and the MSDN is outrageously priced.

I guess I could get refurbished licensed which can cost like $7 each but I don't want to apply for the whole process - if anyone knows about this process i'd like to know how difficult it was.
 
For the consumer OSes, just get the install and don't enter a Key - it will go into 30-day Demo (with a command line option to extend twice).

For Server, they used to have a 6-mon trial, but you had to request it. I don't know if that still exists or not.
 
Install any version of Windows and just skip entering a product key. You have 90 days to activate. Free trial. Just use the "rearm" command to get more time.
 
As previous replies have said, just install the OS and run un-activated. Other than getting a nag screen or a prompt here or there, it will continue to function.
We don't waste licenses or MAK keys on testing VM's, and I think most other people are the same way.
Aside from that, you can download enterprise evaluation ISOs from MS themselves, if you really wanted to but there's not really much difference (IMHO) in using your own ISO and leaving it un-activated.
 
BizSpark takes a few minutes to sign up (if this is for a company) and gives you 3 years (after the 3 years you get to keep the licenses, iirc. The idea is to get startup companies tied into their ecosystem) of access to most of their stuff. It's free, and they don't really verify the company. You used to be able to get damn near unlimited key generations but some people were selling the keys on Craigslist/eBay and they cracked down hard. I think now you're limited to 7 accounts per company with 2 keys each software (so 14 Win7 Pro licenses, 14 Win7 Pro UK licenses and so fourth .. including server). It's great if you're studying for any of their certs as well.

Otherwise, Microsoft offers prepackaged Virtual Machines for testing. They'll time out after about 30 days, but should work for testing purposes.

You can find some of them here: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/tools/vms/
 
You could also sign up for a msdn subscription and get access to the different ms os but it will cost you.
 
DPI said:
And guess why they're so "cheap"?
Click to expand...

The ones being sold here and on reddit are unused MSDN and special licence keys. While its a gray area, its still a legitimate key.
You can buy a lightly more legitimate key from Kinguin.com. Those keys come with a picture of the actual COA and the ability to have it mailed to you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top