Windows 10 Free for 2 years?

I think they are misinterpreting what the 2-4 years means.
What MS means is the 2-4 years is when they expect people to upgrade their machine and when they upgrade, they will either buy a new license for the upgraded machine, or they buy a new machine with Windows 10 already on it, MS will get paid by the OEM for the new machines sold.
 
There are a few articles like that online. They make it sound like Windows 10 will stop functioning in 2 years. Windows as a service means that as long as your device's life cycle has not ended you will receive major upgrades for free.

I believe Windows 10 will still receive security updates on your device after the "life" has expired you just won't receive the major upgrades, ie 8 to 8.1. How long they will publish security upgrades I can't say but probably for a few years afterwords.
 
Zepher said:
I think they are misinterpreting what the 2-4 years means.
What MS means is the 2-4 years is when they expect people to upgrade their machine and when they upgrade, they will either buy a new license for the upgraded machine, or they buy a new machine with Windows 10 already on it, MS will get paid by the OEM for the new machines sold.
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What kind of upgrade would force a user to buy a new license?
 
Zepher said:
Technically, a mobo swap on an OEM version isn't valid, but they were lax on enforcing it. They may actually enforce it now with Windows 10 .
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This is the million dollar question, and why I'm not blindly leaping on day one with the sheep until I know that answer.

A lot of people are just assuming they'll be able to keep calling to reactivate "Cuz they could do it for 7 and 8", but you know what happens when we assume :)
 
Zepher said:
Technically, a mobo swap on an OEM version isn't valid, but they were lax on enforcing it. They may actually enforce it now with Windows 10.
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They changed the OEM rules with Win8. It is now legal to transfer an OEM license. According to the EULA even. Nothing lax there.
 
The vibe I'm getting from Microsoft is that they are willing to accept potential loss of profits for the sake of helping to make Windows 10 popular. I really can't imagine it would be worth it for them to deny activation to someone for hardware reasons (mobo swap, etc) and end up with that one person hating and talking trash about windows 10.
 
B00nie said:
They changed the OEM rules with Win8. It is now legal to transfer an OEM license. According to the EULA even. Nothing lax there.
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You should tell Microsoft that...because their support documentation says you're wrong.

http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/licensing/sblicensing/Pages/licensing_faq.aspx#fbid=8FRFdcKoYhu


Q. Can a PC with an OEM Windows operating system have its motherboard upgraded and keep the same license? What if it was replaced because it was defective?
A. Generally, an end user can upgrade or replace all of the hardware components on a computer—except the motherboard—and still retain the license for the original Microsoft OEM operating system software. If the motherboard is upgraded or replaced for reasons other than a defect, then a new computer has been created. Microsoft OEM operating system software cannot be transferred to the new computer, and the license of new operating system software is required. If the motherboard is replaced because it is defective, you do not need to acquire a new operating system license for the PC as long as the replacement motherboard is the same make/model or the same manufacturer's replacement/equivalent, as defined by the manufacturer's warranty.

The reason for this licensing rule primarily relates to the Microsoft Software License Terms and the support of the software covered by those terms. The Microsoft Software License Terms are a set of usage rights granted to the end user by the PC manufacturer, and relate only to rights for that software as installed on that particular PC. The system builder is required to support the software on the original PC. Understanding that end users, over time, upgrade their PCs with different components, Microsoft needed to have one base component "left standing" that would still define the original PC. Since the motherboard contains the CPU and is the "heart and soul" of the PC, when the motherboard is replaced (for reasons other than defect) a new PC is essentially created. The original system builder did not manufacture this new PC, and therefore cannot be expected to support it.
 
GotNoRice said:
The vibe I'm getting from Microsoft is that they are willing to accept potential loss of profits for the sake of helping to make Windows 10 popular. I really can't imagine it would be worth it for them to deny activation to someone for hardware reasons (mobo swap, etc) and end up with that one person hating and talking trash about windows 10.
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How can they expect Win10 to be popular with such a retarded Start menu? My Win8.1 has a far more functional Start menu with Classicshell add-on so see no reason to get Win10 for some time yet.
 
DPI said:
This is the million dollar question, and why I'm not blindly leaping on day one with the sheep until I know that answer.

A lot of people are just assuming they'll be able to keep calling to reactivate "Cuz they could do it for 7 and 8", but you know what happens when we assume :)
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My guess is that since it is free, they will enforce it. My hope is that if is true, paid OEM versions can still upgrade motherboards.
 
Skripka said:
You should tell Microsoft that...because their support documentation says you're wrong.

http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/licensing/sblicensing/Pages/licensing_faq.aspx#fbid=8FRFdcKoYhu
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Yes their documentation is indeed wrong:

http://personaluselicense.windows.com/en-US/default.aspx said:
Windows 8 System Builder Product--Personal Use License
Can I transfer the software to another computer or user? You may transfer the software to another computer that belongs to you. You may also transfer the software (together with the license) to a computer owned by someone else if a) you are the first licensed user of the software and b) the new user agrees to the terms of this agreement. To make that transfer, you must transfer the original media, the certificate of authenticity, the product key and the proof of purchase directly to that other person, without retaining any copies of the software. You may use the backup copy we allow you to make or the media that the software came on to transfer the software. Anytime you transfer the software to a new computer, you must remove the software from the prior computer. You may not transfer the software to share licenses between computers. You may transfer Get Genuine Windows software, Pro Pack or Media Center Pack software only together with the licensed computer.
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Skripka said:
If the motherboard is upgraded or replaced for reasons other than a defect, then a new computer has been created.
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I see some wiggle room in the bolded part. Many OEMs charge insane prices for motherboard replacements in case the one installed fries (I know someone that was quoted by Compaq for what normally would have been a cheap $80 MSI special online for a replacent - to which they wanted $600 for), so those with the technical skill would rather opt to replace it with one from eBay or Newegg instead.
 
rezerekted said:
How can they expect Win10 to be popular with such a retarded Start menu? My Win8.1 has a far more functional Start menu with Classicshell add-on so see no reason to get Win10 for some time yet.
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So what you are really saying is that your Windows 8.1 start menu was so bad that you had to download and install a 3rd party addon to get it to your liking...

That begs the question, since Classicshell is fully compatible with Windows 10; why not simply upgrade to Windows 10 and then install Classicshell again? :rolleyes:
 
GotNoRice said:
So what you are really saying is that your Windows 8.1 start menu was so bad that you had to download and install a 3rd party addon to get it to your liking...

That begs the question, since Classicshell is fully compatible with Windows 10; why not simply upgrade to Windows 10 and then install Classicshell again? :rolleyes:
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that's exactly what I was thinking.
 
maw said:
that's exactly what I was thinking.
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The only flaw I can even find with the Windows 10 Start Menu would be the lack of the search box (search needs work and typing randomly is glitchy in my experience) and the silly A, B, C, etc. lettering for the apps that takes up an unnecessary amount of space and achieves nothing. Other than that I think it's a huge step up coming from someone that hated Windows 8/8.1. We'll never get the old method back without third-party addons because when MIcrosoft pushes forward they could give a fuck about what people think.
 
Liger88 said:
The only flaw I can even find with the Windows 10 Start Menu would be the lack of the search box (search needs work and typing randomly is glitchy in my experience) and the silly A, B, C, etc. lettering for the apps that takes up an unnecessary amount of space and achieves nothing. Other than that I think it's a huge step up coming from someone that hated Windows 8/8.1. We'll never get the old method back without third-party addons because when MIcrosoft pushes forward they could give a fuck about what people think.
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I don't mind the WP/Zune style letter boxes but I'd like them to be smaller so that I can see more things in the vertical list at once.
 
GotNoRice said:
That begs the question, since Classicshell is fully compatible with Windows 10; why not simply upgrade to Windows 10 and then install Classicshell again? :rolleyes:
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Isn't one of the main reasons to get Win10 is to get a functional Start menu back? I already have that on 8.1 so there is no good reason to get Win10.

Also, 8.1 is good to go to 2023, how long will the free Win10 be good for? 2-4 years max I bet.
 
rezerekted said:
Isn't one of the main reasons to get Win10 is to get a functional Start menu back? I already have that on 8.1 so there is no good reason to get Win10.

Also, 8.1 is good to go to 2023, how long will the free Win10 be good for? 2-4 years max I bet.
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The start menu is just one thing they changed, and many of us like it. There are certainly much more important things, such as DirectX 12, which I don't believe is going to be backported to Windows 7 or 8.1. I'm not sure exactly what you mean when you ask how long Windows 10 will be "good for". If you upgrade to Windows 10, it will not ever expire. That has been clarified many times. They aren't going to stop updates anytime soon either as that would be huge bad press. Worse case, from what I've read you should be able to simply revert back to using 8.1 if you really wanted.
 
I was talking about how long do we get security updates for before they want more money from us. I am reserved for a copy of Win10 but want to know exactly how the license works before I install it.

I watched a video of a guy showing what he hated about Win10 and have to agree that the start menu with apps pasted all over it looks shite to me, also, it does not look very customizable either. I don't like the new folder icons either. Need a game that uses DX12 before I care about that too.
 
rezerekted said:
I watched a video of a guy showing what he hated about Win10 and have to agree that the start menu with apps pasted all over it looks shite to me,
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Yeah, they've been kinda all over the place on that issue. They allowed people initially to resize the start menu, then they took it away, then they brought it back and you could always unpin those metro apps if you wanted and shrink the menu down to its familiar size.

With the latest build they once more changed things and now if you unpin all the apps on the right side it'll become just blank space and you can't resize it again. Very frustrating when they do these things. IMO if you removed those apps it should automatically shrink. That's what I'd expect from a final polished product. There's a reason many people are saying this is the first Beta OS Microsoft is shipping since many features and fixes have already been talked about coming well after it goes RTM. They're on the right track, but I'll be damned if it doesn't feel like they're rushing it.
 
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