this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2023
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Microsoft:
Uhhhh I don't know about y'all but I got one Windows license for free back in college, and I've upgraded that one ever since to newer versions of 8, 10, and 11 for free. Oh yeah, and I actually scammed a second license out of that one, I just held on to my old Win7 drive for a few years, then booted it up in a new system one day and associated it with a different MS account, and upgraded it all the way to 10. The upgrade process gave me a second Windows key apparently, so I got two licenses for zero dollars.
And that's not even mentioning the $5 OEM licenses that you can get online..... Also, you know you don't NEED a Windows license, right? You can leave Windows deactivated indefinitely, the only downside is that "please activate Windows" shame text on your desktop (which you can get rid of with a registry edit).
Why do any of that shit when you can walk into your local library/community college and grab the key off of that for free? And it wont suddenly shit out on you one day like those 5 dollar "OEM" OS keys.
You think stealing from your local library is somehow better or more reliable than an OEM key? LOL
You think those 5 dollar "OEM" keys are legit? They are not. Plus, its a blanket license. The only one to count those is to get a physical machine count. If its a crime its victimless because they don't lose any access, microsoft just loses a buck and I dont give a fuck about a megacorp and their OS money
I didn't say they were legit. You seem to think that stealing keys from your local library is, though? Lmao
Its more legit than those 4 dollar cards on ebay. The key itself is anyway. I'm not really sure what your beef is when this harms no one.
Usually you have to pay $500+ for a course in a course that would justify giving you access. They don't just hand them out to anyone who walks in the door without paying.
Have you tried it? Its a community college not a university. Most aren't IDing people as they walk into the door. The public library also does not require classes to use.
Yes, I'm speaking from experience.
I guess that makes 2 cases of anecdotal evidence. I've never had my library ask questions though. To this day I'm still rocking a community college's OS key on my Windows machine.
Years ago I worked for a company that provided employees with an MSDN subscription. When I left I went in and activated all the product keys and put them in a spreadsheet. No one in my family has had to buy Windows in a long time