The Free Windows 10 Will Support Unlimited Clean Installs

ramram55 said:

I believe the idea is get the windows 10 key in exchange for your win 8/8.1/7 key, then after july 29 2016, annually you have to pay for subscription, just like some anti virus program go by annual subscription. Is it simple enough ?

That is not true. There will be no fee after the one year is up. If you upgrade in the first year it is a free upgrade and Windows will then be free for the life of that device. If you upgrade after the one year period expires, you then have to pay for the upgrade. Even then, once upgraded there will be no further fees for the life of that device.

Windows Sniper said:

What other way can they possibly store the Unlimited activations on the hardware then?

Windows 8 and 10 activate online via a Microsoft activation server. It checks the hardware hash against what was stored on the first activation on that hardware. If they match, activation is allowed. If they don't activation fails. Simple as that. It doesn't care how many times Windows is activated as long as that key is always used on that hardware/PC.

Windows Sniper said:

But that cannot be how Windows 8 activates. I've used a singular drive and hotswapped it between machines and clean installed the same license on them...

(Never using more then one active copy at a time)

On OEM PC's with Windows 8.0 or 8.1 installed at the factory the product code is embedded in the BIOS. Windows 8.1 install media will read it and use it automatically. My MSDN ISO, which is identical to a Retail DVD, will read out my laptops OEM key for Windows 8.0 (CORE) and install Windows 8.1. It then activates online automatically the first time I connect to the internet. I do not have to enter a product code. On my desktop PC that does not have an embedded code, I have to type in my code manually during the install. It then also activates online automatically the first time I connect to the internet. All Windows 8 consumer PC's activate online. Even Corporate VL activated PC's activate via an activation server.

Windows Sniper said:

I don't disagree that they auth check online. I disagree about the hardware hash, you can change the hardware within a W8 machine freely, and i've had no activation issues, but does that not suggest that the hardware is not relevant?

Whilst all of that is common knowledge, how are they going to provide the unlimited activations on clean boots for devices which are NOT OEM.

Hardware is very relevant, that's how they verify that any one product code is only used on one PC. If you are using one install on two different PC's you are violating the EULA and doing it illegally. Swap it back and forth enough and you will likely have activation issues. maybe even a blacklisted key.

Once Windows is installed the product code is stored in the Windows registry. Its encoded but its there. That's the product code checked during activation. I have Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center installed on my laptop. The code in the BIOS is for 8.0 (core). The code in the Windows registry is the Media Center code I entered via add features. The media center key is the one my laptop activates with. So it doesn't matter if its OEM or not, the code is still stored by Windows.