New
#11
Last edited by NavyLCDR; 25 Oct 2015 at 09:43.
Thanks for trying. But the page does not help, as the comments indicate. I will not do a third clean install and I will not purchase a product key. If this activation maze isn't fixed, I'm more than ready to switch to a Linux distro.
The last I read, the RTM could be installed from insider builds. I've already done that twice, and the RTM was activated. But the activation was soon disabled.
From Microsoft Community:
"By default, Windows 10 builds are pre-keyed, meaning, you do not have to enter a product key and should not be prompted to enter one as long as you upgraded from an activated Windows 7 or Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 license or Windows 10 Preview build."
Yea, as far as I know, as long as you're in the Windows Insider program, you can upgrade to RTM from beta builds... however, there are some prerequisites:
Microsoft Finally Decides, No Free Windows 10 For Beta TestersYou’re not getting an activated version of Windows 10 RTM (the final build) for free, unless you originally installed the Windows 10 Preview on a device running an activated copy of Windows 7 or 8.1.
So basically, if you fresh installed the preview, no dice. It had to be installed as an upgrade from 7 or 8.1.
It basically all boiled down to a simple choice: you could remain an Insider, running the latest (and buggiest) beta version of 10, but never having to pay for it; or, you can pony up for a new license key like everyone else or simply upgrade from 7 or 8.1 to the RTM and the upgrade for free from that point on...
I think later builds will be made available to the general public eventually as they come out.