Microsoft: Windows 10 will not be sold as a subscription  

Superfly said:

Wynona said:

Could it be that Windows 10 will be tied forever to the first computer it's installed on?

If the WMC upgrade keys are anything to go by, then yes. The whole EULA thing is too complicated to go into but practically speaking they are not transferable - (phone activation may work but that's not here nor there)

Yeah, the Media Center keys can only be used on one PC and not moved to another. It wouldn't surprise me that the free upgrades to 10 are the same. I'm thinking it will be like the 8 to 8.1 upgrade. If you have 8.1 Core you get 10 Core, 8.1 Pro and you get 10 Pro. Media Center might be an issue, I don't know. There was trick involving Media Center to get Windows 8 for free. I think they fixed that though, you can't add MC to VL editions anymore. I'm not sure how it will work for 7, so many editions?

groze said:

alphanumeric said:

Superfly said:

Wynona said:

Could it be that Windows 10 will be tied forever to the first computer it's installed on?

If the WMC upgrade keys are anything to go by, then yes. The whole EULA thing is too complicated to go into but practically speaking they are not transferable - (phone activation may work but that's not here nor there)

Yeah, the Media Center keys can only be used on one PC and not moved to another. It wouldn't surprise me that the free upgrades to 10 are the same. I'm thinking it will be like the 8 to 8.1 upgrade. If you have 8.1 Core you get 10 Core, 8.1 Pro and you get 10 Pro. Media Center might be an issue, I don't know. There was trick involving Media Center to get Windows 8 for free. I think they fixed that though, you can't add MC to VL editions anymore. I'm not sure how it will work for 7, so many editions?

alphanumeric,

I think you still might get a chance at a clean install, I would guess you start the upgrade using either usb flash 2.0 drive or dvd/cd drive from with-in windows. It will check for a valid key for windows 7, 8.1 if it can't find one, it will ask you for one. Then you can choose whether or not to do a clean install.

I actually installed an old preview version of windows 10 by upgrading from windows 7 without using the internet. Then I removed it, so I could go back to windows 7 legally. The upgrade was done in about an hour and the only issue was the desktop themes changed and some hardware but they would of been found if was connected to the internet.

One of the many issue I have, my system won't be able to play dvds

A lot of people are hoping for a clean install option. That will be my preferred option. I may do an upgrade as a test, just so I can answer questions on how it works etc but that's about it really. My comments were intended to be more along the lines of what version of 10 you'll get for free. Not necessarily how you get it. A lot of users are going to want or need install media at some point. As we all know Windows occasionally crashes. Or your hard drive packs it in etc. To get back to 10 your going to want install media and your not going to want to have to install the original OS and upgrade again. I know I wouldn't. Time will tell how this all goes down.

Wynona said:

alphanumeric said:

My MSDN Windows 8/8.1 product keys are listed as Retail keys?

I am pretty sure my TechNet keys are also retail keys.

That's my understanding as well. I use my TechNet key for Win8.1

Wynona said:

alphanumeric said:

My MSDN Windows 8/8.1 product keys are listed as Retail keys?

I am pretty sure my TechNet keys are also retail keys.

Yes they are, mine are listed as Retail keys on TechNet as well. There also isn't a separate OEM and Retail ISO for Windows 8. My MSDN ISO's will use OEM embedded keys and my retail keys.

OEM keys were located in the bios on all installs.

labeeman said:

OEM keys were located in the bios on all installs.

Yup, the install media knows where it is and how to retrieve it. There is no more need for custom branded install media. Any official Windows 8 ISO can retrieve it and us it automatically.