New
#70
@alphanumeric.
Good Job and this information could be a life saver for some...
I had a pc with Windows 7 Home and did the Windows 7 Anytime upgrade to to go Windows 7 Ultimate. When I selected the anytime upgrade it asked if I wanted to buy a key or enter. I entered the Technet key which in theory changed it from a OEM to retail. The OEM keys are sequenced when issued to the OEM. The I did a Windows 10 upgrade to Pro from Windows 7 Ultimate. I also had a spare SSD that I popped in the be part of the Insiders and run the technican preview.
Microsoft MVP's get a free MSDN subscription. I have a bunch of 10 keys I haven't used yet. I could have just used those. I only did the free upgrade for testing purposes. Looking for issues and pitfalls. It's easier to help people if you've seen the process first hand. Once that was done I did clean installs to get rid of any leftovers from the upgrade process. I'll take a clean install over an upgrade in any month with a week in it.
I've used an Enterprise key on my laptop, and an Education key on my main desktop. They also have digital entitlements for 10 Pro. My digital entitlements will be a backup in case Microsoft decides to blackball MSDN. I'm not expecting them to do it, but it's in the back of my mind with the big MVP program shakeup coming. And in case anybody asks, "what shakeup"? I'm not allowed to say anymore than that because its all under the NDA.
[This article has been significantly revised and updated since its original publication. in January 2016]