Is buying windows worth it ?
Is buying windows worth it ?
I personally buy most of my Windows keys from reddit.com/r/microsoftsoftwareswap. I use /u/s5ean and so far every key has been legit. Obvious disclaimer: This is gray market. The keys are legit but they're being resold. Best to avoid 'free' Windows activations though.. it's not legal.
Backing the gray market is more damaging than simple piracy. Those items are usually taken from bulk accounts without permission, which is essentially theft. Much of what appears on those platforms comes from stolen credit card information.
Windows is the primary application you rely on most. A game represents just a few hours of use and costs around $60. Since Windows functions as an operating system, a computer lacking one is essentially useless—just like a door stop. As its name implies, it manages your system. In contrast, simpler software options are significantly cheaper, often several times less expensive than Windows (such as Abode, Autodesk, etc.). I believe the overall cost is reasonable. There’s no sign of Windows 11 on the horizon, and Microsoft appears to prefer delivering the OS through subscription models, suggesting you’ll benefit from it for many years. Should circumstances shift, Microsoft has a track record of providing discounted upgrade licenses for those who choose to upgrade.
I've always doubted the idea that "Windows 10 is the last Windows." It seems they might eventually decide to completely rewrite the core and release a new version. Windows 10 isn't likely to disappear anytime soon, even at full price. Still, I'm open to using gray market resellers to my benefit. I'm pretty certain the keys I use on Reddit come from people who have volume licenses but don't need them anymore. It probably violates Microsoft's rules, though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
They get them from volume services like MSDN or Dreamspark. Yes, there's a risk of the license deactivating if the seller ever cancels their subscriptions but that has never happened with the seller I go to for nearly a decade now. Pretty sure the guy makes a profit off the deal. Gray market implies risk.