Windows 10 LTSC or Windows 11 Pro RTM
Windows 10 LTSC or Windows 11 Pro RTM
It often intrigues me to observe individuals promoting and complaining about large corporations that could exploit people for profit if only they could. These people seem to enjoy targeting vulnerable groups, while the legal framework is complicated and varies by region. Fortunately, US regulations don’t cover everything globally, making it easier to sidestep certain issues. Just for clarity, I didn’t obtain those licenses to feel reassured, but I’m confident I can handle everything until I’m ready to move on from this frustrating experience. If anything feels wrong with a company trying to take advantage, I won’t feel remorse—I’d rather not be part of it. I used to enjoy Windows, especially since MS-DOS times, and I stayed loyal until Windows 7. After that, they treated users more like products than people. From Windows 8 onward, they shifted focus from caring about customers to treating them as resources to exploit. With Windows 10, I was open to giving them another chance, but the situation with Windows 11 is even worse. So I won’t feel guilty and won’t be easily swayed. They were the first to stop supporting the platform, so they won’t be the ones leading the herd.
MS holds the rights to their software worldwide, not just in the US. Their ownership extends beyond that region. I'm not suggesting you take from them, but it's not allowed by law. Whether you like the company or its size doesn't matter here. (I'm not encouraging theft.) What I'm saying is they own the software and control its legal terms. It's simply a fact. If you're feeling guilty, take responsibility. No blame-shifting. Just avoid spending money on stolen items and realize it's clearly fake.
Again the US isn't the whole world, in the EU keys can be actually resold: https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs...0094en.pdf Some call it a loophole thus the grey market name but at the end of the day its as i said more complicated. Also legal or not they shouldn't have this much control over the market in the first place be it license, software or hardware once something is in the possession of a buyer it stopped being MS's and unless maliciously resold/reused (for example repackaged with malware) there should be no legal repercussions, arguing for this is a mistake in the first place. Now on to the subject of theft, which again its more complicated topic and its certainly not MS that's being stolen from, just because they aren't maximizing profits or they are sold in ways that either aren't intended or towards people that aren't intended, at the end of the day they did make some money of the keys when selling said keys at a large volume, the only argument for theft that could be made is for some of this licenses that get "smuggled" out of companies that did bulk purchases and are being resold, but even that is not always the case, and gets even more complicated the more deep you delve into it. Not to mention you are arguing for a company (M$) that uses legal loopholes to sell you an over 120$ product meant for general consumers and then uses said product to control how you use your PC and gather as much data and profile you as much as possible, in the end we are talking about the greyest company out there, at this point there's no more Microsoft there's just Grey soft.
You assess the seller's actions by checking their pricing and transaction history. If they list for $15, it suggests they didn’t pay the full amount. Buying at the retail price of $140 lets you relocate the item freely between devices. However, a sale price of $15 doesn’t match the original cost, indicating possible mispricing. You have the choice—no need to follow forum rules if you feel it’s unethical.
Right back at you how do you know for a fact those sellers don't sell bought keys ? Does it look suspicious due to price ? Yes i wont argue with you there, but if you understand the inner workings even just a bit its not really that much of a surprise. Microsoft sells licenses in volumes/bulks on the cheap (on the cheap for the individual license i mean, the bulk/volume can cost at least thousands of dollars) for and to various businesses. Now there are some business like for example let's take Lenovo that can have some of those licenses "smuggled" out of the company and be resold, this is where your argument of them being "stolen" can have some basis (but stolen from Lenovo in this case, not M$) but even in this example the truth is more complicated due to the fact that such companies generally end up with way more licenses/keys that they ever need so the ones that get "smuggled" out don't matter or in some cases it can be even unofficially encouraged within the companies, in which case you could at worst make a case for corruption within the company, but in the end is just some extra back handed incentive for working there (happens a lot especially in East/Asian businesses). Then there's smaller lesser known companies who just buy in bulk/volumes just because its cheaper and they end up with more then they need, reselling the ones they don't need "under the table" sort to speak. The third case is a front which actually do this for a business i mean buying them in bulk/volumes and reselling them. Also the really cheap ones you keep referring to are OEM keys, meant for prebuild manufacturers and tied to the hardware itself and are not supposed to be free to move around from PC to PC (though in some cases you can get lucky and do it), those get sold in very large quantities in bulk and the cost is very small per license that's why the low price, with such licenses when the PC dies the license also dies, but with such a small price you can't complain really. Retail and business versions are generally more expensive within the 24-50$ range depending on the version. PS: this is merely scratching the surface and giving some example the grey market situation is way more complex then this of course.
I’m curious about the details of those $15 keys. In the example, Lenovo probably understands they sell millions of PCs and charge for millions of licenses. If someone tries to steal a license, some might be missing and Lenovo would need to purchase more. Clearly, they want to stop this loss. However, in this situation the OEM is being exploited and Microsoft still receives payment for those licenses. It’s unclear how the OEM can make it simple for large-scale key theft. My alternative idea is that Microsoft relies on Lenovo and provides them with a key generator. Lenovo charges per PC sold. In this case, the OEM doesn’t mind, but Microsoft loses if an employee creates extra keys. Does anyone know the process? And regardless of the method, it seems questionable from a legal standpoint. Since customers accept the low price, they should suspect something is wrong.
Here are some key points to keep in mind:
1. I referenced Lenovo’s name to provide a clearer picture, though I’m not certain the stolen keys specifically came from them. It’s possible other OEMs or system builders also share licensing rights.
2. Focus not just on OEM sources; many licenses likely come from various manufacturers, including smaller companies that can now easily purchase in bulk for resale.
3. First, it’s important to understand the difference between OEM and retail Windows versions. Functionally they’re similar, but OEM licenses are hardware-linked (GPU, storage, motherboard), while retail licenses are tied to your account and can be transferred.
4. OEMs themselves don’t create licenses—they purchase them in bulk from Microsoft. This process is similar to how games like Gacha or free-to-play titles work: you often need extra currency to acquire items, leaving you with unused funds.
5. The situation is more about business strategy than strict legality. Companies may buy up licenses to maintain control, expand their market share, or engage in practices that blur the line between legal and illicit trading.
6. There’s also speculation about how third parties might resell these licenses once certain editions reach end-of-life, possibly to boost sales.
Let me know if you’d like a deeper dive into any of these aspects.