• @[email protected]
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        89 months ago

        This is just speculation, but I’m pretty sure Microsoft stopped caring about people pirating windows and using licences they shouldn’t have. They would rather you use windows as a pirate than not use windows at all.

          • Count Regal Inkwell
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            59 months ago

            Been like that since the 90s really. Microsoft’s “secret sauce” is that they never gave a shit about the end users.

            They make bank by courting enterprise users: Big companies with hundreds of employees, OEMs, governments, schools, etc.

            In recent times they found a way to double-dip by putting in telemetry/data collection/ads/adware – But before that they just didn’t care.

            It does help that windows makes the user develop learned helplessness and so by the time they are getting their own computer, they’ll want to stay in the windows environment. So they also get the inflated marketshare, which feeds back into their pitch when they are courting those enterprises.

      • @[email protected]
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        9 months ago

        No they are legal. It is just an upgraded Windows 7 or 8 license.

        They were throwing those away by the boatload

        • @[email protected]
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          29 months ago

          Look at the answer on Microsoft forum. What does “legitimate” mean to you? The fact that the system will work with this key does not mean that you have the right to use Windows legally.

          • @[email protected]
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            9 months ago

            Microsoft allowed those licences to upgrade. They are most definitely legitimate.

            No matter what a volunteer moderator says.