Next year Windows 10 goes End of Life. Microsoft will undoubtedly push windows 11 hard, but a lot of machines won’t support it leading to a few economic points of interest:
The demand for new machines will be high, driving up cost.
The supply of unsupported machines will be high, driving down the used market.
Are you all ready?
Already got my NEW 12-core machine before prices go up, running Debian 100%. With my 25 year history of using Linux and pirating Windows, MS never saw a damn penny from me, and I’m proud of that fact. Not even an OEM license (all my laptops I ever had were work supplied and I build my own PCs)
To be fair, I’ve been using windows since 3.1. I haven’t paid for windows since xp I think. I got an oem key second hand right around w7 for my desktop. That key has just lasted me all the way to w11. So I haven’t paid ms anything either in decades (except for my personal data I guess?)
I’ve never paid for a Windows license, ever. I sure as fuck didn’t for Win 95 when it came out, since us script kiddies figured out pretty fast you can install it with a CD key of all 1’s. And then I used Windows 2000 for a long time. So long that I still remember the (stolen, MSDN) license key I used from having installed it umpteen times.
DDTPV-TXMX7-BBGJ9-WGY8K-B9GHM
There, you can have that one gratis and for nothin’. For all the good it’ll do you now.
And I still have one of those grey and blue plastic MSDN tackle boxes full of CD’s of all the Microsoft stuff. You want a copy of Visual Studio 2003 or something? I got you.
I’ve extracted about 40 keys from my school, all W10, Education edition (equal to Enterprise), but work with any newer edition. Unlimited number of uses, no expiration. I’ve been sharing them left and right, and if one goes bad, I just let them switch to a new one.
MAK isn’t unlimited number of uses.
Well, then I didn’t hit the limit yet lol.
Yeah I recently purchased a new laptop to replace the one I’ve had for 12 years. Hoping to get another 12 years out of it and I didn’t want to fight the enterprise customers.