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Windows 10 Pro license at $39.99 until end of June 2020
PCWorld is offering a good deal on a Windows 10 Pro license if you need one. This is a full retail Windows 10 Pro license going at $39.99 until end of the month. Link here: https://software.pcworld.com/p36877-windows_10_professional
Note that the default currency seems to GBP. Change it to USD at the top right. Hope this deal can benefit some people.
Comments
Trying to snag a couple, figured I won't see them this cheap for a while - waiting on manual review
you can buy a license on ebay for like $5, they are corporate I believe and can be cancelled at any time. I have never had any cancellations though.
Well, does not look like OEM, means Support included.
I never really needed microsoft support, so I am fine with the above mentioned, sticker removed from someones dumpster pc and resold on ebay.
Never had one of these cheap ebay ones revoked so.
Please don't ever buy these. Rather go and pirate it in any other way. You're supporting fraud if you buy those licenses.
They have a very bad review https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.pcworld.co.uk
The real question is, why I should buy Windows 10 Pro license? I could install Windows 10 Pro with no product key & no crack and still able to use all features - only limited to professionalization part.
Just buy one off Ebay for 3-4$ if you're in the EU? Basically the same thing.
pcworld.com is nothing to do with pcworld.co.uk AFAIK
is this transferable licence, meaning you can install on any new pc once you drop old one you previously installed it?
and btw hello from new member, but was reading for years already
You can use windows 7 pro key to install windows 10 pro and activate it. Windows 7 key can be found on dead PCs or old systems not use able. Don't know if this is allowed by the ToS of MS.
How can they sell it for such a low. I would rather risk 2$ on ebay key instead of this random provider.
This site very recently touted the benefits of grey market keys.
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3400840/how-to-get-windows-10-cheap-or-even-for-free.html
If these keys aren't grey market and don't have any significant limitations (e.g. can be used to upgrade an existing licenced machine to pro, can be switched to another machine), this is quite an interesting deal. I've spotted my next personal laptop (ASUS TUF A15 RTX) if my current one dies in the near future, but only found options to buy with a home licence. I'd want pro for hyperv and bitlocker, so would probably grab a licence just in case.
"Its likely not a genuine Windows 10 key because no third party vendor apart from Amazon and Microsoft are allowed to license digital downloads.
So anyone claiming to sell keys is likely not legal.
That vendor is likely selling MSDN keys:
About MSDN Product Keys
They are genuine Microsoft product keys, they are actually retail licenses, but it is intended for a particular product channel either the Microsoft Software Developer Network (MSDN) or TechNet for IT Professionals who pay a subscription fee. The main purpose is for evaluation purposes. The great thing about them, unlike trial Microsoft software, MSDN or TechNet keys don't expire. Because the agreement under which the subscription is provided is a single license, none of the software should be distributed outside of it. Even though its $50,000 worth of licenses, it is for one person only to use and no one else. Unfortunately, regardless of the licensing terms, persons still abuse the program, either giveaway product keys or resell it on auction sites. Microsoft licenses it in good faith that customers won't do so, but I guess human nature wins out.
In your case, what probably happened is, you bought an MSDN licensed key, which carries up to 10 activations unlike full packaged retail licenses which only carry 1 activation. The person who sold it to you probably sold it to 10 other persons. Somewhere along the way, one of those persons might have installed it on a second system, activated it, because it went past 10 activation threshold, Microsoft detected it that it was being abused and blocked the key from further use."
(edited from desktop)
You can buy these exact same keys on eBay for $0.99.
How is this allowed on LET? This is exactly the same as the dodgy enterprise keys you get from eBay for $1, it's not a retail license. @poisson where do you see this is retail license?
I bet two people buying these licenses will get the same key and can activate it on dozens or machines.
I think this is the same type as the key sold by eBay seller..
This is probably real, just do a little research on who’s behind a website.
and
They’ve got nothing to win by selling fake licenses.
It says a lot about brands like PCWorld that even users of a tech related forum don’t recognize it.
Cheap ebay licenses aren't fake neither. More university / huge accounts stuff.
Not sure what kind of license PC World sells though. Could they have a deal with M$?
From what I think these are (I could be wrong, but don't think I am), they are given unlimited windows keys for a monthly fee. The only catch is they are not allowed to resell them. I have never actually seen a key revoked before, so I think it's very unlikely to get your key disabled. $40 sounds like a major rip off though since they get these for free, check eBay or random tech forms to get one for less then $1. Again this keys are not legit, but they will work.
It would be very stupid for a major tech publisher to sell corporate windows keys. Could well be the end of IDG and all these licenses if they did that.
I think they do.
All of you who say that this is somehow not legit should doublecheck who the seller is.
It's not really about PCWorld's offer. I guess it's a good deal, but most people will still go for the ebay licenses, and they usually don't even get revoked...
I still laugh when people say they have genuine Windows and they show the price they bought it at...
Or leftover OEM licenses. I remember years ago I bought one and it came with a PATA cable because the vendor could only legally sell it with hardware.
How does one validate the provided key if genuine or not (apart from activations which would happen atleast once). Is there any portal for keys validation from ms? Thanks
It doesn't help that they picked the brand name of a very well known UK store, despite being completely unrelated. Not a good choice.
In a non-linear timeline this would make sense. However, my timeline is linear. These are the years they were established:
PCWorld, the magazine: 1983
PCWorld, the UK retailer: 1991
I missed that when trying to find out who they were.
I used to work for IDG, a long time ago however. For one of the European counterparts of PCWorld.
https://slickdeals.net/f/14119781-windows-10-professional-retail-not-upgrade-or-oem-39-pcworld-store?page=2
per Groch. if you add W10 Home ($30) to cart, it'll offer you to upgrade to W10 Pro for $35.
plus newsletter email for another 10% off
And PCWorld is definitely legit. Back when people bought paper magazines, it and competitor PC Magazine were the biggest and most influential tech news sources out there.