takingastep t1_j0cf7wf wrote
Reply to comment by Razakel in Microsoft partners with Viasat, bringing Internet access to 10 million people across Africa by Ahnafkhan009
Ah, so that's their angle. Makes sense. I keep forgetting that they're focusing more on the business end than the regular consumer end.
Razakel t1_j0ci2wm wrote
They're practically giving Windows away for free if you jump through a couple of hoops. They know the future is getting people on Office 365 and Azure.
takingastep t1_j0cint6 wrote
That's good to know. I guess I can look on MS's website to find the details about how to get it cheap?
Razakel t1_j0cjyiu wrote
It'll let you install and use it with no licence key, but with a couple of minor nagging restrictions (fine for personal use, bad idea for commercial). You can still upgrade from 7, 8 and 8.1 for free, or you can transfer a licence from an old machine (totally legal, but you may need a Microsoft account or have to phone support).
Or you can buy a key from a reseller (grey area).
takingastep t1_j0corl2 wrote
What if I installed it in a VM? Would they look at that as just another machine install, or would that be different in some way?
Razakel t1_j0cswng wrote
Microsoft licensing is, to use the technical term, a clusterfuck.
The basic server edition allows you one physical instance and one VM. Datacenter allows unlimited VMs, but in that case you're licensing the hardware, not the instance. For client editions you need one licence per instance.
But if you're installing a VM just to play around with then it falls under evaluation use and is completely fine.
takingastep t1_j0d616e wrote
Alright, good to know, thanks for the concise info.
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