windows licensing

On May 15, 2015, Microsoft clarified that PCs running non-genuine Windows would not receive the standard free Windows 10 upgrade, but said it and OEM partners planned “very attractive” offers to help those users move to legitimate Windows 10 installations. That was not amnesty, and it was not...

The Register reported on May 5, 2026, that a Sainsbury’s self-service checkout in the United Kingdom was displaying an “Activate Windows” watermark over the retailer’s kiosk application, after reader Mark Powell spotted the message at his local store. That is funny in the way all retail tech...

Microsoft has quietly closed one of the last old-school routes into Windows licensing, and the move says a lot about where the company wants activation to go next. According to Microsoft’s own support material, beginning December 3, 2025, the traditional telephone-based product activation...

Windows 11 “Business” is not a separate retail edition in the way many admins expect, but in Microsoft’s licensing and subscription-activation world it behaves like a managed, entitlement-based state layered on top of a Pro-class device. That distinction matters because it explains why Intune...

If you’ve been holding on to an ageing laptop or desktop because “it still works,” a flash sale promising a fresh operating system and a lifetime Office suite is tempting — but it’s also one place where a bargain can cost you more than money. A widely promoted bundle currently advertised at...