1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,920 Reading the comments on our built videos, you would think that half of our audience works in Microsoft's licensing department. 2 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:09,120 But what about Windows Linus? Are you stealing Windows? 3 00:00:09,120 --> 00:00:15,120 And okay, I get it. Multi-billion dollar corporations are precious and must be protected at all costs. 4 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:21,760 But for the average user, throwing 10% of your PC budget at an operating system that then 5 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:27,440 turns around and spies on you and crams ads down your throat, it's kind of a tough pill to swallow. 6 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:32,880 Especially with your throat full of ads. So, what are the alternatives here? 7 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:39,280 Well, as it turns out, there are at least a dozen different ways to buy, or not buy, 8 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:46,320 Windows, ranging from free to almost $200. And we tried all of them so you won't have to. 9 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:53,840 We also tried to tell you about our sponsor. Before I get myself into any trouble here, I want to make it clear that as a business, 10 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:58,800 we absolutely pay for the software that helps us make money, including Windows. 11 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:04,480 So, with that in mind, let's start with the most official of sources, Microsoft.com. 12 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:08,960 Where, huh, I guess even they can't believe anyone wants to actually pay for Windows, 13 00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:17,280 so they bury the link way down here in, what? $140? That's gotta be the Canadian price, and no? 14 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:24,080 How is it that the download license direct from Microsoft is the exact same price as the full 15 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:30,160 retail version, one that has to absorb both the retail markup and the included USB stick? 16 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:36,560 And what is Windows 11 family? Oh, I see. It's French. 17 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:41,200 Nous sommes une famille. Why did we buy French Windows? 18 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:48,400 It's all they had in stock. I see. Well, that's fine. We can just install it en français, and then add a language pack. 19 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:53,120 By the way, here's a neat little trick. Microsoft likes to pretend that you can't 20 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:57,120 install without an internet connection, but if you hit Shift F10 once the installer gets 21 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:03,200 past the first reboot, you should get a command prompt where you can type in ubi backslash bypass 22 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:08,640 NRO with no spaces and hit Enter. The system will reboot again, and this time you can tell it you 23 00:02:08,640 --> 00:02:13,440 don't have any internets, and you can use a local account instead of being forced to sign into a 24 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:17,840 Microsoft account. When you're doing something stupid, like installing Windows over and over 25 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:21,200 again from different sources for a YouTube video, that's going to save you a ton of time 26 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:25,680 that you would otherwise burn waiting for updates. Once we booted up Windows 11 family, 27 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:32,320 as expected, it activated without issue, bringing us to method number two, buying retail Windows from 28 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:39,760 a retailer. In this case, Best Buy. It was still 140 US dollars, but at least we got free shipping, 29 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:44,240 and they had it in English. It's worth a mention, by the way, that just like with Windows 10, 30 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:48,640 you don't actually have to punch in your product key to get through the installation process. 31 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:53,520 That way, you can quickly set everything up, install all your drivers, and then only punch in 32 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:58,320 the product key once it's time to activate. As before, we had no issues authenticating with 33 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:02,960 Microsoft servers, and the only difference is that this box made an extra stop at a store 34 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:09,040 before reaching our hands. Now, I couldn't help but noticing, guys. I haven't really saved any 35 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:15,040 money yet. Ah, that's more like it. If you've spent any time building computers, you'll probably 36 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:20,960 recognize this system builder or OEM envelope. These are meant to be sold to system builders 37 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:26,320 that are assembling new PCs for resale. The advantage is that the system builder saves a few 38 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:32,160 bucks on the license, but it does come with some trade-offs. For starters, that integrator is now 39 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:37,520 the one responsible for user support, so if you have one of these, you don't get to call Microsoft. 40 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:43,120 But hey, I mean, at least it comes with this sick coaster. Microsoft really think people are 41 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:48,240 installing Windows from a DVD in current year. Oh, that must have taken a while. 42 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:53,920 The other trade-off with this sort of license is that it is bound to the first computer it's 43 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:59,440 installed on. The retail license, by contrast, can be moved to an entirely different machine 44 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:05,040 if you need to. Now, a lot of shops will just sell these to anyone that asks, sometimes with a rule 45 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:09,360 that you have to buy a piece of hardware with the license, but it tends to be pretty poorly 46 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:15,920 regulated, which is probably why the discount isn't that deep on it anymore. It cost us about $120 47 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:21,040 on Amazon, which seems a lot higher than it used to be back when we got them from our distributors 48 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:27,200 at NCIX. On the subject of things being a better deal, I'm getting kind of tired of spending money 49 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:33,840 here. You probably are too, so come on over here. Did you know that you can install and use Windows 50 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:39,520 11 indefinitely without spending a dime and you don't need a special hat to do it? 51 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:46,080 That's right. Anyone with a licensed copy of Windows 10 on their PC can upgrade to Windows 11 52 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:50,960 for free, provided that you meet Microsoft's hardware requirements. And in most cases, 53 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:55,360 you can even make it work if you don't. We're going to link to an article in the video description. 54 00:04:55,360 --> 00:05:01,360 Also, until recently, you could even activate a fresh install of Windows 11 using a Windows 7 55 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:07,760 or a Windows 8 key, and you can still do a fresh install using a Windows 10 key. The only caveat 56 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:12,480 is that they have to be the same addition. Speaking of keys, why not keep yours on one of our 57 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:17,040 wristlet keychains from lttstore.com? We've got four different colors, and with a metal latch, 58 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:23,200 they last for a very long time. So convenient. But, Linus, you might say, I don't have a Windows 59 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:28,320 10 system or a product key, and I already bought one of those cool keychains. Well, remember how 60 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:33,520 we said you don't need a product key to install Windows these days? Well, that's kind of all 61 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:39,360 there is to it. You can download everything you need to make a USB installer for Windows for free 62 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:44,080 directly from Microsoft. Then, when you're installing it, just click, I don't have a 63 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:48,320 product key while you're installing. We did a whole video about this a while back, 64 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:54,640 blowing several million minds in the process. And all these years later, Microsoft still 65 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:58,960 hasn't closed the loophole, leading me to the conclusion that they are well aware of it, 66 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:04,320 and have decided that the advantages of remaining the dominant PC software platform 67 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:10,480 outweigh the cost of not collecting that sweet, sweet licensing money, at least from home users. 68 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:16,080 Now, there are some trade-offs, of course. For starters, most of the personalization options 69 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:20,720 are grayed out, so you'll have to use a clever workaround to change your desktop background, 70 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:24,880 and you can't use the settings app to modify colors, themes, the start menu, taskbar, 71 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:29,520 lock screen, fonts, and so on. You can't even turn on dark mode, which is a bit of a bummer, 72 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:33,280 and you'll eventually get that activate Windows watermark in the corner that many 73 00:06:33,280 --> 00:06:38,400 of you are so quick to comment about. But big deal, you might say. I can put up with that to save 74 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:44,720 some cash. Unfortunately, it has other downsides, the biggest one being that you may miss out on 75 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:50,000 some of the less critical Windows updates, and that little watermark that you are going to ignore 76 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:54,880 may actually cause problems with graphics performance, including interfering with G-Sync 77 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:59,200 and variable refresh rate gaming. I sincerely doubt that's something that Microsoft has done 78 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:02,480 intentionally, but there are plenty of reports of these issues out in the wild, 79 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:07,520 so they are something you want to look out for. Now, everything we've looked at so far 80 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:14,560 sits in at worst a moral gray area. But that's about to change, so if your virgin ears can handle it, 81 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:21,280 best click away. Fetch me tricorn hat. If it's piracy-e-be after, the tool you're looking for 82 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:28,560 be called Microsoft activation scripts. Sorry, let's drop the accent. I was shocked when I found 83 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:34,800 out how simple it is to pirate Windows 11. You just paste a one-liner into PowerShell, 84 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:39,840 insert standard disclaimer about never blindly trusting random commands you find on the internet, 85 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:46,880 confirm a couple of options, and that's it. Activated Windows. It's not official, it's not 86 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:51,680 Terms of Service compliant, and, depending on your jurisdiction, it could be outright illegal, 87 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:57,280 but there is no obvious difference as far as we can tell between the legit Windows that we 88 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:02,400 activated and this one in terms of features or performance. And if you're worried about this 89 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:07,760 script doing questionable things to your computer, you can review all the code for it yourself right 90 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:14,640 on GitHub, which, you may recall, was acquired by Microsoft back in 2018, meaning that they could 91 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:19,760 have removed this tool at any time, but not only have they not done that, there's even 92 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:27,200 anecdotal evidence to suggest that Microsoft Support has used NAS to fix customer activation issues. 93 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:34,560 Alright, I'm getting rid of the hat. I get it, I get it. You're upstanding citizens, 94 00:08:34,560 --> 00:08:39,120 you don't want to pirate anything, you just want to pay a little less for the privilege of 95 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:44,480 handing your personal information over to a giant corporation. Alright, how's 20 bucks sound? 96 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:52,160 What about 10? One dollar? As it turns out, there are a ton of third-party websites selling 97 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:57,840 Windows licenses at pretty much whatever price you are willing to pay. We tried three of them, 98 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:04,800 the Boing Boing Store, G2A.com, and AllKeyShop.com. Boing Boing Store seems to be selling licenses 99 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:10,240 from a Microsoft partner in France, while G2A and AllKeyShop aggregate offers from multiple 100 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:16,960 sellers that have far less clear origins. We were able to activate all of these keys without any issues, 101 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:22,000 but that doesn't mean that we're going to endorse any of them. While the activation keys 102 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:27,920 themselves may be legit, the means of obtaining them often isn't, and by supporting these kinds 103 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:33,600 of marketplaces, you may be supporting organized networks of credit card thieves and fraudsters. 104 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:39,040 Frankly, I'd be a lot more comfortable if you just pirated Windows, and it kind of seems like 105 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:44,000 Microsoft feels the same way, given that they have offered the download and don't bother registering 106 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:50,480 option for years now. By the way, while we're at it, I would strongly recommend against using 107 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:55,440 any Windows installer that you obtain anywhere other than Microsoft's website. There are some 108 00:09:55,440 --> 00:10:00,480 cool ISO hacks out there. In fact, we've featured them before that will do things like strip out 109 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:06,640 extra bloat, but it just feels like an unnecessary risk unless you 100% know what you're doing or 110 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:12,400 you're just installing it to tool around with like we did. Coming back on topic, if none of the 111 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:17,760 options we've given so far are right for you, Goldilocks, I can give you a couple of more. 112 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:22,080 If you're a student or teacher, you can talk to your IT department. You may be able to get a license 113 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:27,520 for cheap or even free depending on your school's agreement with Microsoft, though that license might 114 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:32,560 expire once you graduate. And if you're buying for an organization rather than for yourself, 115 00:10:32,560 --> 00:10:36,640 you may want to look into volume licensing and key management systems to make your life 116 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:41,120 a little bit easier. Finally, if you're the kind of person who enjoys the bleeding edge, 117 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:45,280 you may want to check out the Windows Insider program. Some of the features they roll out are 118 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:49,680 pretty cool, and some of them never even make their way into the mainline build. So it can be 119 00:10:49,680 --> 00:10:54,960 the only way to see Microsoft's vision for the future of Windows and keep your fingers on the 120 00:10:54,960 --> 00:11:02,320 pulse of the development process. The second final option, C Intro One Liner, I got to it, 121 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:07,680 is to not install Windows. Try out Linux. Don't worry about which distro you picked the first 122 00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:11,440 time. No matter which way you go, it's probably not going to be quite right and someone's going 123 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:14,480 to be waiting to tell you all the ways you're wrong and how your choice reflects on you as a person. 124 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:20,960 But give it a shot. As for me, I'm waiting for Valve to release that new Steam OS before I dive 125 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:29,200 down that rabbit hole again, which should be any time now. Well, this is getting awkward. 126 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:32,720 While we wait, why don't you check out our sponsor? If you guys liked this video, 127 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:37,440 why not check out our look back at Windows 8? Was it really as terrible as you remember? 128 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:43,680 Your best click away. Fetch me tricor. Dammit, I put it on backwards.