this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2023
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I'm back to Windows 10 (now 11) on my main PC since I bought an Xbox and there's hassle-free Cloud gaming, crossplay etc.
When I exclusively played on PC and built the new Machine, I was too cheap to buy a Windows licence. I tried Pop!OS because I like their gaming-focussed apporach. All games that were relevant to me (via Steam, mostly) worked fine.
I've since bought a Steam Deck, so I'm running SteamOS as well.
To be fair who really buys Windows licences unless it's a business or an org
I have never once paid for Windows, yet at some point a digital license showed up on my Microsoft account and I've never gotten an Activate Windows prompt on any of my subsequent Windows installations.
Perhaps it was included with your motherboard?
I don't think so, I've swapped motherboards several times since and the license has remained.
I used to borrow Windows keys off the old PCs in my office's e-waste pile, my best guess is it's one of those keys that's somehow still activating each time I reinstall.
There are utilities like MAS (open-source project on Github ironically) that activate Windows fully without anyone ever needing to pay for it, just in case anyone looking at this thread was wondering
I did... for a very discounted price. Call me lazy if you want, but I didn't want the hassle to source another version.
It's actually comically easy to get Windows on a machine because Microsoft wants everyone's default OS to be windows as much as possible. Its an easy loophole to use Windows without paying for it at all, ever.