Windows 7 professional retail discount

I am not trying to encourage attempts by anyone to get away with something you're not entitled to. If there are restrictions for a specific offer, I've noted them here. By far the best way to buy Windows 7 today, six years into its lifecycle, is to purchase it preinstalled on a new PC.

You get a warranty and, more importantly, you get the OEM's assurance that the hardware and software were designed to work together. This option also spares you from the pain of Windows setup, especially the hassles of hunting down essential drivers and system-specific updates when you upgrade or downgrade a PC.

There's a catch, though: As of October 31, , any new PCs they offer must include the more expensive Windows 7 Professional. Machines that were manufactured before that date with Windows 7 Home Premium can still be sold. Normally, the sales lifecycle for PCs with Windows 7 preinstalled would have ended long ago, but Microsoft extended that deadline in February PC manufacturers will no longer be able to sell new PCs with Windows 7 Pro as of October 31, , For details, see "What the Windows 7 Pro sales lifecycle changes mean to consumers and business buyers.

The trick in shopping for these machines is to skip the front door and go straight for the business section. Among online merchants, for example, Dell offers filters to show all available desktops and all-in-ones and laptops running Windows 7. HP has separate pages for business desktops and laptops , but you have to look at each model to find the models with Windows 7 available.

Big online retailers that serve business markets should have similar selections covering a wide range of brands and the full spectrum of prices.

There are plenty of sites where you can find "factory reconditioned" PCs for sale at legitimately low prices. Amazon-owned Woot, for example, always has lots of choices in its Computers section , although you'll have to dig into the specs to confirm that the operating system you're looking for is included.

I don't recommend taking a chance with random sellers on eBay or Craigslist--not when there are so many well-established merchants that offer proper warranties and return policies, as well as an assurance that the underlying Windows license is legitimate.

Under Microsoft's arcane licensing rules, you can legitimately purchase OEM copies of Windows 7 any edition. However, the license agreement with those copies explicitly prohibits you from using that software on a PC you build or refurbish for your own personal use.

Crazy, huh? ZDNet takes a look back at very best tech stories and features of From the year's tech turkeys to products and services that get business done, we round up top gadgets, cloud highs, security lows -- and much more. Read More. There are no technical limitations to prevent you from using OEM software on your own PC, although this software will work only for a clean installation and not for an upgrade.

In the past, Microsoft has been remarkably inconsistent in its advice to customers about whether this practice is allowed. Don't ask Microsoft. To make the subject even more confusing, Microsoft briefly changed its licensing rules with Windows 8, adding a Personal Use Rights clause that allowed individuals to buy OEM Windows and install it on personal PCs. That change lasted exactly one year: with the launch of Windows 8.

The bottom line? Yes, you can install an OEM copy of Windows 7 on a PC for your own personal use; I recommend that you avoid doing so for your business, however, especially if you have a licensing agreement with Microsoft.

Most of the readily available options for new PCs include the latest version of Windows--that's Windows 10 today with many Windows 8. If you love a particular piece of hardware and your preferred version of Windows 7 isn't available on the build-to-order options list, don't despair.

You have four choices available. If you purchase a new PC with a business version of Windows 8, Windows 8. Note that downgrade rights are not included on systems that ship with the core version of Windows 8, 8. To exercise downgrade rights, you can use media for Windows 7 Professional that you acquire from any source. During installation, don't enter a product key. After completing installation, you'll need to activate your newly installed copy of Windows 7 by using the telephone activation option and explaining that you are using downgrade rights.

Did you purchase a retail copy of Windows 7 any time in the past six years? Any full or upgrade license purchased through the retail channel or directly from Microsoft can legally be transferred to another PC.

That includes any of the deeply discounted upgrade offers that Microsoft made available when Windows 7 was new, including the three-license Family Packs of Windows 7 Home Premium. If you have the original Windows 7 installation media and product key and have removed the operating system from the PC on which it was originally installed, you can reuse that key on any PC. You might be required to activate over the phone; when asked, be sure to specify truthfully that your copy of Windows 7 is installed on only one PC.

Note that OEM copies of Windows 7 that were installed on PCs by the manufacturer are locked to that device and cannot be transferred. If the PC on which you want to install Windows 7 originally included a license for any version of Windows, you can buy a Windows 7 upgrade license from any vendor that has the software in stock and install that upgrade on your PC.

You don't need to reinstall the old operating system; if you want to perform a clean install using upgrade media, you can use the workaround I describe in this post : Boot from the upgrade media and do an installation without entering a product key. Then use the same media to "upgrade" your brand-new installation. Follow the instructions in this post. The most expensive option is to purchase a full retail license for Windows 7.

It's guaranteed to work with any PC, with no installation or licensing complications. The problem is finding this software, which Microsoft stopped selling years ago. Most online merchants today offer only OEM copies of Windows 7. All the options I described earlier apply to PCs you plan to use in the home or office. But if you're a developer, an IT pro, or a student, you might have a completely different set of needs, including a desire to have one or more PCs running Windows 7 for testing purposes.

Sadly, Microsoft ended the TechNet subscription service in But there are still useful options available to anyone who needs Windows 7 in a lab or virtual machine. Windows 7 evaluation versions are also no longer available. MSDN subscription s are specifically intended for professional software developers.

An annual subscription gives you access to a wide range of professional developer tools and pre-release products. How long should you wait before deploying Windows 10? You can choose from different levels of MSDN subscriptions. It offers full access to every client and server version of Windows going as far back as Windows 3. But with less developer support for Linux, Windows 10 is an inescapable necessity for most of us. If you have an old Windows 7 or Windows 8 PC lying around, you may still be able to reuse its key to activate Windows When Microsoft first launched Windows 10 back in , it offered Windows 7 and Windows 8 users a truly free, no-strings upgrade to the new operating system.

The promotion was only available for one year—presumably to accelerate Windows 10 adoption rates—and expired in July But even though Microsoft officially ended this program three years ago, it still has yet to completely shut everything down.

The activation servers have been allowing Windows 7 and 8 keys on some Windows 10 installs. The Windows 7 or Windows 8 product keys that commonly work for this method are the retail and OEM varieties. Only sporadic success has been reported for volume license keys i. If you have a Windows 7 or 8 Home license, that will only work for Windows 10 Home. Windows 7 or 8 Pro only work for Windows 10 Pro. Need help getting it to work? Use our step-by-step guide. License types are different than operating system versions.

They dictate what you can do with the software, while OS versions are distinguished by the features available. Multiple Windows license types exist, but the two commonly available to a home user are the retail and OEM varieties. If you visit an online retailer like Amazon Remove non-product link or Newegg , you can find both retail and OEM licenses for sale.

All the features of the operating system version are the same for both license types. The difference is that with a retail license, you can transfer the license key to a different PC later on. The process for activating a Windows 10 OEM license is the same as for a retail license. In exchange for a lower price, you get to use the license key on only one PC, period. Microsoft has historically been kind about such situations, however; you can usually call to reactivate the license after replacing a fried mobo.

But it is an extra hassle. Not all student discounts are reserved for the under set.