AFAIK most Windows users did in fact pay for their license, because most computers are pre built. I bought a few laptops and paid for the Windows license each time, even if I don’t use Windows.
It’s the evil genius of Microsoft’s scheme. They’re getting money from every computer sold from big manufacturers. Everyone is paying Microsoft whether they want it or not. It’s been a problem for more than 25 years.
Exactly this.
We are nerds here so it’s easy to forget that “installing an operating system” is NOT a thing which ‘normal’ people do.
Most people use the OS which came on their laptop when they bought it, and that’s it.
In some countries (eg: Italy), businesses are legally required to pay licences of any software they need; ofc many little shops or single person business aren’t going to pay them but bigger ones will for sure
The self check-outs at a grocery store near me doesn’t pay for Windows either
Based.
If you bought a PC in the 90s you still paid Microsoft even if it was shipped with no OS at all.
Microsoft illegally leveraged their near-monopoly to force vendors to either pay them per processor shipped regardless of operating system, or they wouldn’t be allowed to OEM any MS products. This forced anyone who wanted to offer an alternative such as OS/2 or DR DOS to charge more for it since they’d be paying both MS and Digital Research or IBM for the same machine. Eventually the DoJ gave them a tiny slap on the wrist and told them to stop, but not until they’d finished off all potential commercial threats to Windows.
https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/Pre_96/July94/94387.txt.html
Most Windows users paid for multiple licenses in their lifetime. For most prebuilt PCs or laptops you buy a windows licence with the device.
When you buy a new device you can get it without windows and just use the old license. But who bothers to do that? The people who do are probably a minority and most of them use Linux anyways.
Yep. Every pre-built I have ever bought had Windows installed. And my new mini desktop came with Windows 11 on in it. It booted Win11 just long enough to prove it could push watts and then immediately got wiped in favor of Kinonite. It will never see a Windows install again.
I bought an used mainboard once. After some time i remembered i need to activate windows, to realize the person i bought it from did this with massgrave and this board now automatically activates itself with this.
You pay with your data. Some are also paying with money.
everyone pays with money, even if they use linux, because license fee is included in every computer sold with windows preinstalled.
Not everyone, pc’s sold without license and which are used with pirated windows or free OS’s.
yes, 99.998% is much much less than 100%
yes, “everyone” means “all except those guys. and those. and part of these guys too. but everyone, totally, fr fr”
I’ve been on Windows since XP… I haven’t seen a single person.
Microsoft benefits from you “stealing” a license because it instills a false sense of control. Companies love it when you think you’re getting one up on them when they’re actually the ones brutally fucking you
I paid for it when I built my pc. Could I have avoided that (without piracy)?
I think the old Win 7 keys still work and you can find plenty of them in many scrap yards on the stickers. I even heard of people taking them from photos of old ebay listings.
i haven’t had need to do that in a number of years, but apparently that no longer works.
Can I steal things without stealing things.
No you cant get windows for free without some form of piracy, whether thats using mass grave to trick it into being licensed or installing the trial version and editing the registry to remove the trial notice (if that even still works).
You wanna stay legit, you pay for it.
I didn’t ask if I could steal it. I was asking if there was a legitimate free way to get it because the posted pic implied that I’m in the very few minority of people who actually paid.
Most people steal this because its so easy and consequence free is the message.
Makes it a bit awkward when you have to explain to the insurance companies
You won’t find them on lemmy
All of them. Pc prices are inflated to make up for it.
The average PC user definitely paid for Windows, especially if they bought a pre-built.
It’s amazing how some people insist on that.
I told a buddy I can set him up for his new laptop, nope, had to buy a license. Except it was the weekend and his license had to be activated over the phone, on a business day. And he just HAD TO have it licensed right that minute for some reason. Guess what we ended up using. 🤷
