But it is an extra hassle.įor further savings, you’ll have to wait for the rare sale or Black Friday, when you can get an OEM license in the neighborhood of $85 (Windows 10 Home) to $120 (Windows 10 Pro). Microsoft has historically been kind about such situations, however you can usually call to reactivate the license after replacing a fried mobo. If you build a system but roll a new one four years later, you can’t transfer the license to the new machine.Īlso, if the hardware used to identify your system fails-namely, the motherboard-Microsoft’s registration servers won’t recognize your license as valid after you replace the dead part. In exchange for a lower price, you get to use the license key on only one PC, period. The process for activating a Windows 10 OEM license is the same as for a retail license. Legitimately for free, since installing Windows 10 without ever activating it doesn’t count as getting a full, sanctioned copy of Windows. If you’re lucky, you could technically get Windows 10 for free. The amount you’ll save depends on how much hassle you can tolerate-as well as your circumstances. Yes, it’s possible to snag a discount on Windows 10. What’s not a given is paying full retail. Make sure to check our Home and Pro listings before settling for full price-at the time of publication, we were selling them for $50 and $70, respectively.īut with less developer support for Linux, Windows 10 is an inescapable necessity for most of us.

Even if you want to run Windows 11, you’re best off getting a Windows 10 license on sale first, and then upgrading to Windows 11.ĭeal alert: The PCWorld Software Store frequently sells Windows 10 editions at reduced prices.

Shelling out $139 for Windows 10 Home or $200 for Windows 10 Pro feels rough when Linux is free, since that much cash is easily a third of a budget PC build. Windows licenses are expensive-almost painfully so.

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