The difference is that with a retail license, you can transfer the license key to a different PC later on. All the features of the operating system version are the same for both license types. If you visit an online retailer like Amazon Remove non-product link or Newegg, you can find both retail and OEM licenses for sale. Multiple Windows license types exist, but the two commonly available to a home user are the retail and OEM varieties. They dictate what you can do with the software, while OS versions are distinguished by the features available. License types are different than operating system versions. Need help getting it to work? Use our step-by-step guide. Windows 7 or 8 Pro only work for Windows 10 Pro. If you have a Windows 7 or 8 Home license, that will only work for Windows 10 Home. Only sporadic success has been reported for volume license keys i. The Windows 7 or Windows 8 product keys that commonly work for this method are the retail and OEM varieties. The activation servers have been allowing Windows 7 and 8 keys on some Windows 10 installs.

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.

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. But with less developer support for Linux, Windows 10 is an inescapable necessity for most of us. Windows licenses are expensive-almost painfully so.

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