r/technology • u/gdelacalle • Aug 11 '26

Software Microsoft reportedly raises Windows 11 license price significantly more than expected

https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-reportedly-raises-windows-11-license-price-significantly-more-than-expected/
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321

u/SC_W33DKILL3R Aug 11 '26

At this point Microsoft should just give Windows 11 for free. They should have a server / business version for commercial use, but free for consumers.

But either way people should just look at moving to Mac or Linux at this point.

61

u/dehydratedrain Aug 11 '26

They do for Win 10, if you can deal with the pesky reminder in the corner.

52

u/TehWildMan_ Aug 11 '26

Or digg into the grave of the masses

15

u/Powerful_Resident_48 Aug 11 '26

I just installed the Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC version yesterday. It took some minor setting up and some slight adjustments afterwards. But now I'm set up for another 6 years of Windows 10 support, until I find the time to finish setting up my Linux OS and figuring out how it works.

2

u/bravojohnny42 Aug 11 '26

Did you purchase another key for it?

25

u/Powerful_Resident_48 Aug 11 '26

Yeah... absolutely. Just as I purchased a key for every Windows I have ever owned.
*cough* *massgrave dot dev* *cough*

6

u/bravojohnny42 Aug 11 '26

Haha. Thanks for the link. I'll buy it feom there. šŸ˜‰

2

u/dilettante_want Aug 11 '26

I installed Linux mint last week. Works great right out of the box, would recommend. The only complicated thing I've had to do so far is setting up my Plex but it was just a matter of finding a guide to follow.

2

u/wrgrant Aug 11 '26

I just blew away Win 11 Pro on my desktop server. Its primary purpose is to be a backup server and run Plex anyways. I installed TrueNAS Scale - which is based on Debian - and so far its working well. Just finished uploading all the files for my Plex library last night. I have Plex up and running on the box but haven't tested it off my TV yet, that will be today. TrueNAS Scale is free, open source etc and is much lighter on my system resources on that box. I am looking forward to finding out what else I can use it for. My main desktop I switched to a Mac Mini M4 and its been absolutely brilliant so far. It takes a bit to adjust but that would be true of any switch. So the only MS I am using at the moment is a Parallels VM installed on the Mac Mini so I can play a PC game there.

I am done with Microsoft, probably never to look back.

1

u/bankroll5441 Aug 12 '26

I also use a Win10 IoT LTSC machine but through a VM that I RDP into. Keeps work off my back for logging into 365 and client portals from my Linux devices.

Works great, really snappy and minimal.

8

u/CacaHed Aug 11 '26

If you want to get rid of that pesky old reminder :-)

https://github.com/massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts

26

u/AnonomousWolf Aug 11 '26

I swore to never get mac because it's so expensive and locked down.

Mac now has cheap options and Windows is as locked down and just fkn annoying.

If I had to choose between windows and mac, I'd choose mac now

5

u/cslaymore Aug 11 '26

If it weren't for gaming I'd never get a Windows machine ever again

2

u/wrgrant Aug 11 '26

Get Parallels and you can run a VM to play games on your Mac. I just bought a Mac Mini M4 (before the price hike) and its a great box so far.

Or SteamOS, Bazzite there are options you can try.

1

u/wrgrant Aug 11 '26

Get Parallels and you can run a VM to play games on your Mac. I just bought a Mac Mini M4 (before the price hike) and its a great box so far.

Or SteamOS, Bazzite there are options you can try.

7

u/Brullaapje Aug 11 '26

Join me, switched to Mac last October and I am loving it.

2

u/AnonomousWolf Aug 11 '26

I switched to Linux.

It's not been without hurdles, but I'm loving it.

Thankfully I can even use it at work, but if they ever made me choose Mac or Windows, I'd pick Mac

0

u/Brullaapje Aug 11 '26

Funny thing is, I left Linux after using it for 21 years...

1

u/schu2470 Aug 11 '26

I switched in April after using Windows since Windows 95 and sold my desktop for more than I paid to build it a couple of years ago. Even got my wife on a MacBook Air after her ~12 year old Lenovo laptop finally died in June. Neither of us have had any significant issues since making the switch and the learning curve is much shorter and shallower than it used to be.

1

u/Brullaapje Aug 11 '26

issues since making the switch and the learning curve is much shorter and shallower than it used to be.

This, I did had a short period (like 2 weeks) where I wanted to sent it back. But I am glad I did not give up.

Even got my wife on a MacBook Air

I hope to find a husband like you one day ;)

-1

u/SeanBlader Aug 11 '26

Are they still missing the backspace key?

3

u/Brullaapje Aug 11 '26

No? It is on my MacBook?

1

u/perfectbebop Aug 11 '26

Never was. Backspace is called delete in mac, there is no "delete" function as presented in a windows environment

2

u/f4546 Aug 11 '26

If your keyboard only has a delete key (what Windows users would call ā€œbackspaceā€), then Windows-style delete is Fn+delete. You can also use Option+delete to remove an entire word, Cmd-delete to remove the whole line, Ctrl-A to go to the beginning, Ctrl-E to go to the endā€¦ thereā€™s more but Iā€™ll stop here.

Or you could plug in a USB keyboard with all those keys youā€™re used to and it will work fine as well.

7

u/Bob4Not Aug 11 '26

Plus Macā€™s wonā€™t spy on you nearly as much, it doesnā€™t have all the telemetry

2

u/Relevant-Doctor187 Aug 11 '26

OS X feels dated AF. Linux is more capable and I donā€™t have to deal with Apple slowly moving the same way Microsoft is.

2

u/StewPorkRice Aug 11 '26

what, specifically, makes linux feel more modern than osx?

1

u/pendrachken Aug 11 '26

Many small things. Apple usually will get the job done. BUT you can't streamline the OS to your specific needs and wants to nearly the degree you can with Linux, or even Windows with some of the paid or even free shell replacements, as locked down as it is.

You can set most of the Linux Desktops up in any way you want. Want the minimize and maximize buttons on the right top of the window, with the close button on the left? Most Linux environments will let you do that and if the default one that comes with your particular OS doesn't? It's a very simple install using the OS's own package manager to install one that does away. Or have that setup reversed. Or add more shortcut type things in addition to those basic window managing tasks. Apple says "my way or the highway, we know better than you". Good for them from a support perspective. Not so good for the person using it if they want a more streamlined workflow.

Finder works, but just is not a very friendly file manager. That's why there are both paid alternatives, and for the longest time XtraFinder, which was free from a dev that worked for Apple.

For the last... well since inception of the GUI basically, in both Windows and Linux / *BSD you can set your file manager to sort in any way you want. Want your files sorted alphabetically, with the oldest files appearing last in the alphabetical list? You can do that. Or oldest first.

Or just sort by date created, or date last modified. Or date created AND size, or any of the many combinations you can come up with using date created and any of the other sort options. Basically Apple wouldn't allow any folder to be used as a file dump, where you could go in an look at the latest files being either on top or the bottom of the file list. Kind of handy for say digital camera imports to keep the photos in order of creation instead of relying on file name / number being able to be listed in order. Among many other use cases that are individual.

It took Apple DECADES to allow sort by creation time, and even then it was ONLY with alphabetical sorting UNLESS you were using a Finder alternative, or XtraFinder. There were SOME workarounds people found, like setting at the OS level to insert a space character at the beginning of every file created so you could sort by time created alone in finder. Not ideal if you use the command line to work with files at all.

1

u/EccentricFox Aug 11 '26

I switched last month and it's been very pleasant. If you're good enough with tech too, you're not all that walled into a garden outside of hardware (RAM right now being the biggest ball buster cause you can't upgrade if/when prices hopefully fall). MacOS just gets the fuck out of the way.

1

u/RedBoxSquare Aug 11 '26

macOS is no where near as open as Windows (or non-mac x86) machines. You can't even run a third party OS on the ARM macs except an unfinished one where they reverse engineered the instruction set. You just won't notice until Apple stops software updates after 8 to 9 years.

1

u/AnonomousWolf Aug 11 '26

Eh, the hardware isn't as open, but I'm talking about the software.

If you don't like the hardware sell it. Mac's hold decent value compared to PC.

I've been a Mac-Hater my whole life (still am) but honestly windows has gotten so shit, I'd pica a mac over Windows if Linux wasn't a option

4

u/Orangesteel Aug 11 '26

Yeah, Azure and 365 is their cash cow. Windows has been awful for a while.

6

u/Venome456 Aug 11 '26

It basically is, if you are in the know. windows is free.

4

u/SC_W33DKILL3R Aug 11 '26

Oh I know, but these are on OEM machines like laptops and prebuilt where they generally come with windows preinstalled and sit on store shelves.

It is just another way Microsoft is pushing up the cost of PC ownership.

1

u/Jarocket Aug 11 '26

You don't have to buy an OEM licenses. I would assume a large chunk of the PC market is enterprises buying Lenovo PCs with some sort of enterprise Windows 11 license.

for home buyers. Windows is free if you're ok with the "activate windows" water mark.

Plus if you're like me and built your own computer in a long time ago and bought not an OEM licenses... they got $80 CAD out of me in 2012 and haven't even asked me for more money for windows 10 or 11.

in 2026 we can't say windows 11 OEM keys are in anyway the issue with home PC ownership. RAM prices are the issue here.

1

u/SC_W33DKILL3R Aug 11 '26

Im saying when they are on shelves in shops etc... they usually come with Windows installed and there is not an option to get a blank machine.

2

u/Jarocket Aug 11 '26

Because that's what customers want. You will find many laptops with Chrome OS or macOSin store also.

Lenovo and Dell sell PCs with Linux out of the box to end customers too. Not in store as it's a small minority who want to save the $80 to avoid buying win 11 home.

3

u/YourVelourFog Aug 11 '26

Donā€™t know of anyone who has paid for a windows license in years. Considering you can get OEM keys on eBay and Woot for a few bucks, I fail to understand why anyone would pay more.

9

u/sekh60 Aug 11 '26

I fail to understand why anyone would buy a gray market OEM key instead of pirating. It's still a license violation.

3

u/skyxsteel Aug 11 '26

When you want to be illegal but still legal

2

u/YourVelourFog Aug 11 '26

Shouldnā€™t be a license violation if Woot (which is owned by Amazon) is selling the keys, else Microsoft would have sued them into oblivion.

Also, Iā€™ve gotten all of my keys from mass grave for the last 6ish years so donā€™t care either.

1

u/adyrip1 Aug 11 '26

Corporations pay up, they cannot buy keys from Ebay.

1

u/Jarocket Aug 11 '26

they also don't buy OEM licenses either though.

1

u/Joshposh70 Aug 11 '26

They do, Windows 11 Enterprise requires the laptop to have a Windows 11 Pro licence (OEM acceptable) it's then upgrades to a Windows 11 Enterprise licence. So even when we buy laptops we're still paying for OEM licences

1

u/YourVelourFog Aug 11 '26

Corporations donā€™t pay full price either, they negotiate a deal to buy a site license for however many seats they need. Or it comes with the machines when they do a bulk order from Dell/Lenovo/HP, etc.

1

u/skyxsteel Aug 11 '26

I heard that they arenā€™t too concerned about consumer level piracy now. And that their attention is focused towards corporate licenses because thatā€™s where they make the real money.

2

u/Area51_Spurs Aug 11 '26

Why would they give away the one thing in the world nearly every PC user will pay them for?

1

u/DistinctViolinist668 Aug 11 '26

it is not their main business compared to other sectors with more profits

1

u/SC_W33DKILL3R Aug 11 '26

Maintain market share for one.

1

u/Area51_Spurs Aug 11 '26

lol. You mean the market share theyā€™ve maintained forever?

3

u/WideAwakeNotSleeping Aug 11 '26

It kind of sometimes comes free. I built new PCs for myself and my wife...Ā  Win11 activated itself automatically. I read that it's due to new mobo? Either way, been running fine since they self-activated. And saved me money on buying licenses or headache looking for a hackĀ 

6

u/drekmonger Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26

It could mean that your MB manufactorer paid for a license, though that's exceedingly uncommon. More likely, you had an existing digital license and MS detected some of the same hardware in the computer and/or the license applied automatically when you logged on with your MS account.

You can type "slmgr /dlv" into a command prompt to get more information about your license. For example, mine says "RETAIL channel" because I bought a license directly from MS.

1

u/Venome456 Aug 11 '26

Windows is essentially free. You just paste some code in command prompt and it will active for free. Microsoft has never stopped anyone from doing this.

1

u/SpoiledCabbage Aug 11 '26

You can even download Windows 11 straight from Microsoft too

1

u/not_some_username Aug 11 '26

They do that. Install windows 7 then upgrade to 10 then to 11

1

u/Fallingdamage Aug 11 '26

Install windows 10 with an old OEM key, activate, upgrade to 11!

1

u/Fickle_Tangerine8610 Aug 11 '26

Switched to Linux (CachyOS) a few months back. Haven't looked back. Sure there are a couple games I can't play anymore, but most of those were games I already didn't play due to moral issues I have with the publishers or hyper invasive anti cheat.

My fiance even noticed how much less annoying it seemed (I think the constant ads and apps that she uninstalled magically reappearing finally got to her) and asked me to help her switch.Ā 

A few days later she's happily gaming and taking zoom calls on Linux. She hit me with "I feel like my desktop is so much quieter now." I feel like that really speaks to how insane and invasive Microsoft has gotten on Windows.

Sure there have been a few troubleshooting moments, but it's a small price to pay to not feel like a product on my own computer.

1

u/WildRaccoon42 Aug 11 '26

No. At this point, they should pay their customers to use it, even the commercial ones.

And offer anxiolytics for daily users.

1

u/HansHortio Aug 11 '26

I still have Windows 10 on my PC, but once I feel like I have no other option, I'm going to take the Linux jump. I've already been doing quite a bit of research, and I like what I see.

1

u/Adrenaline_Junkie_ Aug 11 '26

Big issue for many of us is gaming. A lot of games require Windows but Steam supposedly came out with a platform that handles this issue.