I agree.
I paid for a computer. It had Windows installed, but there was no choice in the matter and I paid for a machine that will perform certain tasks and I disagree with being ordered to accept Microsoft’s updates if I don’t want them.
However, the solution is easy. Simply set your active hours as 0800 to 0200 and state that you are on a metered connection. However, don’t start up your computer between 0200 and 0800. Because of being on a metered connection (though I’m not!), they can’t download updates.
If I ever decide I want to update Windows, I just override the setting.
It is suggested that there are (depending on who you look at) 1.2 Billion PCs with Windows installed.
That number keeps changing as Customers update their Laptops/POCs on a regular basis. They seem to do this every four years (guess).
If you guess at an average of 75 pounds for every windows package, on all those Machines, every time they install a new one, , you can see a slight profit in there.
One thing that worries me is that many people buy a new PC, with Windows on, when their older PC already has a fully licenced copy of Windows on, which could be downloaded, transferred to the new PC , using the key code they already have, and save a lot of money.
i.e. Why not just buy the new box, without the Windows software, and use the Windows package off the old one.
Sometimes old versions of Windows do not support newer hardware. I have just rebuilt my PC and have had to say goodbye to Windows 7 because it can’t handle my motherboard and cpu, which is why I have had to drag myself onto Windows 10, using my old Win7 product number. I can now jump to Win11, but I’ll stick to 10 for now.
I’ll need to apologise, here, as I’ve just checked the legality of my suggestion.
First Point - you can buy a pc/laptop, either in bits to build yourself, or ready built - but without the Software. (https://pcbuilder.net).
There are plenty of people who build their own and there a number of dealers who will help.
Up to that point the prices are very good.
Getting your Windows package onto the new PC looks straight forward, at first, as, at first glance, it might seem to be just a question of downloading a copy of Windows & installing it using you old key codes.
However, I just read the attached guidance as to how the licencing side now works & it looks like there could be a problem.
Thanks Ted, I’m glad you posted this before I rushed into the loft to recover my old windows 7 laptop and duplicate everything from this new’ish laptop…
