Where to Buy Windows 10 When Microsoft Stops Selling It
My friends, this was a great launch, but Microsoft will stop selling Windows 10 on Tuesday, January 31, one week after this article was published. The news isn’t necessarily shocking , as the company has been in full swing with Windows 11 since October 2021. However, it’s still a sad development. Windows 10 is the OS of choice for many PC users who are still unable to upgrade.
Of course, Windows 10 is not dead . Microsoft will continue to support both Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro until October 14, 2025, giving many PC users a reason to keep using the OS until then. If you already have Windows 10 installed on your computer, you’re all set. But if you are going to build a PC, you will need a new license to install your favorite OS. Here is where you can get one.
Buy Windows 10 directly from Microsoft (while you can)
At the time of this writing, Microsoft is still selling licenses for Windows 10 on its website. You can buy Windows 10 Home for $139 and Windows 10 Pro for $199.99. If you want to buy a legitimate copy of Windows 10 before Microsoft’s deadline at the end of the month, now is the time to do so.
However, on February 1, you will not be lucky with purchases on the Microsoft website. So where can you go?
brick shops
Just because Microsoft no longer sells Windows 10 doesn’t mean every other store is dropping it. Copies of Windows 10 can be found at well-known outlets such as Best Buy , Staples , or OfficeDepot . Depending on the store and inventory, you may find a digital download or a physical copy of the software.
Look for old PCs with product key stickers
If you have access to an old PC with a product key sticker on the outside, you can use these codes to activate Windows 10 on your current PC. These stickers work all the way up to Windows 7 , so here is a potential solution.
Be careful with third party resellers
The first places that come up when looking for Windows 10 licenses are third party resellers. These sites have been around for years and offer copies of Windows 10 for a lot less than Microsoft. While a Windows developer charges up to $200 for a copy of Windows 10, sites like Kinguin or PCDestination will sell you a key for between $25 and $40.
The reason these sites are able to sell these licenses at such a markdown is because they got the software on the cheap anyway . The site may have managed to purchase a key in another country where Microsoft has fewer Windows 10 chargers. Or, the key may have been stolen. It’s impossible to know for sure.
You can download one of these keys and hope for the best, but since you don’t really know if it’s legal or not, it’s impossible to tell how your computer will react. You can activate the key and wait out Windows 10 until 2025. Or Microsoft might come back a year later and tell you that the license is invalid. Or worse, you won’t be able to activate the key at all.
While prices can be tempting, it’s safer to pay full price at one of the reputable stores, as I mentioned above. Even copies of Amazon Windows 10 can’t always be trusted. Of course …
You don’t actually need to buy Windows 10 to run Windows 10.
If all you want to do is run Windows 10 on your PC without paying a dime, you can do it without resorting to piracy. Windows is a bit unique: Microsoft actually lets you download and install the OS on your computer without paying up front – as long as you do it from an ISO. You can install the OS from a flash drive or DVD and, once completed, ignore the pop-ups asking you to activate the software.
Microsoft puts some restrictions and annoyance on non-activated versions of Windows 10. You’ll have to deal with a watermark on the screen and you’ll lose the ability to change themes or wallpapers (although you can set the wallpaper by right-clicking). on the image). But you will be able to install all updates and, for the most part, use the OS as if you had a license. You can always activate the software with a product key in the future if you wish.
You can download the ISO image from the Microsoft website here .