I should be building a new PC over Christmas, and I think it may be a good idea to finally make the move to Windows 10 at the same time. I do not want to go down the "upgrade from Windows 7" route, so what options do I have with respect to purchasing a new copy of Windows 10? Will there be any "Black Friday" or "Cyber Monday" sales that I can access to save me some cash?

Assuming that the "free" upgrade to Windows 10 is still on offer, there is no need to

go down the "upgrade from Windows 7" route, which would be difficult to do with a

new PC in any event.

One could use one's Windows 7 key to download the Windows 10 installer and then

use it to install Windows 10 onto one's new PC.

One might still be able to. One does not know, having done this long ago.

Edited November 24, 20196 yr by Reader

2 hours ago, Reader said:

Assuming that the "free" upgrade to Windows 10 is still on offer, there is no need to

go down the "upgrade from Windows 7" route, which would be difficult to do with a

new PC in any event.

One could use one's Windows 7 key to download the Windows 10 installer and then

use it to install Windows 10 onto one's new PC.

One might still be able to. One does not know, having done this long ago.

Did it about 10 days ago with MS own tool. Free and automatically activated at the end of the process. Two computers, one with W7Pro and multiple SSD/HD and one with W7Home.

Only problem  so far a driver for a 2013 TP-Link wifi dongle had to be manually dowloaded (after finding what was going on of course !).

For a new computer I would (will in due time) go for a new copy though. 

Edited November 24, 20196 yr by domkle

Saving money on the purchase of windows 10 keys.

 

Get Windows 10Pro. You have far more control over it.

4 minutes ago, Avidean said:

Get Windows 10Pro. You have far more control over it.

Fully agree.

So, if I wanted Windows 10 Pro, I would need to get it via the method described in the above YouTube video?

2 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

So, if I wanted Windows 10 Pro, I would need to get it via the method described in the above YouTube video?

Windows 10 Pro is free to download from Microsoft and install. But to activate it, you need a key for which there is a cost. Two years ago, I built a new rig for flight simulation (new motherboard + new every everything else + new installation of W10 Pro) for which I bought an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) Windows 10 Pro key. At that time, I didn't know about the seller referred to in the video but I did know from Tech Deals about another seller, in Asia I believe, KINGUIN, from whom I bought a key for $45.10 CAD. That's more than the $12 he's quoting but a lot less than buying it retail here in Canada. You don't 'need' to buy it via the method described but you can if you want to save money. My rig cost me $2500, so saving $150+ was welcome. Just remember that what you're buying is an OEM key which cannot be used a second time, i.e., installation of Windows on another computer. But not too many people build new rigs every year! At $12 a copy, that's a lot of computers compared to the cost of 1 retail copy of W10 Pro at home.

All the best,

JJ

Color me paranoid but to use a key bought on the gray market from a small vendor, sounds like a risky bet, a way to add some unwelcome pieces of software along with the key. 
 

 

This seems to be a good guide.

https://techguided.com/is-kinguin-legit-windows-games/

For me, out of the question, partly as my copies of Windows 10,

straight from and fully licenced by Microsoft, cost me $0.00 but

mainly because in my world, as defined in the article, it is

not "legit".

 

Edited November 25, 20196 yr by Reader

On 11/25/2019 at 1:30 AM, domkle said:

Color me paranoid but to use a key bought on the gray market from a small vendor, sounds like a risky bet, a way to add some unwelcome pieces of software along with the key. 

I agree. I find it interesting that folks spend a fortune on hardware. But not the comparatively small amount for Windows directly from MS. Is the video's story about why these keys are so cheap at all true?

I remember a while ago you could get an OEM Windows version if you bought a hard drive. Some where back in the stone age. 🙂

Apart from delaying updates, why is Windows 10 Pro better than Home? 

This is what I did

 

Edited November 28, 20196 yr by Reader

Actually, none of these are useful to most people, as they are mainly business related. 

What do you get with Windows 10 Pro
The Pro edition of Windows 10, in addition to all of Home edition's features, offers sophisticated connectivity and privacy tools such as Domain Join, Group Policy Management, Bitlocker, Enterprise Mode Internet Explorer (EMIE), Assigned Access 8.1, Remote Desktop, Client Hyper-V, and Direct Access.

So, is Windows 10 Pro essential? 

I'm sure Home is being used very satisfactorily by the majority of us.