Budget-priced Windows license

[Aaron Rainbolt]

Sadly, considering the very cheap price, this is almost certainly a
rip-off. They may very well send you a key, and it might actually work, but
the problem is that *you can't get keys that cheap from Microsoft, and only
Microsoft is legally allowed to make the keys.* They're probably either
reusing old keys, or selling stolen keys or keys bought with stolen
financial info. As a result, the key may stop working at some point in the
future, and even if it doesn't, you're still supporting illegal activities.

Also, Trustpilot seems to think the website you bought your Windows key
from is a scam. https://de.trustpilot.com/review/softwarekaufen.eu

The only truly reliable ways I know of to get a legal copy of Windows in a
VM is to buy the license directly from Microsoft to the tune of $140 for
the Home edition, or $200 for Pro, or use some sort of volume activation if
you're in a workplace that's properly and legally set up for it. While you
can technically run Windows without a product key at all, it's against the
EULA, which has both legal and technical ramifications:

You are authorized to use this software only if you are properly licensed
and the software has been properly activated with a
*genuine product key or by other authorized method.*...
Certain updates, support, and other services might only be offered to users
of genuine Microsoft software.

(Note that I added the emphasis here.)

At least you'll only be out 5... euros, I think that is? (I'm in America,
so I'm used to $, not €.) In general, any place that's selling heavily
discounted Windows licenses is a scam or is doing something illegal.

If you need to run Windows software on Ubuntu, but don't want to have to
fork out an arm and a leg of cash, take the Wine Windows Compatibility
Layer for a spin. https://www.winehq.org/

On Sun, May 22, 2022 at 11:18 PM Ralf Mardorf via ubuntu-users <
ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Windows 11 Pro licenses are sold for less than 5,- € [1]. To run Windows
> in a VM (most likely VirtualBox, less likely QUEMU/KVM) running on a
> Linux host, I purchased one a few minutes ago [2].
>
> Actually they didn't send me a key yet, just the link to the Microsoft
> homepage to download the ISO. I downloaded Win11_English_x64v1.
>
> I'll report back if the offer is a rip-off or if they send a valid
> license key.
>
> It might be interesting for other Ubuntu users who need to run a
> Windows VM.
>
> Regards,
> Ralf
>
> [1]
>
> https://www.idealo.de/preisvergleich/OffersOfProduct/201606029_-windows-11-pro-microsoft.html
> [2]
>
> https://softwarekaufen.eu/product_info.php?language=en&refID=idealo&products_id=208
>
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