The best way to get an operating system cheap

[Tomhueb]

I was wondering if you could get operating systems cheaper than retail $130 or whatever they sell for now. Would have to be genuine legit.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Assuming you're talking about desktop versions of Windows, genuine copies from a reputable seller are generally $90-100 for the standard versions.

There are third party sellers, but there are serious questions about the legitimacy of those licenses - resold OEM, student, bought with stolen credit cards etc.

Or, of course, you can use various flavours of Linux for free...

 

[Colif]

You can get Win 10 for free now, you just need a licence for Win 7 or 8.1 first

 

[LukeFatwalker]

Microsoft discounts the program heavily for college students. If you can, get a college student to pick you up a copy (or if you're a student, well...)

In fact, depending on the program you find, it could be free or pretty cheap (like less than $50). Really depends on the program and what you (or the student you know) qualifies for.

 

[Tomhueb]

I have found a website
http://ozsoftwarestore.com/product-category/operating-systems/

Is this legit
I was chatting with their customers service and it seems legit

 

[USAFRet]

I have found a website
http://ozsoftwarestore.com/product-category/operating-systems/

Is this legit
I was chatting with their customers service and it seems legit

That is no more legit than any of those other cheapo sites.
The OS costs what it costs.

 

[Plumboby]

if in doubt download the 10 installer tool & download 10 load it up & go buy a windows 7 or 8 8.1key from a legit reseller on newegg or ebay & u get a cheap OS all i did i bought a legit 8.1pro downloadable product key put it in & activated first go its the cheapest way i found just research the sellers

 

[Someone Somewhere]

I believe MSDN keys are still eligible for the 10 upgrade. If someone on ebay sells a pile and MS finds out, they will get revoked.

 

[basroil]

MERGED QUESTION
Question from Tomhueb : "Oz Software Store - Legit, Safe?"

I have found a website for a cheaper operating system.

http://ozsoftwarestore.com/product-category/operating-systems/

Is this legit
I was chatting with their customers service and it seems legit

Anything less than ~$80 for Home and ~$100 for Pro (both OEM) is "fake".

 

[Colif]

shop in question

100% a scam, will try to sell you an enterprise version of something and hope your to stupid to figure it out, I had a customer who brought in a laptop after they told him to format it becuase the license 'keys' didnt work (yes they gave him 4 keys) I will quote the email he sent: check this BS out:

"Need to clean boot and format your drive also..so better you backup data and try again..if all else fails wil send win 10 pro which we install and activate daily always activate online 1st time"

https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2510307

 

[Plumboby]

ebay keys are legit just buy of reputable Microsoft resellers what i do legal & safe dont buy oem keys as be tied to ur hardware where a stardard licence wont be shop around use the tool & buy a key once ur OS is loaded of playstore another legal way $100 of hand for a licence either way i do mine stay away from oem keys

 

[Someone Somewhere]

99% of people who claim to be microsoft authorised resellers are not.

 

[Plumboby]

not tru i ask Microsoft b4 i buy i email Microsoft asking if they are autorised resellers first they have a data base if u ask the right questions there are many legit resellers just do ur checks first

 

[Colif]

its slightly different if your source is Microsoft, they aren't who we are talking about.

 

[Plumboby]

i buy off offical microsoft key sellers on ebay as i have comeback on if they keys dont work both ways learnt a leason buy being riped using fake keys from a dodgy key sellers end of the day explain to microsoft so they can checkifthe keys sold are valid

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Could you please post how to verify with MS that the seller is an authorised reseller?

 

[wpgwpg]

Well now, have you considered Linux? It's 100% free and has support. Linux Mint has a user interface very close to the one in Windows, so you don't have to know anything about Linux to use it. It has an Office suite similar to and largely compatible with MS Office, it has Firefox and a lot of software you can download & use.
That's the good news. The other news is it doesn't support all the devices Windows does, and it's not very good for gaming.
Whatever folks say about it, you can't beat the price!
You can download it from here: https://linuxmint.com/download.php . You can burn the ISO to a DVD, boot from it, and be up and running with in under 4 minutes to check it out.

Personally I only use Linux Mint occasionally, but if you're looking for cheap, you can't beat it.

Good luck.

 

[digitaljuice]

i pick up my keys from here <Redacted>so far worked fine no problem for my system (w10 pro) and my wifes system (w10 home)

 

[USAFRet]

i pick up my keys from here <Redacted>so far worked fine no problem for my system (w10 pro) and my wifes system (w10 home)

Please stop shilling this obviously non-legit key seller site.
There is no possible way (for example) Win 8.1 Enterprise at $30 is in any way valid.

Thanks.

 

[digitaljuice]

i pick up my keys from here mskeystore.tictail.comso far worked fine no problem for my system (w10 pro) and my wifes system (w10 home)

Please stop shilling this obviously non-legit key seller site.
There is no possible way (for example) Win 8.1 Enterprise at $30 is in any way valid.

Thanks.

So I shouldn't tell people about my experiences? Okay, yet people are here promoting G2a and Kinguin and you have a problem with this? ....

 

[USAFRet]

i pick up my keys from here mskeystore.tictail.comso far worked fine no problem for my system (w10 pro) and my wifes system (w10 home)

Please stop shilling this obviously non-legit key seller site.
There is no possible way (for example) Win 8.1 Enterprise at $30 is in any way valid.

Thanks.

So I shouldn't tell people about my experiences? Okay, yet people are here promoting G2a and Kinguin and you have a problem with this? ....

We don't agree with those sites either.