▷ What is a windows 10 license

Many times you may have wondered what a Windows 10 license is or what it is for or where to put it. Without a doubt Windows 10 is the most used operating system in the world. Despite being paid, practically everyone with a home computer will have Windows 10 installed. But do we really have it activated? We are going to explain what a Windows 10 license is.

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Surely you will know other operating systems like MacOS from the Apple company. And you will be very clear that it is paid because it is the brand new company that distributes the IPhone. There are also many operating systems that are completely free and you probably don't even know them. We are talking about Linux distributions like Ubuntu, the great ones unknown to many but which are more functional and secure than Windows and MacOS combined.

But, as this article tries to explain what a Windows 10 license is, let's focus on the subject.

License for Windows 10

Yes, we all have Windows 10 and they all need a paid license to be fully functional. To know if your system is activated you only have to go to the "Start" menu and type "Activation". Hitting it, a screen will appear informing you if Windows is activated or not.

A license is a key or text record in a file that allows the use of a certain product to be legalized beyond the trial period allowed by the company.

For Windows 10 there is no trial period as such, but from the beginning Windows will warn that the system is not activated and after a certain time a watermark will appear in the bottom right of our desktop warning us that Windows is not active.

Windows 10 license types

There are two types of licenses for Windows 10.

• RTL or retail licenses. These licenses are the ones that you will buy directly from the official store ourselves. It can already be in web stores in addition to that of Microsft or in physical stores. These types of licenses can be installed on more than one computer, but only on one at a time, that is, two computers with the same password cannot be simultaneously. OEM or Original Equipment Manufacturer licenses. These licenses are acquired automatically when you buy a new computer and it has Windows 10 installed. Unlike RTLs, these licenses come already installed on that computer, normally stored in the BIOS. It will only be valid for that specific equipment and we already pay them when we buy the ordered one.

Windows 10 has up to 12 different editions of the operating system and each one has its own license and its own price (none cheap). Each of these versions together with its license is oriented to specific purposes, business, education, users or servers.

We are interested in, and Microsoft knows, there are three versions:

• The license for the Home version of Windows 10: a non-professional user-oriented operating system with basic system use. The professional license, or Windows Pro: for more demanding users who need more functionalities in the operating system. And the license Pro for Workstations: for server and business environments where an environment for programming and handling large amounts of data is required.

What if I don't have a Windows 10 license

In the case of not having the licensed operating system, nothing serious happens in principle. What's more, we can continue using our Windows 10 in a practically normal way, although always having the watermark visible on the desktop.

The only drawback, which for many in the end is important, is that not having a Windows 10 license, we will not be able to customize our desktop (background, theme, etc). But as we have said before, you can use any application such as Microsoft office with its respective license. You can even have your system totally safe with Windows defender and updated with Windows Update.

If customizing Windows 10 isn't a priority for you, don't buy any licenses.

Cheap licenses

In addition to the expensive original Microsoft licenses, it is also possible to find them for very low prices, even less than € 10.

For more information about these licenses visit our article:

We recommend that before buying anything, you are sure of the origin of those licenses, and in case of doubt leave Windows without activating. It is preferable to have no option to personalize your wallpaper than to commit crimes buying illegal products.