Windows 10 - Where to buy?

[Justin]

Where's the best place to buy a legitimate version of Windows 10 should I need it?

[Baldy]

From systems I've built before I can recommend Aria.
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Software/Operating+Systems/

I'm still undecided what I'm doing post-Win7 as really don't want to move to Win10 if I can avoid.
Currently pondering Win8.1, which isn't ideal but means I can run Silhouette/CS5/Sawgrass VPM for another couple of years.

Or

Switch to Linux Mint/Ubuntu with virtual Win7 installation by installing Win7 within Virtualbox (and Silhouette/CS5/Sawgrass VPM)...and just not allowing an internet connection to the virtual system.

Or there's the option of an air-gapped (unconnected) Win7 machine that's used solely for the software mentioned above.

[Justin]

Thanks for that. Personally I only use 7 but my sons PC came with 10 on. Having startup issues and have to reinstall. It actually came with 8.1 on but we got the free upgrade to 10.

Plenty on eBay as always but it's sorting the crap from the good.

Most reliable PC I ever had was one that I kept without an internet connection, great option if you can but nowadays so much uses cloud storage etc. it's trickier.

I've played with Linux etc. before and may revisit....if I ever get the time to play!

[Baldy]

Same here. My laptop came with 8.1 but wiped it and put Win7 on:+)
As for ebay/amazon super cheap licenses, be careful as inevitably they'll get blacklisted, potentially along with your ip address.

Those design/print programs are the only reason I still use Windows to be fair. At least with most flavours of Linux these days you can run the system from a disc and try it out before you install anything.

[Justin]

My son only use photoshop, plays the usual games etc. Not sure 10 is necessary for what he does.

Yes, appreciate the cheaper keys need to be avoided, I was looking at the 'more genuine' ones for £50 upwards

I do like trying other OS's, software etc. but I think Windows is a must for my work.

[Earl Smith]

I run windows 7 at the moment too and my 5 printers and Roland cutter work fine . As I hate to change a running system Im buying a small Win 10 PC just for the internet and keeping it separate from my Win 7 PC.

[Justin]

I threw a PC together out of bits I had lying around and use this solely for one of my printers. It's a very basic system but as it just does this one task it's more than capable. Small SSD with Win 7. I have another that I built new as I needed Win 10 to run my latex print & cut. Again, very basic but just does that one job. My main PC gets all sorts thrown at it but that's a much more capable machine. Mac just sits here as a radio player....opens can of worms

I do like having dedicated PC's, makes it much easier when things go wrong!

[GoonerGary]

Windows 7 will no longer receive security updates in January, so it will go the way of XP which was exploited by hackers if you all remember? My other computer is Windows 7, so will eventually take it offline.

[Baldy]

For those looking to upgrade to Win10 from a genuine version of 7 or 8/8.1, I just stumbled across this article from earlier this month.
https://www.howtogeek.com/266072/you-ca ... r-8.1-key/

[Justin]

Thanks for that, I had read that this was possible so will look into it further. To be quite honest I'd be happy to move away from Windows. That said, I'm not a Mac person, been there tried that, Macbook Pro is great but not an iMac fan. I love the idea of moving to Lunux and toy with this every now and then, some great distros atround at the moment but you're still limited on supported software.

I've been happy with Win7, I guiess the only alternative would be to go offline with main PC but whilst that works great it can be a pain.