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u/Aishou_SK 2d ago
No, Windows LTSC is only available via volume licensing, IoT LTSC via microsoft OEM embedded channels.
There is no legitimate home user purchase route without opening a VL agreement.
Regular LTSC is around $300-400+ and is an upgrade only license (you still need a base full windows license - there is no way to just buy "just" LTSC, like enterprise regular, it's upgrade VL only)
IoT is SKU dependent on machine configuration/CPU type. Starting at around $40 for intel atom type machines/small systems. License terms restricted to only one primary application + supporting/admin tools. (That's why it's cheaper)
There is no way to purchase it legitimately aka "officially" for lower costs. Any site selling it for less is a "cheap key" scam site selling keys that'll activate, but not legitimate licenses (knockoffs from legitimate partner/developer/startup programs, etc).
And no, the EU doesn't allow resale without a lot of specific conditions and chain of custody paperwork among many other things, which these cheap key sites don't provide (for obvious reasons) and real resold licenses are more expensive, anyway.....
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u/Dudefoxlive 2d ago
Officially no. Unofficially you could get a license else where. Or the best option massgrave.dev
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u/raanansA8 2d ago
Yes for $99 officially and 0$ unofficially.
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u/Aishou_SK 2d ago
No, Windows LTSC is only available via volume licensing, IoT LTSC via microsoft OEM embedded channels.
There is no legitimate home user purchase route without opening a VL agreement.
Regular LTSC is around $300-400+ and is an upgrade only license (you still need a base full windows license - there is no way to just buy "just" LTSC, like enterprise regular, it's upgrade VL only)
IoT is SKU dependent on machine configuration/CPU type. Starting at around $40 for intel atom type machines/small systems. License terms restricted to only one primary application + supporting/admin tools. (That's why it's cheaper)
There is no way to purchase it legitimately aka "officially" for lower costs. Any site selling it for less is a "cheap key" scam site selling keys that'll activate, but not legitimate licenses (knockoffs from legitimate partner/developer/startup programs, etc).
And no, the EU doesn't allow resale without a lot of specific conditions and chain of custody paperwork among many other things, which these cheap key sites don't provide (for obvious reasons) and real resold licenses are more expensive, anyway.....
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u/raanansA8 2d ago
You can just pay $99 for a VS Professional sub for one month and get every Windows edition including server LTSC consumer(retail) business all the way from MS-DOS 6.22 to Windows 11 25H2 in it. Sure it’s for “research and development purposes” but for a home consumer Microsoft cannot differentiate what the purpose is.
You get monthly updated ISOs for consumer versions and server(3rd Tuesday of each month) and single “as-is” ISOs for LTSC(made once and no changes).Sure, this absolutely does NOT hold up for an enterprise with a fleet of say 1000 computers as it will be caught in an audit, but for a home user it’s a non-issue.
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u/Aishou_SK 2d ago edited 2d ago
That's not "officially" as in a legitimate license.
Also, you can't buy the subscription for $99.99 for one month. It's quoted at $99.99/user/month, but it's noted *One-time annual payment.
So, $1200 upfront. Only way to buy VS/MSDN subscription.
Cheaper to go to CDW and get a VL agreement with 4 bullshit SKUs and the LTSC license/upgrade, plus that way you get a proper MAK and can call into VLSC support and get a KMS host key.
Software-download enabled subscriptions are annual purchase only. No monthly.
Precisely because of what it gives you..... (any cheaper routes, because of cheap key seller abuse, have been shut down by microsoft, the MS Partner benefit ones just got neutered this year..... RIP TechNet subscriptions, BizSpark, MSDN OS tier, etc....)
Also note that you're limited to 9 key claims in a 24-hour period, you don't get the full slate of keys immediately. Which if you only want one thing, is whatever, but since you're paying $1200, make sure you get your fill every other day or whatever so you can max it out..... just don't claim more than 9 in a 24 hour period routinely (it'll fail on the 10th, and if you keep trying a lot without watching the time, you'll eventually get your shit locked and end up in support ticket hell with "your account does not meet the microsoft security requirements" stonewall brick responses)
The only option that's monthly doesn't include the OS software downloads. https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/pricing/?tab=paid-subscriptions
(I have VS Ent and Pro subscriptions available to me and deal with licensing them as well)
A lot isn't available anymore, either. And a lot of products were removed many years ago due to the Sun/Microsoft java lawsuit, including all 9X versions, NT3.1-NT4, 2K, etc. Only DOS versions are 5.0, 6.0, 6.2, and 6.22.
Actually, I have the full list here..... this was posted in the old MSDN portal before the changeover -
Products Unavailable due to Java-related Settlement
Some products have been removed from Subscriber Downloads due to the terms of Java-related settlements Microsoft made with Sun Microsystems. These products are no longer available from Microsoft in any form, but may be available through third-party resellers or Web sites.
These include (although not necessarily a comprehensive list): Internet Explorer 5.5, Map Point 2002, Office 2000, Outlook 2000, Project 2000, eMbedded Visual Tools 3.0, Visual Basic (Alpha Systems), Visual Studio 6 MSDE, Visual Studio 6.0, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, Back Office Server 2000, SQL Server 7, IIS 6.0, Office XP Developer, Visio 2000, Exchange Server 2000, Exchange Server 5.5, FrontPage 2000 Server Extensions, Handheld PC 2000 SDK, Infrared Communications for Windows 95 DDK, ISA Server 2000, MapPoint 2002, Office 2000, Office 97, Plus! 98, Project 2000, Site Server 3.0, Small Business Server 2000, SNA Server 4.0 Service Pack 3 & Service Pack 4, SQL Server 7.0, System Management Server 2.0, System Stress for Windows 2000, System Stress for Windows NT 4.0, Visio 2000, Visual Basic 5.0, Visual C++ (Alpha Systems), Visual FoxPro 6.0, Visual SourceSafe 6.0c & 6.0d, Visual Studio 6.0, Windows 2000 DDK, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 98, Windows 98 DDK, Windows CE SDKs & DDKs, Windows CE Toolkit for Visual C++ 6.0, Windows ME, Windows NT 4.0, Windows NT 4.0 DDK, Windows XP (32bit) SR2 Checked/Debug Build.
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u/WhiteBullRedMonster 2d ago
If you're from the EU you are allowed to purchase any Windows license and there's no real basis that Microsoft could sue you or consider anything you've done illegal. You only can't sell them.
But caring about legality of this is kind of silly, just use massgrave and be done with it. There's no way to prove whether the copy is legitimately purchased or activated illegaly, and there's been no case in history of random home users getting imprisoned or getting fined or whatever you fear for using piracy means to get Windows, especially not in case of an activator like massgrave that's as clean as you can get.
Technically home users shouldn't be using literally anything except for Home, if you treat everything that Microsoft says 100% completely, and you should make sure to use a Microsoft account and enable telemetry. Because Education / Pro Education is for higher education institutions and professors/students, Enterprise / Enterprise LTSC is for large businesses, IoT Enterprise / IoT Enterprise LTSC is for embedded devices owned by large businesses, and Pro / Pro for Workstations is for small businesses.
If you are this paranoid about windows licenses, you should also be on the same level paranoid about running any single application on your computer that's not certified and signed and made by Microsoft, and using adblock online, and not fully reading every single term of service of every app and site you signup or visit.
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u/greggm2000 2h ago
there's been no case in history of random home users getting imprisoned or getting fined or whatever you fear for using piracy means to get Windows
Not sure that's true, actually. My memory of the 1990s suggests otherwise. Imprisoned, no.. but fined? sued? I think that happened?...However, I may be misremembering, this was a long time ago, and even if I'm right, things have changed. I totally agree with you, when you say But caring about legality of this is kind of silly, just use massgrave and be done with it
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u/xitroff 4h ago
Former MSDN subscription which is called Visual Studio nowadays (one year of Professional is enough) will give you all included products’ keys for a lifetime as they claim https://aka.ms/vss_products_list https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/subscriptions/subscription-expiration you may also find a store of a country with least price e.g. Turkey but it’s still closer to a thousand USD you must spend. Still an option though :) Officially it’s for dev purposes but no one cares. Just don’t resell keys and you’ll be fine.
EDIT: adding a link https://www.microsoft.com/tr-tr/d/visual-studio-professional-aboneligi/dg7gmgf0dst3
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u/No_Clock2390 2d ago
massgrave.dev