Windows 10: Retail license W10 upgrade permanent?

Very simple to say, but not true. Microsoft cannot void somebody's previous contract unilaterally, there needs to be a very clear agreement - one which would render the upgrade offer from Microsoft as being not an actual upgrade, but an exchange of properties, which would need to be clearly broadcast as such to the person accepting it. Lack of clarity would render the terms of any such ownership exchange void in the eyes of the law.

When people defend the notion of them having a full lack of ownership and rights regarding their licenses, I wonder this: Why is your interest to claim all natural rights as belonging to Microsoft? Are you working for their legal department? If you are a individual consumer, then there is no benefit to expressing this line of reasoning, just as there is no legal substantiation for it.

 

M$ being M$, they might wait to see how popular will be the OS than decide if we get a retail option or not.

Wait and don't risk to lose your retail license after a hour of use because you know, the motherboard could die anytime.

 

*Roflmao2 Very funny that you think I work for Microsoft Legal department. First if that was the case, I would be violating their NDA and I wouldn't be posting articles that criticize or disagrees or conflicts with Microsoft. Plus, I wouldn't be posting much I would be working. I listened to the local and national news over the year about contracts not just Microsoft, that where I got my information from. I also don't know what you mean by natural rights but I am from the U.S.

 

I meant it a bit rhetorically - as in who, apart from someone of such a disposition, would be motivated to argue a stance that is to the detriment of the user, while over-bearing in favour of the business?

My saying "claim all natural rights" refers to the dispersion of all naturally-existing considerations that unavoidably need to be allocated someplace, with some party, when conceptualizing ownership.

Business and consumer law do this, which is how there is a matter of "what is being purchased and received when a license is bought?" An exchange cannot be for nothing, it has to be for something. What is that something's definition?

If a license is rented, then it is not bought. If it is bought, then it is not rented. A license is not the software which the license is for. A person who buys a license does not buy the software it points to, but buys a license to use it. The right to use a software is not established in the software, but in the license which is bought to be able to use it - and that's exactly what a license is: A right to use a software.

The license in this case is not a rental, therefore it is an owned property. If limited-time use is a part of the license's definition, then the license is still a personal property, which grants a limited use. If a license is instead for permanent access to a software, then that is what the license grants - but in both cases, the license is a personal property, subject to all personal property rights.

 

When I worked for AT&T all of our software came with a RTU in the EULA which is a Right To Use. Windows 10 is a brand new method of release for MS and until they release an official announcement and not a tweet, I will wait for that and not speculate what may or may not be in it.

 

First, I am not arguing that against forum rules. I am just disagreeing with you for what I learned over the years about contracts. I almost forgot there are some credit card board forums that give links to contracts laws by state. I am not a lawyer and some of those state laws I don't even understand.

Yes, I might be little more on the business side because a long time ago my mother ran a small business.


The rest of what you wrote in what I quoted is beyond my understating and expertise. I advise you to get a attorney to answer your concerns.

 

I don't see how that follows. The transferability is for Windows 7. Microsoft doesn't have to honor that for a Windows 10 upgrade. They can do anything they want with Windows 10., they can completely redefine how they license.

 

You will surely do according to your judgment, but this is not speculation, and the matter is not one Microsoft can unilaterally act upon.

A sale of anything, including a software license, is something tangible, something that makes the exchange of equity real. What was sold is a license, a license itself means something, and that license contains something inside of it. What it contains, in the example of a retail license for a previous version of Windows, is a permanent transferable right to use the particular software on one machine.

Upon completion of the sale, that instance of 'a permanent transferable right to use the particular software on one machine' is then the legal property of whom it was sold to. And a company, such as the one who makes the software the license grants access to, or the one who directly sold the license to the user, cannot anymore make claims over the terms of that license - because in selling that license they sold that particular instance of a permanent transferable right to use the particular software on one machine.

In the hierarchy of things, An EULA is enforceable only to the extent which it does not come into conflict with the law. A software company writes the terms of their license, but they do not write what the definition of a sale is, or what property rights are, or what an exchange of goods legally represents. A software company cannot make claims over what they do not possess - such as a license that has been bought and is now owned by another person.

A company cannot write into their EULA that they overrule a nation's government, and the laws established by that government, or the constitutional rights of a nation - and so an EULA cannot enable a company to take from another person's personal property from them, such as a permanent transferable right to use a particular software on one machine, which is held as a license they purchased.

 

Sorry but until you can come up with a source from MS it is pure speculation.

 

The transferability is for the license. If Microsoft upgrades the license to Windows 10 status, then that doesn't affect the right to transfer the license, which would then have Windows 10 status.

Microsoft can handle the Windows 10 software how they wish, but they cannot legally redefine a user's license unilaterally. When you say "they can completely redefine how they license", that statement refers to the act of licensing, which is the issuing of further licenses. That doesn't mean anything to licenses already issued, which are the property of whoever own them through previous purchases.

A company redefining a retail license you own is comparable to a company redefining your bank account as theirs, or your food as belonging to them.

 

It is simply not trusted by you.

Asking for a source from Microsoft on the matter is like saying until the North Korean government supplies a source stating that Kim Jung-whatever is not a deity, and North Korea the most free place in the world, stating otherwise is pure speculation. These things are not determined by Microsoft, but by business and consumer law and rights, established by a nation's government and judiciary.

There can be separation between what Microsoft attempts and what is legal and valid - but I see no reason why Microsoft would interfere with existing licenses. As MS have said, "for the life of the device", which surely is referring to OEM licenses. And retail licenses should likewise operate in line with their identities.

 

They wouldn't be redefining the license to use the Windows 7 software I own. This would be a new license for Windows 10 software - it isn't even the same software they are licensing! Don't you get that? I expect they may not be able to take away my licensed rights to Windows 7 - so I could revert and transfer that if I want. But I am confident they could set any terms for the Windows 10 software license.

 

You don't own it you have a license to use it, subject to terms and conditions. Notice what's in bold type.

This is from the Windows 8.1 EULA, http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windo...e/default.aspx

How can I use the software? We do not sell our software or your copy of it – we only license it. Under our license, we grant you the right to install and run that one copy on one computer (the licensed computer), for use by one person at a time, but only if you comply with all the terms of this agreement. Typically, this means you can install one copy of the software on a personal computer and then you can use the software on that computer. The software is not licensed to be used as server software or for commercial hosting, so you may not make the software available for simultaneous use by multiple users over a network. For more information on multiple user scenarios and virtualization, see the Additional Terms.
May

What about updating the software? If you install the software covered by this agreement as an update to your existing operating system software, the update replaces the original software that you are updating. You do not retain any rights to the original software after you have updated and you may not continue to use it or transfer it in any way. This agreement governs your rights to use the update software and replaces the agreement for the software from which you updated. After you complete your update, some apps may not migrate or may be incompatible with Windows 8.1 Pro and additional software may be required to play back or record certain types of media, including DVDs.
Can

 

Then you would have 2 licenses, and the offer from Microsoft would be that those people who already own a Windows 7 / 8 license would be to receive a complimentary Windows 10 OEM license. That is a position that Microsoft has not taken. Microsoft has instead publicized a free Windows 10 upgrade. What is being upgraded?

If Microsoft is giving a new license, then people will have two Windows keys: One for their original Windows version (7 or 8), and one for Windows 10.

This means that people may then Install Windows on one machine with the license that is given them, and also install their original Windows 7 / 8 license on a separate machine, and run two instances of Windows on two machines at one time.


Why are you thinking that this is the case?