No Grace Period for Windows 8. Does an immediate activation.

Computerworld reports that Microsoft has eliminated the 30-day grace period used in Windows 7, forcing customers to use a legitimate product key immediately when installing the retail version of Windows 8. That's because the upcoming OS handles activation differently, pushing the Redmond company into tossing out the former "evaluation" period.

Read more at:
Microsoft Nukes 30-Day Grace Period with Windows 8




I was wondering about this. When installing my TechNet version of Win8 Pro, the install would not proceed until I entered the product key which was different than Win7. Also I saw that as soon as I had a connection to the internet with Win8, my copy of windows was automatically activated. Looks like this is official.

 

[z3r010]

Just a warning folks, posting illegal activation methods and bypasses will usually result in an instant ban.

 

[echrada]

Because some people think it is their right to use software that they did not pay for. Unfortunately too many out there!

 

[johnpombrio]

Just a warning folks, posting illegal activation methods and bypasses will usually result in an instant ban.

Heh, I thought as much and that I why I made it stand out. Thanks for removing my offending post!
Unfortunately, ignoring and deleting posts will not stop a simple Google search from finding out this information. I think Win8 is much more secure than Win7 was, and the inexpensive intro price is a great idea to legitimatize activations.
Thanks Z3r.

 

[alphanumeric]

The new OEM-SLP activation OA3.0 looks to be designed to put an end to the loaders used to fake OEM activation. If I read it correctly each PC has a unique BIOS SLIC table code that will only work on that PC. I think the 40 dollar upgrade offer is an attempt to get some people to just give it up, buy it, and be legal for a change. If you have two or three PC's you're thinking of upgrading it will save you some bucks big time. With Microsoft letting anybody download and run the DP, CP, and RP, instead of just limiting it to beta testers, it doesn't surprise me that they made the final release look for a product code just to install. Putting out a Windows 8 Pro trial would have been a real good move. Still its easy enough for just about anybody to get the Enterprise trial if they want a look see at what might be the final release. I say "what might be" because there almost always seems to be bugs that get fixed right at the last minute just before the public release.

 

[NiFu]

reinstall every 90 days?

What happens after the 90 days ?

Windows changes into "not activated" status.

That means two restrictions:

1. Personalized configurations turns into default (color scheme, background of Metro startmenu, lock screen and user picture) and you cannot change them back.
2. Every exact one hour Windows shuts down - without warnings (opened and changed files are gone). But this can be disabled via registry entry.

And: You always can downgrade to "Windows 8 Pro" - even if Microsoft says this is not possible.

 

[johnpombrio]

Interesting. I am running my Technet Win8 Pro X64 with the supplied product key. I checked out the Windows Software Licensing Management Tool for rearm count
slmgr /dlv in command mode.
My rearm count is 1000, even after reloading windows 4 times on this computer. I am sure this is a lot higher than a normal Pro license for MS.

 

[pparks1]

Rearm is not the same as activation. Technet keys are multiple activation retail keys. You should be able to reinstall Windows just about as often as you like on this computer and it should continue to work. You could even install it on other computers and it will continue to work. Technet keys do allow more installs, no doubt about it, but you won't find a concrete answer from MS on the subject.

 

[johnpombrio]

Heh, JUST was going to comment on this. Yeah, rearms is how many time you can activate a grace period Beta Op Sys with shelf life. For a trial version, a count of 3 is normal.

 

[Barman58]

Beta/Preview Pre-release copies of an OS should re-arm or re-activate many times but will usually have a hard coded time limit after which it will just cease to operate at all.
Technet keys for retail or enterprise products are a different matter, they have no expiration date, but do have limits on re-arm and activation