Hi everyone. Apparently my school is offering Windows 7 Professional to download for free on this site. I was googling for cheap student offers on Windows 7 and the Microsoft site for "seeing if your school is eligible" came up. It was so I went in and recovered my password using my student email as the username. Apparently I could get in fine with the password that was emailed to me, so I'm guessing they already had it set up for me. I logged in and have tried to "order it" (I put that in quotes since it's free apparently)... but I have a few questions, since you guys seem to know the in's and out's of Windows and Microsoft. Of course, I sent an email to the CIS (my major) professor at my school with a few questions since the site suggested to do so if I had any, but he doesn't seem to be getting back to me. Are the copies of Windows 7 in this MSDN Academic Alliance completely clean and personal copies of them, or are they generally linked to the school somehow? For example, will these copies work and be activated forever (Windows Update and all) or will I only have it until I graduate? Basically, are they exactly the same as purchased copies of the operating system? Hopefully the school or Microsoft or something doesn't have the ability to monitor my usage or anything... If I can log in and download it right now, can I safely do so, or should I check with the professor at my college first? Is it pretty much expected that CIS students will take advantage of this offer... or will I get an angry email from someone saying I should've contacted someone first or get charged for it or something? Thanks lol, hopefully I don't seem stupid for posting this here. With a completely legitimate copy of Windows 7 Professional a few clicks away, I kind of really want it asap.
I believe it is a untouched copy of win7 Professional that is just either free or at a discount for college students because the schools sponser them. You can always try google if you have not already done so or even ask Microsoft directly if you are still unsure. I bet they will tell you if you ask.
Are you sure about that? The more I read, the more I get the feeling the school is allowed to periodically check up on me to make sure I'm using the software for academic purposes. Or at least something weird like that. Who knows how much freedom I have with software I get through the school. I'm very weary of this... should I be lol?
My paranoia makes me think they would either through the serial number somehow or... well... I go to school there. Seems like it'd be pretty easy to keep tabs on me. I guess my paranoia is misplaced?
lol youll be ok they dont have the abiltity to do that thru the serial. the software comes straight from microsoft distribution and is a virgin image.
Alright... so if I were to have some specially obtained software and/or files of varying formats... this school provided copy of Windows 7/serial number wouldn't place any unnecessary attention to me, correct? At least not any moreso than a retail copy?
I went to a junior college for computers in 06' and they also offered me XP pro and vista business. Only catch was the vista came in 5 ISO's but worked flawlessly as much as vista was flawless. lol Anyway, until I got windows 7 it worked fine and no problems whatsoever. I even called up MS and told them my trial of office 2007 wasn't working and they next day aired me a professional copy for free including shipping. I think the school system free stuff is legit. Let us know how it goes Later dude
The only difference between this and a normal MSDN/TECHNET serial is that these serial numbers provided by MSDNAA are one-time-online-activators. They are the normal, unmodified MSDN iso's tho. So after activating one machine with it, the serial number is useless :-D Of course, you still have the option of phone-activating afterwards.