I'm a university student in the UK and I can get a free copy of Windows 8 Professional (I'm getting the 64-bit version of course) through DreamSpark but I have some questions: 1) What type of license is it? OEM or retail? Upgrade or full? Does it require the PC to have Windows XP/Vista/7 already installed or can I do a clean install? 2) There are two identical versions available, the only difference is that one is "English" and the other "English - Great Britain". I assume the only difference is that the second has British English and there's no ther difference right? 3) Does buying it through DreamSpark mean that my key will not be valid once I graduate (because I'm not a student anymore)? 4) Are offers on DreamSpark permanent or do they expire after some time? I'm planning to buy Windows 8 later, perhaps after a Service Pack 1, so I would like to get directly the SP1 version. 5) If instead I buy it now, after the release of a possible Service Pack 1, would I be able to get the SP1 ISO replacing my "normal" Windows 8? 6) Will the ISO be always available to download? So if I misplace my DVD I still could be able to install it. Thanks.
1) Retail, full, clean install is possible. 2) Yap. 3) Not sure... most probably no. 4) You can use the same key 10 times on different hardware and unlimited time on same hardware if you backup the activation. 5) Not sure (most probably no SP for Windows 8). 6) AFAIK, you can download it twice.
Hello, Answers : 1 - The keys are retail 2 - No difference 3 - You can use the keys for a certain period to activate W8, but I don't know if they'll become "blacklisted" or "unusable" after your account will be cancelled. 4 - Offers expire after a certain period, try to find for how long your account is available 5 - If you buy W8, then you'll have a retail key again and you can activate 10 times if I remember, so if a SP is released, you will be able to install it without problems.
How come you say so? Just one last thing, I can use an ISO taken from anywhere as long as it's the same exact version I'm getting through DreamSpark (in my case Windows 8 Professional x64) and I use my own key? Anyway they're quite generous with the activations, considering I don't change hardware that frequently I should be fine. Thanks for the help guys!