Does anyone remember when this shift happened, and what was the justification? Has Microsoft given up on making money on end-user windows licenses, relying instead on OEM licenses and monetizing users with shitty ads?
In Windows XP, if the system wasn't activated after the initial grace period, you couldn't log in at all. That was obviously a bad UX when something has gone wrong.
Windows Vista and Windows 7 loosened things - allowing you to log in and use basic functionality.
Later versions of Windows (including Windows 10 and Windows 11) are more or less fully functional without activation (or even inputting a product key). Some personalisation features are disabled and you will have a watermark on the desktop, but other than that it's pretty normal. There is no time limit for this, unlike some of the free virtual machine images Microsoft provides for web dev testing purposes.
The only justification I can see is that it does provide a better user experience if there's an activation problem. With Windows 10 and 11 being free upgrades for a huge range of consumers, they know that most people have a licence anyway.
Windows 10 and 11 have also emphasised the digital licence model - installing without a product key. This requires that the system is functional without activation, so that you can get online to verify the digital licence.
When you use Windows, you don't use the alternatives, don't consider the alternatives, and don't change your habits, which makes one even more inclined to stick to Windows. That's why Microsoft is careful to not make it too hard to acquire a copy of Windows. (On the other hand, it makes it hard for hardware makers to offer anything else, and for businesses to switch or elude.) A regular user doesn't care about the OS anyway, and would follow any shepherd. As a wrapper to run browser and multimedia player, Linux was ready for desktop long ago — see famous anti-Linux stunts at Microsoft.
Moreover, the leaders today don't profit from software, they profit from data collection and control over their “free” services. The bigger the user numbers, the more money you can get, and when Windows activation can be done by typing some commands on a vanilla system, it is effectively “free” for everyone who wants to take it.
you will see "not activated" or something on the bottom right. and you cannot change theme (you can still change it before you go online the first time, or via registry)
Still, I think Windows nowadays is hostile towards both nix and old-time Windows users. I kinda wish ReactOS was more active so that people who are tied to Windows ecosystem have some sane alternative.
The VMs were time locked I believe and would shut down after a few hours (at least the more recent ones do).
Considering all the data collection and dark patterns in Windows, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s more lucrative this way.
By the way, the thing you mention isn’t just for VMs, you can download Windows from Microsoft and install it on bare metal, having it run indefinitely as long as you’re OK with a watermark on the bottom right.
My memory is pretty terrible these days, but it might have been to allow testing different versions of internet explorer?
The VMs were discontinued recently.
I guess it's working as intended since it only refused to work with me in weird cases, and other times it was tolerable annoyances at time.
Running windows on bare metal still requires you to pay for it
In the license yes, technically unlicensed windows actually works but you can’t e.g. change the desktop wallpaper. Kind of the same principle applies to the dev vm: it works fine (during its validity period) but it is not licensed for production use.
Running a VM also requires you to pay for it. But it's the license that requires it, nothing in the software will stop you from using it.
But then you download a new one.
I think it was `slmgr -rearm`
Don't know why they would ship with this...
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10I...
If you install it without inputting a product key, it'll be more or less fully functional. There is no time limit to this.