Why the Windows 10 EULA Is Applicable to Older Windows Licenses
-
In the current 2018 Windows 10 EULA we have this line: "Updating or upgrading from non-genuine software with software from Microsoft or authorized sources does not make your original version or the updated/upgraded version genuine, and in that situation, you do not have a license to use the software."
These parts are extremely telling. First, some background...
Windows 10 is a rebranding of Windows. Windows 10 is never a reference to a version, it is just the new name for Windows. Windows 7 is an older version of Windows 10, just as Windows 10 1903 is a newer version of Windows. Windows 7 ~ Windows 10 1903, Windows ~ Windows 10. The Windows 10 EULA is for "Windows" and makes no reference to a version whatsoever. This is important because Microsoft has removed version locking (or even concepts) in their desktop OS products. And that alone explains why the license works the way that it does.
In the EULA, in the discussion of updating or upgrading, this has always in the Windows terminology referred to moving between major or minor release versions. So this line is not in reference to patches within a release, nor to new installs, but upgrades from earlier versions. As this is for Windows 10 broadly, it can only refer to Windows 8.1 and older specifically.
It then points out that the EULA is not valid only in the case where the source license is not genuine, so like a pirated copy of Windows 8. This entire portion of the EULA is exclusively for the purpose of Windows 7, 8, and 8.1. It has no purpose otherwise. It shows us that as long as we don't violate the genuine stipulation, then our genuine licenses apply for the upgrade.
-
@scottalanmiller said in Why the Windows 10 EULA Is Applicable to Older Windows Licenses:
It then points out that the EULA is not valid only in the case where the source license is not genuine, so like a pirated copy of Windows 8. This entire portion of the EULA is exclusively for the purpose of Windows 7, 8, and 8.1. It has no purpose otherwise.
It does. It also applies when you are installing a clean install of a previously legally licensed Windows 10 system.
