JULY 2019 PCWorld 103deal, too. In those cases, your main options
are the OEM license (outlined above) or
buying through Kinguin (detailed below).
Note: If you use this method, also keep
an eye out for other software deals through
your school. For example, your school might
offer a free Microsoft 365 account, or a
heavily discounted Adobe Creative Cloud
account (usually $20/mo).
LOW PRICES WITH A
CAVEAT: KINGUIN
Price: $33 (Windows 10 Home), $35
(Windows 10 Pro)
Scoring Windows 10 at an 85 percent
discount isn’t too good to be true,
but this surprisingly low-hassle
approach comes with a large dose
of controversy.
Kinguin (go.pcworld.com/
kgin) is a website that allows
buyers to purchase product keys
from third-party sellers—think of it
like an eBay or Amazon
Marketplace for digital software
sales. To buy Windows 10, you’ll
look through the Windows 10
Home OEM or Windows 10 Pro
OEM listings, pick a seller’s
product to add to your cart, and
then check out. It’s the same as
any other digital storefront.
What makes the license keys so
cheap—and opinions about buying through
Kinguin so fierce—is that they’re gray market
at best. In other words, while not illegal,
they’re likely extra keys from a volume
licensing agreement that were never meant
to be sold individually to home users.
Opponents of Kinguin swear the keys will
eventually lose their activation status
because of their unknown origins.
These keys are also for an OEM license of
Windows 10, which means they’re meant for
only one PC to use at one time. So as
mentioned above, if these keys are already
somehow tied to an original (but
unactivated) PC, things could go sideways
during your own activation process.