The leak of the Windows 11 build has taken a lot of prominence from the event that Microsoft had prepared for June 24 . We already know practically all the news in Windows 11, but there were some doubts that still remained in the air, such as the fact that we were going to have to pay to update to this version.
The leaked build, even if a user signs up for the Insider program from it, does not allow an activation if a key is not used. And one may think that, since there were no Windows 11 keys yet, it was not possible to activate it to be able to use all the customization functions.
Activating Windows 11 with old keys is possible
Nothing is further from the truth, users have been quick to use old keys to activate Windows 11 . And at the moment it has been confirmed that the keys of Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 work perfectly.
This makes a lot of logic if we consider that Windows 11 is, basically, Windows 10 with some changes at the interface level, since under the hood it remains practically identical as it was initially thought of as one more update to the operating system. However, Microsoft seems to have rightly chosen to follow the path of Apple or Android when it comes to changing the number of their operating system to identify it more easily.
Another proof that Windows 11 continues to share a base with Windows 10 is that the drivers for Windows 10 work without problem in Windows 11, as is the case with those for graphics cards.
Therefore, the keys of the previous operating systems work perfectly. In addition, if we have a computer whose hardware is already associated with the Windows key and it is activated in the eyes of Microsoft, we can update to Windows 11 without fear of having activation problems , since the operating system will continue to be activated.
Windows 7, 8.1 and 10 keys to activate Windows 11
With this, Microsoft ensures to avoid problems such as those that occurred to go from Windows 7 and 8.1 to Windows 10, where many users preferred to stay with Windows 7. The system is no longer supported, and is still used by hundreds of millions of people in everyone, exposing them to vulnerabilities.
Upgrading from Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 was free for the first year, and although Microsoft was hiding it, a clean installation of Windows 10 can be activated with a Windows 7 key, even today. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that they will once again boast that it is free to update for X time.
Windows 11 is the future of Microsoft, as Windows 10 will be out of official support in October 2025, more than 10 years after its launch. The company wants to avoid further dividing its users, but has not gotten off to a good start. For example, center-clicking an icon pinned to the taskbar in Windows 11 does not open new windows. Nor is it possible to separate them so that each window that we have open has its own icon with text on the taskbar, which will annoy many users, and we will see if it is not necessary to resort to elements such as Classic Shell. The company has half a year to fix it.