[moshimoshir]

On this note, does anyone know where to legally obtain windows xp, hopefully for cheap ? I should note that I've tried at multiple places and none seemed fine so kindly speak from experience. (Or sell me your own, I'd trust anyone here).

[ripdog]

Why, if you don't mind my asking?

Even if you paid anything for such an old product, your money wouldn't be going to MS anyway. Not sure what difference it makes, paying for an abandoned product.

[Hackbraten]

While you’re not wrong, I think no one should have to explain themselves for wanting to stay compliant with the law.

[ripdog]

Even when the law has no basis in reality? Windows XP is going to stay in copyright for... how many decades now? Even though it has no commercial value anymore?

Laws which make no sense and have no value to society should be ignored. If software is abandoned, it should be distributed freely.

[Hackbraten]

While the whole OS may be abandoned, parts of it may still have commercial value.

Imagine you’re a subcontractor who wrote, for example, a PRNG driver, and licensed it to Microsoft so they can include it in Windows XP. Does the subcontractor lose their rights to the driver just because one of the OSes happened to become abandoned?

Why would those rights be tied to commercial value at all?

[BallyBrain]

The internet archive can help you out here, I used this recently for an XP VM

https://archive.org/details/WinXPProSP3x86

[moshimoshir]

Technically I'm looking to buy a serial so I can tell myself I didn't steal. Thank you for your link, once I have a serial I'll know where to get a safe copy from.

[wasmitnetzen]

I have an educational MSDNAA (or Dreamspark, or whatever it is called this month) key I can send you, if that's legal enough for you.

[moshimoshir]

You are so kind for making that offer but probably not, thank you :). I want to buy from someone who has paid money to get the key. Thank you again.