Microsoft says you can’t activate Windows 10/11 with old Windows 7/8 keys anymore
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/09/microsoft-says-you-cant-activate-windows-10-11-with-old-windows-7-8-keys-anymore/
RIP to one of my favorite loopholes: Microsoft quietly announced earlier this month (via Neowin) that users will no longer be able to install and activate Windows 10 or Windows 11 with old Windows 7 and Windows 8 product keys.
At least for now, though, it seems like this change will only apply to future Windows versions. We were able to activate a fresh Windows 11 Pro 22H2 install with a Windows 8 Pro product key as of this morning, as was Neowin. But Neowin was unable to activate a newer Insider Preview build of Windows, suggesting that the change will mostly affect newer Windows versions. We've asked Microsoft for clarification and will update this story if we receive any.