Each version of Windows has involved entering a product key either during the installation, or prior to activation. Things have changed with
Windows 10, and as anyone who looked for their own
Windows 10 product key will have found, Microsoft has used generic keys this time around.
For all intents and purposes, the installation of Windows 10 is now keyless, but there has been some confusion about what this means for future installations, particularly for Windows Insiders trying out
new preview builds. Microsoft's Gabe Aul has stepped up to the plate to clear thing up, explaining that
Insider builds can only be installed and activated on computers which have preciously activated the RTM build.
As the final build of Windows 10 had its product key built in, users wondered whether subsequent builds might use different keys and when they might be issued. There will be no more key, came the response from Aul. If you want to perform a clean installation of post-RTM builds, you'll need to do so on a PC which has already been used to activate a copy of build 10204.
