A virtual machine (VM) is an operating system that’s emulated within another operating system. You could run Windows within a MacBook as a virtual machine, or even Windows within Windows.
Because of this emulation, you might assume that only the OS that’s physically installed on a proper drive is “real” while any emulated OSes are “not real” and therefore don’t require licenses.
Well, you’d be wrong.
Legally, a virtual machine is considered to be a full-fledged computer—and that means you do need a valid Windows license to run Windows in a virtual machine. You also need the right licenses for any commercial software you run in virtualized Windows.
This isn’t just true of both Windows 10 and Windows 11, but also for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and all other operating systems that have licensing agreements. If you don’t have any old, unused license keys lying around, you’ll need to buy one.
Related: Is your Windows product key reusable? How to find out
As of this writing, Microsoft charges a whopping $140 for the full version of Windows 11 Home if you buy directly, and Windows 11 Pro is even more expensive at $200. Fortunately, you don’t have to pay that much.
Through PCWorld’s online shop, you can safely and legally get Windows at a significantly lower price than what you’d find elsewhere:
Many programs come with licenses that allow you to install on more than one computer, which would cover virtual machines as well.
But if the license is limited to one PC, you’ll need a second license for a VM… at least, in theory. You may not need a second license because some programs don’t recognize multiple use, so you could potentially install in a virtual machine with no ramifications.
There may also be special cases with cloud licenses, such as Adobe’s Creative Cloud. According to Adobe’s license terms, for example, you can install the apps on several PCs and activate them on two PCs, but you can only use them on one PC at a time.
So, if you want to use Photoshop in a virtual machine, you’d have to deactivate the license on the host PC. To do this, open the app on the host PC, go to the Help menu, then click Log out. Now, install Photoshop in the VM and activate the license in the same way as described above for deactivating via the Help menu. If you ever want to swap back, you can repeat the above steps in reverse order.
Quick tip: There are often good free alternatives to paid software, which are usually more than adequate for occasional use in VMs. Otherwise, you could just use time-limited trial versions of paid software.
Further reading: VMware WorkStation Pro is now free
