I don't understand how Microsoft can make it a free upgrade, yet still keep in the awful registration part. I have my virtual machines triggering me to reauthorize based on the smallest changes, and the same with my physical copies. All my Windows licenses are legit, so I have to jump through hoops anytime I upgrade.
Last significant change I made triggered Office to require a phone in. That failed and I had to speak to a person who told me my product key doesn't exist. I was reading it off a physical box that I bought at Best Buy. It has the holograms on it and has always registered fine when I phoned in, for several years. The guys suggestion was that I subscribe to Office 365 to fix the problem.
I know this is atypical but is still putting these burdens on the consumer sucks. When I heard about the free upgrades, I thought we were beyond this.