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I bought a computer with Windows 10 pre-installed. I then also installed Linux on the same computer so that I can choose between Windows or Linux at boot time (dual booting). I also have it set up so that Linux can see Windows files, including C:\Windows\Fonts. I personally like the Windows/Microsoft fonts better than the free alternatives, so I want to use them while running Linux.

According to the Microsoft License Terms:

Applicability: This agreement applies to the Windows software that is preinstalled on your device, or acquired from a retailer and installed by you, the media on which you received the software (if any), any fonts, ...

License. The software is licensed, not sold. Under this agreement, we grant you the right to install and run one instance of the software on your device (the licensed device), for use by one person at a time, so long as you comply with all the terms of this agreement.

Device. In this agreement, “device” means a hardware system (whether physical or virtual) with an internal storage device capable of running the software. A hardware partition or blade is considered to be a device.

Under restrictions (what's no allowed) it list these things that I'm not sure apply:

(i) use or virtualize features of the software separately;

(iv) work around any technical restrictions or limitations in the software;

(v) use the software as server software ... or install the software on a device for use only by remote users;

Would any of those restrictions apply to what I'm doing?

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    The fonts are not “the software” and have their own license.
    – Dale M ♦
    Commented Jan 10, 2020 at 0:17
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    Well, would it? What has your lawyer told you?
    – user4657
    Commented Jan 10, 2020 at 2:05
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    @Nij "What has your lawyer told you?" The OP would be better off by purchasing a separate license of the fonts than wasting his time and money asking some overpriced lawyer. The latter might not even have a clue of what "partition" means.
    – Iñaki Viggers
    Commented Jan 10, 2020 at 9:24
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    If they want an answer to a specific legal question concerning license terms, I presume they wouldn't be daft enough to ask a lawyer without that expertise, any more than someone would ask a civil engineer about software development or a science teacher for help with art homework.
    – user4657
    Commented Jan 10, 2020 at 9:50
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    @Nij "If they want an answer to a specific legal question concerning license terms, I presume they wouldn't be daft enough to ask a lawyer without that expertise". It's not a matter of being "daft enough". It would be reasonable for the OP to presume that a lawyer with "expertise in contract law" will identify the ramifications of those license terms. But the lawyer himself might not even realize he lacks the sufficient/requisite understanding of operating systems in order to address the OP's inquiry competently
    – Iñaki Viggers
    Commented Jan 10, 2020 at 10:59

1 Answer 1

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If running Linux on same physical computer as Windows, can one legally use Microsoft's files?

Apparently not. The fonts would be considered a feature of the software.

Even mounting the Windows file system in your Linux partition, as opposed to copying the fonts, would violate the terms of the license. That is because the terms of the license allow the inference that the licensed copy of Windows 10 is mutually understood as the active partition at the time of using its features.

Therefore, using the fonts from elsewhere (including a different partition insofar as the license considers it a device on its own) constitutes using the feature separately.

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    Can you provide cites for this interpretation? It certainly doesn't seem to follow from the extracts the OP has posted.
    – Martin Bonner supports Monica
    Commented Jan 10, 2020 at 13:34
  • @MartinBonnersupportsMonica "It certainly doesn't seem to follow from the extracts the OP has posted". Please be more specific and elaborate where you think there is a departure or discrepancy: the fonts being considered a feature of the software? the issue regarding the active partition? other?
    – Iñaki Viggers
    Commented Jan 10, 2020 at 14:49
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    OK, I see where you found "feature of the system". I missed that. I think your main problem is that you appear to think "hardware partition or blade" means the same as disk partition - I think it has a very different meaning, and the OP has a single "device".
    – Martin Bonner supports Monica
    Commented Jan 10, 2020 at 14:55
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    @MartinBonnersupportsMonica "I think your main problem is that you appear to think "hardware partition or blade" means the same as disk partition". No, I wouldn't get into that unsettled technicality. My point is that, based on the agreement, the Windows components from the OP's copy are not supposed to be mounted on a foreign instance (in this case, Linux). Doing so would qualify as using the feature separately insofar as it would be the other instance/OS (Linux) what handles the fonts, not the Windows kernel/module(s) associated to the license.
    – Iñaki Viggers
    Commented Jan 10, 2020 at 15:40
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    "hardware partition"/"blade" are very different things than a disk partition - they likely describe either use of a virtualization system or a multi-cpu system with shared storage. Both would enable you to run the windows and linux system CONCURRENTLY, not either/or as in a multiboot system with just disk partitions.
    – rackandboneman
    Commented Mar 22, 2022 at 9:41

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