Windows XP license

The answer depends upon the type of license that was purchased. MS is now selling licenses that do expire, but they also sell licenses that do not.

Traditionally, there were generally three types of licenses from MS. The first was the one that came with the purchase of a PC, called an OEM license. This allowed you to run the OS on that one particular machine. The license could not be used on any other machine, and could not be donated.

The 2nd license, called a retail license, allowed youto install it on any one computer. You could install it any computer, as long as it was only one.

The 3rd was an upgrade license that allowed you to upgrade a previous version.

MS also had many different licensing programs for licensing, and which program you were in generally was determined by how many licenses you were buying.

MS now is trying to sell expiring licenses, which allow you to use the OS for a specified period of time. This is probably what your friend is referring to.So the answer can be yes, but in most cases, the license will not expire.