OEM Software question
Community Forums/General Help/OEM Software question
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| Is the only difference between OEM software the fact that you can only legally use it on one machine or have I misunderstood what OEM software is? For instance, if I buy a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit is it exactly the same software as buying the non OEM version apart from only being able to use it on the one PC? Thanks for any advice, Jason. |
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| The short not-quite-accurate non-legalese version is that OEM software can only be sold with hardware that is critical to the use of the computer system. This normally means a complete system, or a hard drive, or CPU etc. Depends on the vendor as to how lax they feel like being though: I once asked an online vendor how much hardware I needed to buy in order to be able to pick up an OEM copy of something, and he said that since (these days) you really kind of need a mouse to be able to do much with a computer, I could pick up a $10 mouse and in his mind that would qualify. I don't know that I'd go that far though... Apart from that, it should be all-but exactly the same software as the retail version (perhaps different/reduced packaging). There's another kind of OEM software that consists of the sort of stuff Dell (for example) bundles with their systems, and oftentimes they're tailored only to work on what they're supposed to be bundled with... but I don't expect you're asking about that. |
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| depends on software vendor too some pc's get OEM's of all sorts of programs but rarely an install disc, just what was on the ghost image that came with the pc, kinda sucks to wipe and restart a pc from a ghost cd just cos your office suite is broken windows retail vs OEM not 100% accurate but here goes OEM microsoft WONT offer support, thats for the pc distributor to sort out originally only big companies could ship oem cd's of w95 onwards with a pc, when pc self building took off (or smaller companies like the one i worked for) you could only buy a cd if you were buying alot of the system, eg the whole lot in kit form for retail and enough parts trade the company i worked for should have shipped a cd with every system to make it legal, but like most at the time we never did (unless it was left in the drive by mistake when boxed down) by "apart from only being able to use it on he one PC?" do you mean only install it on one machine in its life time or multiple pc's but only use one at a time like some programs allow? for the 2nd part no, oem/bundled with pc or retail you can only (legally) install it on one pc at any given time technically both preinstalled with DVD or OEM are only meant to be used with the system it was purchaced for/with so if you get a dell and a generic installer disc and upgrade with a self build that code was meant for that pc, hence the sticker on the back but i doubt that stops anyone going from one pc to another using the same disc and code |
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| - The OEM version may only be sold with a new PC - Both versions may only be installed once unless you have bought more licenses from microsoft for the retail version. - You may not use the OEM version on a new computer, even after uninstalling it from the old. It may only be used on the computer it was sold with. - You get no installation support from MS with the OEM version, so for questions you must always return to the hardware vendor when something is wrong. When looking at the Windows software itself you will see no difference, you will probably will notice this when reusing the software on different hardware. Even XP had some security that some OEM numbers can only be reused a few times on different hardware. |
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| OK, thanks for the info everyone, most helpful. Jason. |
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| Like digital Anime said: OEM windows is tied to the machine it was purchased with. It is a license violation to move it to a 'new' computer later on, even if you remove it from the original computer or even destroy the computer altogether. that's also why the OEM version is cheaper than an upgrade or retail version: it's has more restrictions. But even the retail and upgrade versions only allow a single install, you still can't run it on two computers, even if they are owned by the same person and you only run one at a time. (The short answer about interpreting microsoft licensing terms: if you have any questions on how to interprete a specific clause, just go with whichever explanation makes the most money for microsoft -- it's invariably the 'correct' answer) One danger of an OEM install is that Microsoft has at times been picky to define 'machine'. For example, should your motherboard die on you and need to be replaced, then you could run into issues re-activating Windows because the hardware change was too drastic for its likes) |
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