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MarcelG
Retired Support Moderator
Netherlands
2625 Posts |
 Posted - 30 January 2008 : 11:27:41
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quote:
Originally posted by Hamlin
There is nothing stopping your buying an OEM version. That's what I did, my machine came with 32bit version so I just spent an extra £100 on the 64bit version.
But...am I 'legally' allowed to do so? The OEM license has certain limitations, and one of them would be that it may only be bought with a new PC as far as I know. |
portfolio - linkshrinker - oxle - twitter |
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AnonJr
Moderator
United States
5768 Posts |
Posted - 30 January 2008 : 11:51:26
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AFAIK, the only big issue you need to worry about with the OEM license is that MS won't offer you any support. I've built a number of computers for family/friends using OEM XP disks I'd bought off of Tiger Direct. On the rare occasion I came across an issue I couldn't resolve, when I called tech support (a bit of a misnomer, but that's a rant for another day) they told me I needed to contact the manufacturer.... I said 'I am the manufacturer. Now what?' - they wouldn't take that as an answer.  I guess there's a super-secret number for those OEM guys. |
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Hamlin
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
2386 Posts |
Posted - 30 January 2008 : 13:16:10
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quote:
Originally posted by MarcelG
quote:
Originally posted by Hamlin
There is nothing stopping your buying an OEM version. That's what I did, my machine came with 32bit version so I just spent an extra £100 on the 64bit version.
But...am I 'legally' allowed to do so? The OEM license has certain limitations, and one of them would be that it may only be bought with a new PC as far as I know.
You can, it's legal, according to some articles I read, in which a MS spokesperson said it was ok, as long as you adhere to the licence aggreement.
Anon mentioned the lack of direct support, the other major thing is that you have to support any user who uses the PC on which the OEM version is installed. |
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MarcelG
Retired Support Moderator
Netherlands
2625 Posts |
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pdrg
Support Moderator
United Kingdom
2897 Posts |
Posted - 02 February 2008 : 10:54:09
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OK - here's the lowdown on OEM Licensing...I used to work for MS, and did a heap of internal work for some of the guys in Legal.
OEM licensing is for Original Equipment Manufacturers - ie you MUST be a 'manufacturer' to qualify for the pricing (building your own PC from bits is fine). The definition of what makes a 'manufacturer' is limited, but it involves 'non-peripheral hardware' (so not USB thingies, or most video cards, sound cards, RAM upgrades, etc) - things core to the system (MoBo, network cards, etc) - it's a fine line, and will vary a bit. The manufacturer should provide support to the customer, MS will more or less leave you to it (or you can pay for support - you get no free incidents as you do with the shrinkwrap product)
There is a slightly cheeky way of qualifying for OEM pricing - buying a €3 obsolete modem card (or similar) adheres to the letter if not the spirit of the agreement!
The OEM license is tied to the hardware - to the PC you've built. If you get a new PC, you're not *legally* allowed to re-use the OEM license as you could a shrinkwarp COTS license. Same goes for Office, etc.
Are you likely to get busted? No. If you try selling OEM licenses (old or new) on Ebay, in shops, etc, they'll kick your backside bigtime - they contract out detection, evidence gathering and prosecution to many large teams and companies. If you buy pirated software which is marketed as 'OEM', you may get badly busted and end up with nothing at all (ie if you're buying OEM, go to a reputable supplier, eg dabs.com). Lots of pirate operations do a bit of smoke and mirror handwaving and convince people their 'OEM' just means 'no manuals' - likely you'll get a stolen or falsified activation key, and your credit card number sold to criminal gangs instead. The false/stolen key will de-activate your product after a 'phone-home', and prevent you from accessing your software fully. If you get a spam offering you 'OEM' - it's just pirate software, no question. And if you're lucky enough for it not to be full of viruses, you're still paying for something you could steal yourself for free (if you see what I mean!)
The definition of OEM will vary company to company, but the essence is that OEM licensing is meant entirely for the pre-installed stuff to encourage you to buy a new PC. You can legally use the non-peripheral trick to be eligible, but remember you're completely on your own! |
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MarcelG
Retired Support Moderator
Netherlands
2625 Posts |
Posted - 02 February 2008 : 12:13:11
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Thanks for that info ; I must admit, I have never even thought of calling MS for an issue, so that won't be a problem. (Besides that, I now already have the 32 bit OEM version of Vista Home Premium, and I'm only wanting to switch to the 64 bit version.  |
portfolio - linkshrinker - oxle - twitter |
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Podge
Support Moderator
Ireland
3775 Posts |
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MarcelG
Retired Support Moderator
Netherlands
2625 Posts |
Posted - 11 February 2008 : 10:18:26
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Oh, sorry for not responding earlier, but I'm completely migrated to Windows Vista Ultimate x64 edition, and it has in fact been a breeze!
Using a Vista Ultimate license from work (via MSDN subscription) I first created a dual boot setup, just to be sure.
Every piece of hardware, including the stripeset/RAID0 disk array and the Pantone Huey Pro screen calibration device worked without any problem. The installation itself took no more than 30 minutes, and it works as a charm. (The system itself is 4 month old rig, so pretty recent graphics card, motherboard, chipset etc)
The only applications I had some problems with are Maxthon (browser shell replacement) and AVG Free (antivirus). Maxthon was fixed with a couple of hacks, and for the virusscanner I'm still looking for a good native x64 scanner.
Besides that every app works perfectly ok.
Setting up the HP C4180 printer as a shared printer for my wife's 32-bit Vista Home Premium laptop was a bit of a 'challenge' to say the least. Using this thread I figured out how to do it. 
Yesterday I removed the 32-bit version of Vista, and repartitioned the whole system, to get rid of the old stuff, so now after only 2 evenings of fiddling around, I can proudly say my 32-bit Vista Home Premium days are over. I'm now thinking of adding another 4 GB of memory, just because I can.  |
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Edited by - MarcelG on 11 February 2008 10:19:49 |
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HuwR
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
20584 Posts |
Posted - 11 February 2008 : 10:51:31
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| I am using AVG with Vista 64 without problems, maybe you just need an upgrade |
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MarcelG
Retired Support Moderator
Netherlands
2625 Posts |
Posted - 12 February 2008 : 06:27:33
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quote:
Originally posted by HuwR
I am using AVG with Vista 64 without problems, maybe you just need an upgrade
Mmmm...I'll check that tonight. |
portfolio - linkshrinker - oxle - twitter |
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