Am interested in purchasing the oem version of windows vista home premium, just wondering if someone could clarify a few points.
1. Could this be installed on my laptop instead of my current xp version?
2. I like to reboot occassionaly, would this be possible with the oem version?
Many thanks in anticipation

The OEM version is now tied specifically to a motherboard, right? So if you purchase an OEM copy, you can install it on that motherboard and change all the parts EXCEPT the MB and be ok?

If you do change the MB, you need to buy another copy cause your license will not transfer.

But since the OEM copy is 1/2 the price, you can buy TWO copies of the OEM for $199 each instead of one copy of the retail for $399 each, change the MB, throw the old license away and use the 2nd license you bought and still be in good shape.

In fact, if you use that first motherboard to build someone a new system, then they will still have a valid license in addition to your valid license.

Win-Win, eh?

You don't have to buy another copy when you change motherboards. All you have to do is give MS a call to activate it again. A 5 minute phone call, and you're good to go on any new motherboard your heart desires.

Nice bit of news from MS (for a change) - it means that us poor Brits will be able to afford to buy the s/w. Over here, Vista Ultimate costs £370 - at the current exchange rates, that's $740 dollars (give or take a few dollars) - the OEM version is 'only' £125 (that's $250). Add onto that the cost of Office 2007, & it's a big chunk of cash!

I'm not a Microsoft lover, nor hater - it's a fact of life that they've got the best marketing machine, have bundled their o/s with hardware since the year dot (ok, since the IBM PC was first sold) & people get both complacent & comfortable with their home & work systems....

I've bought MS operating systems since Dos 4.0, & complained each time - but they do get 'easier' with use - they're just so damned expensive when you're not in the US - even though it's the same disks, & there doesn't have to be much translation of the language :)...

OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) copies are for the advanced users. The Software is NO difference from what you would buy except:

1. No Box / Manuals.
2. No support from MS.
3. Cheaper.

OEM software is what all the Manufacturers put on their PC's because rather then MS giving you the warranty, they (The PC Supplier) take it over.

OEM is great for PC Techs that actually know what they are doing. I have been a tech for close to 15 years now and other then "Activating" XP when a Hard Drive crashes on a PC, I am in no need of their support.

If I were most of you, don't just on Vista because it is new, I have found a lot of things in the RC (Release Candidates Versions) that will not work. Most of it is Software simply because all the Software providers have to change the code to come up to the Vista Standard. It's like the PS3, the WII and other new devices, in the first year, THEY SUCK! Bugs get addressed and not much software is available. But a year or so down the road, there are multiple patches, hundreds of software titles are now available and things are much smoother.

Homepage: http://mysite.verizon.net/slinkys_delsol/

Well, how else can they drive their sogging upgrade revenues?

Thank Goodness computers break down and become obsolete or else no one would ever buy a Windows upgrade.

Check the numbers, MS makes very little money off of upgrades. They cash in by shackling their hardware partners into selling ONLY their OS. At least until now...

Not a company that strives on merit and quality.

So you can get Home Basic OEM for $99 and Home Premium OEM for $119.

If you buy Home Premium OEM, can you use the same key to install Home Basic so you can evaluate and test it to see how it compares to Home Premium in terms of features and such?

Or does that Home Premium CD Key only work for Home Premium?

I ask because I'm curious if Home Basic would be sufficient, or if it is just not worth considering given the features that it is missing (some of the Multimedia stuff, for example).

Thanks

BTW, Newegg rocks!

Vista Basic is missing Aero, so Home Premium is the way to go. If your machine can't handle Aero comfortably - stick to XP.

When will Microsoft be split up ? This is just fraud! Instead of setting a lower price for their products they push this OEM tricks scam to earn money and avoid supporting customers just like they were pirates. This can't be allowed ! When will some politicians start the needed split up of Microsoft monopoly ?

Dude, you're unbelievable.

The more options they give you, the more manic you become.

Upgrade version? God forbid...

OEM license? End of the world.

The only option they could possibly give you that you would accept would be free. This makes you completely and totally irrelevant to any discussion of the OS or the company.

You really are clueless. OEM software is supposed to be supported by the vendor that sold you the product. This practice isn't specific to Microsoft. Microsoft gives the break on cost because the value of the OEM licenses is lower because of the lack of support.

The fact that OEM copies are becoming more readily available is a good thing for consumer and Microsoft. People get the option of getting a legitimate license at a reasonable cost by dispensing with the extra book and phone support they either don't want or need.

You are the dumbest person alive, how is this a trick? It clearly states on an oem disk before you open it YOU are the sole person who will maintain the system. Microsoft will not provide support. This is nothing new and has been going on for quite some time.

Same goes for most pcs you buy with windows installed on them the majority of them do all the support not Microsoft.

If you need support maybe you should buy a Mac instead

I am so glad that Ubuntu Linux is free and blows Windows away. I never have to register. I get a new release every 6 months, and each release is supported for 18 months. I NEVER have to reboot.

thank you for that useless comment on a post about windows.. "ubuntu blows windows away"

how is the gaming on that ubuntu?
how is the music production on that ubuntu?
how is photoshop working on there for you?

each release of windows is supported for 5 years and $200 dollars over 5 years is quite small...

have a nice day happy little troll :)

Gosh! I should now throw away all those Windows 3.x,95,98,NT,ME,2000, and XP programs away and hunt and hunt for *linx programs (or Apple/Mac) to replace stuff that works -- even after 10+ upgrades?

Free is relative! If you bill-out at $200/hr, 4 hours searching for just the "right" program for "free" is NOT worth it... However, if you can spend 15 minutes ordering a known working program for $300. -- then your much better off.

p.s. I am not a Microsoft fan either.

"have a nice day happy little troll"

You made some decent points and then threw away all your credibility with that last line. I mean, if you're so confident in your point, why the needless insult?

You may need to do gaming on a PC but lots of people do not.

You may need to do music production but lots of people do not, even though it is possible to do it under Linux for either free or a fee.

You may need to use PhotoShop but lots of people find it far too expensive for their needs, which tend to be general photo colour correction. This also is not an Ubuntu problem but ADOBE problem. It is Adobe's fault that PhotoShop is not availabe for Ubuntu.

Your points seem to be very specific to your needs and no one elses. This is similar to lots of posts.

I use Linux and Windows and yes, I think Linux blows Windows away for MY needs. Does this make me a troll? My needs is for web and application programming and it is perfect for the job. Also it is perfect as a webserver, fileserver, print server, database server etc etc, of which we run in my place of work. It works far better than Windows in those environments. As a desktop machine for someone who just needs a computer for email, internet and a simple office environment (word processing, spreadsheet etc) it works extremely well. Better than Windows in fact, in my opinion (note the last three words, they are important).

Finally, you forgot some things in your cost analysis:
1. Firewall and Malware software. Some cost, some do not.
2. Hardware upgrades or new computer. Each version of Windows generally require hardware upgrades or a new computer because of the bloated aspect of their software. This needs to be added to your cost. (Note: New computer mentioned because that is how some people upgrade their machines!)
3. General maintenance of Windows, ie. cleaning, reinstallation etc. Anyone who says they don't do this at least once or twice is generally lying.
4. Cost of PhotoShop, Music Production software, Office and everything else you have to pay for. Unless of course you are a pirate?

You can call him a troll but I call you a fanboy. There are a lot of them on BetaNews!

POint bein...as far as software availability ( and therefore being able to blow linux away on many more fronts ) Windows beats any other OS.

That is why it is an OS...because everything else operates on it...

As far as upgrades every 6 months...doesnt that mean every 6 months u also have 2 reboot?

Just a thought...

Windows isnt best in everything, but as a jack-of-all-trades...it cant b beat.

Latz, SB

I don't agree with this. First of all, it's Adobe's CHOICE as to whether they want to have a version for Linux. More relevantly, they probably haven't figured out a business model for Linux that makes it profitable for them to port Photoshop to Linux. The mentality of most people in the Linux world is that software should be free - given that, why would Adobe bother? They're not going to sell more units of Photoshop - anyone who really wants Photoshop will simply get Windows or Mac.

--->It is Adobe's fault that PhotoShop is not availabe for Ubuntu.

>how is the gaming on that ubuntu?

Nethack. 'Nuff said.

>how is the music production on that ubuntu?

Audacity and a microphone. Anything more is cheating.

>how is photoshop working on there for you?

Who needs Photoshop when you have the GIMP?!

Just having fun. I would run Ubuntu in a heartbeat (in fact I did for a couple months), except for the very reasons you suggest (replace PhotoShop with PaintShopPro 9 and a couple other apps).

You must be new to the Internet...

;-)

How can you even compare a lame "wannabe" app like GIMP to a quality app like Photoshop??

You are either clueless or flat-out CHEAP.

My guess is a little of both.

What're you running? a 486?

So, you missed the point not surprised really.

The point was those three things pc does better then linux and audacity is great if you want to be a basement musician. its nothing when compared to sound forge, cubase or sonar.

Honestly,

I don't know any professional musicians who use a linux box for recording but hey theres a first time for everything.

He listed that because he doesn't have to reboot his pc and gets free upgrades, these are mine why I think linux will continue to live in a niche market. Oh, and a lot of those programs have their pc counterpart so they can run all those programs plus the aforementioned.

Also, mentioned this is a topic on WINDOWS no mention of Linux ANYWHERE in the article so therefore he would be a troll.

A fanboy would be someone who agrees with everything even when there are blatant problems yes Microsoft has problems (every os does even linux and mac are far from perfect just no one cares enough to bother to find all the problems)but Microsoft runs all my apps I need, can change parts at will (well, except the mb) and not have to spend hrs just trying to compile drivers to get my wireless card working.

Microsoft Windows Vista will be the Biggest Software Release Failure in The History of The Computer Technolgy World.

in your opinion.

Senseless Trolls Will Post Dumb Comments With Misspellings on This Story.

But it will make it all up on OEM licenses.

i'm a copy getting vista business for free as a part of my a+ hardware/software class :-)
so it doesn't have all the frills, but it's good enough for me.

OEM is fine as long as you never change the motherboard. With the OEM changing the motherboard to a different one will require a call to MS explaining why the board was changed before you can activate. I guess you could convince them to allow you to activate...I wouldn't try that too many times...better to buy the retail and not have Vista locked into one machine for future upgrades.

Make that the retail "upgrade" and you've got a deal.

Not a bid deal

In addition, users should still be subject to the same familiar re-activation restrictions as users of a retail Vista license and Windows XP, a spokeswoman said. Users can alter the PC's hardware substantially, but they will be forced to reactivate – not repurchase the OEM software – if they do, she said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20070126/tc_zd/199653

How is it different than retail XP now? When you change the machine significantly you have to re-activate it just the same. Am I missing something, is this somehow different for re-activating Vista? It reads the same to me.

I've done that about 3 times, and while the automated thingy on Microsoft's 800 number never worked for me, I quickly reached a helpful human that had me activated with no hassle.

Really, it's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Microsoft does enough evil for you to complain about that you can let them slide on things that really aren't bad.

Yeah, I have done it numerous times myself. I am always changing hardware, I have no problem with it.

But the OP made it sound like this was something different on Vista and I am curious if it is because it sounds exactly the same to me.

This has always been the case, or are they now saying you don't need to mess around by buying a 99c cable anymore...

Where is the news here?

"Purchasing an OEM copy of Microsoft's next-generation operating system may be an attractive option for those not needing a manual or any of the other frills that comes with boxed versions."

I haven't seen a real manual included with a copy of windows since ver 3.11. Yeah the manuals are availible for an extra $100+ from MS Press. I have no problem paying $400 for an OS but please give me full printed documentation.

Good.
That's a very nice move.

Hi everyone, what happens if my mobo blows up or the HD tanks with an OEM version of vista?

surely theres a way to reinstall? I'm hearing there isn't.

this doesn't make sense?

You will have to reactivate.
That may involve a phone call to Microsoft if major parts of the system have changed.

Great news... as long as we can still reactivate. I'm good.

I'm not. I change hardware continously on my PCs, so my original copies of XP just don't get installed and when I install one I use cracks to disable the whole activation stuff. The original licenses are there but they are such an issue that both me and many people I know just don't install them. This happens in many business offices as well.

...

Then you buy the retail.

Good lord, dude, is it really that hard to understand,or are you just that dense?

I believe he meant he had the retail but he's changed his system so many times that the activation requirements won't let him reinstall and activate XP. I wouldn't go out and rebuy it either.

Then ya call MS and they reset it.

Takes 5 minutes.

The retail version is not limited on the number of re-installs. The activation issue, while a result of the frequent reinstalls and hardware modifications, is a simple 5 minute fix over the phone. In the US (at least the installation support # I use), you don't even have to talk to Naj'ib.

I'm thoroughly convinced that you could make that phone call with any copy of Windows; legit or not. They never take any of your information. They ask you two questions: "Why are you reinstalling" and "Is this currently installed on any other computers"

And as long as you give the right answers, they go ahead and give you the activation code. Instant legit copy of Windows.

It couldn't be easier.

And when two machines with the same 25-digit key start calling home, Microsoft knows you're jerking them around.

I don't know if they actually check that, or what they would do if they found it, but activation seems a little pointless without it.

You missed it. You don't have to have a 25 digit key. The installation gives you a 48 digit installation ID. That's what you give to MS. They give you 48 digits back, and you're legit. I still don't understand how they can do that without asking for your information or at least the supposedly legitimate product key.

PC_Tool - Would you mind sharing the support number you use? I always talk to Najib when I call support and I need to call them because I had a m/b die on another PC, and I am about to replace it (unit has OEM Windows XP). I prefer to talk with someone I can understand. Thanks.