oem software

[pinhead]

I need to get a couple of copies of word 2000 for someone and did a search for it at pricegrabber.com, which returned some places that sell oem software. Among them bigclearance.com, dirtcheapsoftware.com, and ebargainsoftware.com among a few others. Anyone ever use these?

 

[rudder]

oem software is intended to be sold with systems like Dell, gateway, or any other manufacturer. They are the exact same as retail except they don't come in a box and don't have a printed manual.

 

[pinhead]

I'm familiar with the oem part I'm kinda wondering about these companies, I've never heard of any of them.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Checked Resellerratings? Also, if they're offering to sell you OEM without hardware it may be fake/pirate or illegally imported from outside the country. You might want to buy from a reputable company like newegg or mwave.

 

[NicColt]

Microsoft has said that all OEM copies of word 2000 or office 2000 sold or re-sold without a system is pirated software.

Edit: I should have said "illegal" instead of pirated.

 

[tcsenter]

Microsoft has said that all OEM copies of word 2000 or office 2000 sold or re-sold without a system is pirated software.

Well of course Microsoft never stated any such thing, which is why Microsoft doesn't do anything about the second and third tier market sales of their OEM software and operating systems, even though they could if they really wanted to. Microsoft makes money on every authentic MS OEM CD sold. It cannot be 'pirated' if the product is authentic.

The software license and user rights becomes invalid when not sold with hardware, but Microsoft doesn't particularly care about that either since it doesn't support OEM software.

 

[jmorrell]

I bought an OEM version of Word 2002 for around $30 (can't recall exactly where. It came in a sealed envelope with a MS hologram CD and MS certificate of authenticity. I had no problems installing it or registering it with Microsoft (registration is required for Office XP products). The only thing you don't get is the crappy manual.

 

[NicColt]

>It cannot be 'pirated' if the product is authentic

I shouldn't have said pirated I should have said illegal. Even if it's Authentic, all Microsoft OEM software licenses say that this product is not for resale. By buying or reselling OEM software, the buyer and the seller are breaking that license agreement even if it's in a sealed envelope with a MS hologram CD and MS certificate of authenticity. You may have an Authentic software but the licensing of that product is not legal.

For example, since I work for a MS partner I can buy from Microsoft Canada a full version of XP (not the upgrade) for $83 Cdn. It's a sealed box with a certificate of authenticity from Microsoft Canada. However Future Shop.ca sells the same thing for $479 Cdn. LEGALLY - If I use it then it's legal, however if I sell that box, it then becomes an illegal product.

Having said this, MS has bigger fish to fry. It's not in their best interest at the moment to pursue those that think that they have authentic OEM software but it is in their interest to pursue those that are selling illegal software in mass.

Here's why you got it for $30. I used to work at a place where we had over 400 employees/computers every time we purchased computers to replace older ones, they came with OEM OS and Office software but we installed the OS and Office suites from a network install leaving 400 OEM sealed licenses, we collected them and put them a box and stored them. Lot's of companies do this, now comes the unscrupulous employee who finds a box with 400 OEM OS and Office licenses and see gold. He then goes on ebay and the like and starts selling them at incredible low prices over a period of time. 400 times OS and Office = 800 x $30 = $24,000. This guy just stole $24K and leaves the entire company running what they believe is legal software. It also leaves the buyer who bought an Office suite for $30 thinking that he has purchased legal software when in reality the owners of that software is the company.