Vista's release all about EULA.

[crossrode]

Well, have read over forum after forum and found Vista's EULA (End User License Agreement) is the major talk about Microsoft's latest and greatest. Some are saying Microsoft can not possibly deny you use of their Vista OEM's by not letting the end user upgrade or change the hardware of his computer and continue to use the OS on a 'new or different' machine. Seems to be the topic of the day as well as the dominant topic of discussion surrounding the release of Vista. I'm a bit confused by it all.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: crossrode
Well, have read over forum after forum and found Vista's EULA (End User License Agreement) is the major talk about Microsoft's latest and greatest. Some are saying Microsoft can not possibly deny you use of their Vista OEM's by not letting the end user upgrade or change the hardware of his computer and continue to use the OS on a 'new or different' machine. Seems to be the topic of the day as well as the dominant topic of discussion surrounding the release of Vista. I'm a bit confused by it all.

...it's not really much different than XP OEM licenses. Microsoft has always maintained that OEM licenses cannot be transferred to a different computer -- that's part of why they are sold at such steeply discounted prices to the OEMs.

The criteria they used for XP was that you could change out anything but the motherboard (except in cases where the motherboard had failed and you were unable to get an exact replacement.) Seems pretty logical to me; if you want a fully transferable license you need to buy the retail version. Very few people who actually buy prebuilt OEM systems are going to swap out the motherboard.

 

[Rebel7254]

You can't transfer the same copy of OEM Vista to another machine, that is going to be the rule. It makes absolutely no sense to have a version of Windows Vista at a signifcantly reduced price if the only drawback is the nifty box and user manual.

 

[nweaver]

Originally posted by: Rebel7254
You can't transfer the same copy of OEM Vista to another machine, that is going to be the rule. It makes absolutely no sense to have a version of Windows Vista at a signifcantly reduced price if the only drawback is the nifty box and user manual.

that logic is flawed...what is the difference between OEM floppy drive and retail floppy drive....box and manual, maybe cables.


Not that I disagree with what MS is doing. I just don't care.

 

[SunnyD]

It's the EULA, and whatever it says goes.

That is, until someone in Congress gets balls enough to call out software licensing practices... and while they're at it, how about fair use of music and video as well. But that won't happen, because politicians like their money too much.

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: crossrode
Some are saying Microsoft can not possibly deny you ....

MS owns the copywrite and patents so they can do what they want. When you buy software you don't BUY the software, you are buying a license to use it. The owner of the intellectual property retains ownership and the right to do whatever they want. If at any time you decide you no longer want to be bound by the EULA all you have to do is uninstall the software.

If things weren't this way MS and almost every other software maker out there would stop making software. You can't really generate revenue if there is no legal foundation that prevents everyone and their mother from making copies and doing whatever they want.

 

[crossrode]

I have a dozen or so seperate copies of Windows XP OEM. Over the years I have upgraded and rebuilt so many times I have to call microsoft for a new product key each time I reload any of the XP disks own. I usually say I have changed the MB and I am immediately given a one time activation key that allows me to go online and update my copy of XP. Is vista OEM exactly the same? maybe someone knows if Viista is and will be diffrent.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

This answers the question

 

[crossrode]

Excellent. Thank you very much for the link to the article. Looks to be much the same as the Windows XP activation process. It may be worth it to buy a Retail copy of Vista and avoid the heavily out-sourced phone personel! Fifty-four digits!? And then fifty-four new digits!

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: crossrode
I have a dozen or so seperate copies of Windows XP OEM. Over the years I have upgraded and rebuilt so many times I have to call microsoft for a new product key each time I reload any of the XP disks own. I usually say I have changed the MB and I am immediately given a one time activation key that allows me to go online and update my copy of XP. Is vista OEM exactly the same? maybe someone knows if Viista is and will be diffrent.

In many cases MS has allowed people to reactivate OEM XP licenses on a different system. However, their 'official' position is still that they don't have to. At some point they may toughen up their stance on this considerably.

Basically, these clauses are so that a company can't buy 1000 Dell computers, then turn around a few years later when they want to replace them and resell the OS licenses separately for $100+ each. Microsoft has generally been lenient on home users with OEM restrictions as long as you have a licensed copy per computer.

 

[Smilin]

The "which to buy" debate was certainly a good one with OEM versus Retail XP but right now I think it would be foolish for an enthusiast who builds their own rig to buy anything but retail Vista. Yeah, it's a large up front cost but that's it, you're done for years to come. Snag Ultimate while you're at it so you can pickup the $50 copies of home premium for your other rigs.

I'm biased as all get out of course but I still honestly think this is the best move for a lot of people.

 

[stash]

One thing to note about the family discount is that the $50 copies of Premium are upgrade only.

You can't* do a clean install with an upgrade disk, since setup no longer does any verification of qualifying media.

* However, you CAN do a clean install with an upgrade disk if you leave the field for the product key BLANK during setup. Thiis requires you to select the correct version during setup, otherwise when you enter your key after installation, it won't work.

 

[Smilin]

An important point. Thanks.

 

[pcgeek11]

Stash,

I have ordered a copy of the retail upgrade vista home premium from MS in the tech guarantee program. You stated that:

* However, you CAN do a clean install with an upgrade disk if you leave the field for the product key BLANK during setup. Thiis requires you to select the correct version during setup, otherwise when you enter your key after installation, it won't work.

Does this mean that I can install clean from the upgrade disk by not entering the key during the installation, and then enter the key I get with the upgrade when I go to activate the installation.

I'm thinking that this will bomb out as it will be looking for a " Full Retail CD key instead of an Upgrade CD key ".

Take Windows XP X64... You have to do a clean installation, how is that accomplished? Install XP X64 then start the installation from within XP environment?

pcgeek11

 

[Tom]

Originally posted by: stash
One thing to note about the family discount is that the $50 copies of Premium are upgrade only.

You can't* do a clean install with an upgrade disk, since setup no longer does any verification of qualifying media.

* However, you CAN do a clean install with an upgrade disk if you leave the field for the product key BLANK during setup. Thiis requires you to select the correct version during setup, otherwise when you enter your key after installation, it won't work.

I assume the "correct version" key you are talking about entering after installation is the XP key, is this going to work with a retail upgrade version of XP ?

Also, once an upgrade version of Vista is associated with a particular XP key, is it possible to unassociate it from that XP key, and associate it with a different one ? I don't mean for any nefarious purpose, but suppose I had two systems with XP, and I wanted to switch the Vista upgrade from one to the other.