What's the difference?

[bramma]

Hey, guys. Well, this may seem like a dumb question, but what is the difference between microsoft windows xp oem and the retail version?

 

[Matthias99]

The retail version comes with a box and manual?

Note, however, that some "OEM" operating systems are the kind that you can only (re)install on an OEM system -- it doesn't come with a full license that allows you to install it onto a different computer. I don't know if MS still does this with WinXP -- the last Dell laptop I got came with a full XP Pro license.

 

[Arsynic]

And if I'm not mistaken, you have to purchase hardware with the OEM version.