TOPIC: ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER
Buying OEM Vista?
27th January 2007A few days ago, I mused over buying OEM Vista if/when the time came for me to do an upgrade. Then, I came to the conclusion that OEM was a no-no unless you bought it installed on a system. In an article on the PC Magazine website, things seem not to be as cut and dried as that. Apparently, the perceived wisdom is that if you are building a system for yourself, and you agree to provide all support as the system builder to yourself as the system user, then everything is OK under the licence. Also, there appears to be a trend among resellers that it is not them who are subject to the terms of the licence, but the customers who purchase the OEM software. It is all just a little bit confusing. Draw your own conclusions…
Vista is coming…
24th January 20072007-01-30 (next Tuesday) is given as the date for Windows Vista's launch to the wider world. It's an expensive beast, so I think that I'll wait for a while and take the plunge when all the hype has died down. When compared with retail prices, it appears that a TechNet Plus subscription would be a good move, particularly as it would be useful to have an awareness of up-and-coming Microsoft Technology for my work. However, what looks really tempting is the OEM option. There are caveats with this, especially since Microsoft changed the licensing arrangements so that OEM Windows should only be bought installed on a complete PC. This has always been the case with its server and office software, but buying a component such as a CPU or hard drive once was sufficient for OEM Windows. I suppose that I'll keep waiting then...