windows 7 - oem or retail

[alintatoc]

Hi everybody

What is the way to tell the differences between OEM and retail version, when it comes to windows 7? I am referring to the package...
Mine looks like this, I got it today...

[minidv2dvd]

retail version come in the box you picture. oem is a little square disk package.

[edDV]

Note that Win7 "Family Pack" was released yesterday.

3 Home Premium Upgrades for $149 (upgrade from existing XP or Vista).
http://store.microsoft.com/microsoft/Windows-7-Home-Premium-Upgrade-Family-Pack/product/87DFFF11
http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Premium-Upgrade-Family/dp/B002MV2MG0/ref=sr_1_...6325481&sr=1-1

[alintatoc]

retail version come in the box you picture. oem is a little square disk package.

So if I have the box, I have the retail one...good I was a bit confused with Oem and Retail but now should be clear

[bendixG15]

Note that Win7 "Family Pack" was released yesterday.

3 Home Premium Upgrades for $149 (upgrade from existing XP or Vista).
http://store.microsoft.com/microsoft/Windows-7-Home-Premium-Upgrade-Family-Pack/product/87DFFF11
http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Premium-Upgrade-Family/dp/B002MV2MG0/ref=sr_1_...6325481&sr=1-1

Thats very tempting for my house ... but I'm going to wait for reports on how it actually works ... as far as the 3 installations is concerned.

[edDV]

retail version come in the box you picture. oem is a little square disk package.

So if I have the box, I have the retail one...good I was a bit confused with Oem and Retail but now should be clear

The retail upgrade can be moved computer to computer to upgrade an activated XP or Vista (one at a time). The OEM "full" version gets tied to a particular computer.

[jagabo]

The retail upgrade can be moved computer to computer to upgrade an activated XP or Vista (one at a time). The OEM "full" version gets tied to a particular computer.

How does this differ in practice? Everyone with OEM just calls Microsoft and says they upgraded a few components or replaced a defective motherboard and they are allowed to activate. What's the difference with the retail package? Do you not have to call Microsoft? Or you just can admit it's a new computer when you call?

[edDV]

The retail upgrade can be moved computer to computer to upgrade an activated XP or Vista (one at a time). The OEM "full" version gets tied to a particular computer.

How does this differ in practice? Everyone with OEM just calls Microsoft and says they upgraded a few components or replaced a defective motherboard and they are allowed to activate. What's the difference with the retail package? Do you not have to call Microsoft? Or you just can admit it's a new computer when you call?

In the first OEM case, it will stop working and if it fails to auto activate, you need to convince Microsoft that it is the same computer. It is up to them.

In the upgrade case, you need to deactivate computer A and then activate computer B. This is allowed under the terms of service, or at least was. In the upgrade case you need to be upgrading from an activated XP or Vista.

This is why it is extremely useful to have a "full retail" version of XP or Vista that can be moved computer to computer.

[minidv2dvd]

home also includes "support", oem you are on your own.

can you update a winXP machine to w7? i thought if you had xp you needed to re-format the boot drive.

[edDV]

home also includes "support", oem you are on your own.

can you update a winXP machine to w7? i thought if you had xp you needed to re-format the boot drive.

Still not announced but for the Win7 RC (free trial) you needed to format the XP partition to upgrade. Vista could be upgraded in place.

The "upgrade version" refers to licence not installtion.

[rallynavvie]

FYI when you're an end-user installing the OEM copy you have a lot more flexibility with that license. Unless you're switching computers an awful lot they're just going to let you move the license to your new computer as you replace it. It's system builders and enterprises that need to really monitor the EULA for an OEM copy.

I know they've updated the EULA since way back when because I recall people carrying over hard drives or even just a cable from the previous computer because the EULA stated it was tied to the hardware it was installed on. That term "hardware" had a very metaphoric translation

[edDV]

I have a couple of computers with the home built "OEM" license.

I also switch drives, memory and graphics cards on a project by project basis. This has triggered a deactivation (30 day warning) a few times. Sometimes the online activation works. Other times I've needed to call M$ to explain what happened. After this happened a couple of times, I think they categorized me as a "hobbiest" that swaps components often and I haven't had another deactivation.

They have never questioned my moving a "full retail" version or an "upgrade retail" version.

[jagabo]

All my XP licenses are from when I was an active MSDN developer. I've never had to call to activate. I don't know if this is because they are equivalent to retail licenses and my upgrades have been infrequent enough, or if there is a special developer license.

[edDV]

I think they treat developer and educational versions as "Full retail" versions but I'm not sure of that. If so they can be moved computer to computer.

The Win7 RC will expire some time next year.

[Noahtuck]

The retail upgrade can be moved computer to computer to upgrade an activated XP or Vista (one at a time). The OEM "full" version gets tied to a particular computer.

How does this differ in practice? Everyone with OEM just calls Microsoft and says they upgraded a few components or replaced a defective motherboard and they are allowed to activate. What's the difference with the retail package? Do you not have to call Microsoft? Or you just can admit it's a new computer when you call?

In the first OEM case, it will stop working and if it fails to auto activate, you need to convince Microsoft that it is the same computer. It is up to them.

Yep, and i have posted about this before.

M$ would not do it for an e-machine and e-machine wanted money!!
Because i replaced a bad motherboard.

[jagabo]

I think they treat developer and educational versions as "Full retail" versions but I'm not sure of that. If so they can be moved computer to computer.

Yes, I've moved them from computer to computer many times. And gone through motherboard + CPU + RAM upgrades. Never had to call.

The Win7 RC will expire some time next year.

Win 7 64 bit RC is installed on one removable drive only so I can test a few things here and there (mostly support for people's questions here). That computer usually boots XP Pro and is otherwise only for playing games. So it doesn't really matter to me if the RC expires.

[budz]

The RTM version of W7 expires next March. I bought the OEM version of W7 home premium 32 bit to use with my mini itx system. All of my computers run XP PRO corporate version. I never did have to call MS to activate when changing out mobo, ram and cpu.

[ocgw]

The RTM version of W7 expires next March. I bought the OEM version of W7 home premium 32 bit to use with my mini itx system. All of my computers run XP PRO corporate version. I never did have to call MS to activate when changing out mobo, ram and cpu.

Ehh...RC worked well for me. RTM was cool too, but the retail is nice, like how they intergrated netfilx streaming movies (preffered the old msnbc.com) lol

Win7 Launch party duties was worth the bother lol

ps. Launch Party host and I had to call them to activate my new installation ("oh brother")

ocgw

peace

[paulw]

Does anyone these days worry about the OEM rules??

[edDV]

Does anyone these days worry about the OEM rules??

You certainly do if they think you are a business. Worse than the IRS they are.

[ocgw]

Does anyone these days worry about the OEM rules??

Oh yeah sure, I got 5 PC's so i pay them $2K for 5 licenses

trust me

ocgw

peace

[Noahtuck]

Does anyone these days worry about the OEM rules??

NOPE!!!!!

If they think they are going to screw me twice, let alone once....

Does anyone these days worry about the OEM rules??

Oh yeah sure, I got 5 PC's so i pay them $2K for 5 licenses

trust me

ocgw

peace

Muah hahahahahaha!!!!!!

[rallynavvie]

I think there's a difference here between using a license in multiple concurrent instances and re-using a key when you upgrade to a new machine and get rid of the old one. While I don't much care for M$ and certainly vehemently despise their enterprise licensing model I still pay for every OS I run on my systems. Whether that be through TechNet or buying OEM copies I still maintain the spirit of the EULA.

That being said you shouldn't have to worry about moving your OEM license from old to new computer as long as you aren't using the license on multiple computers at the same time. However if you're a business then you should stick to a more literal translation of the EULA and get a new copy of Windows for any new machine (generally considered to be the motherboard).

I have two copies of W7 Ultimate in the mail and the third was downloaded from TNP for my personal use (even though I'm probably not going to make W7 my main OS until all of my applications offer direct support for it). At work I have more Windows licenses available to me than I could ever need (and my MSDN subscription is strictly for work).

[edDV]

I go to extremes to stay legit with all software since I have a mix of personal and business machines at home plus other business machines external.

Yet I still get those generic warning letters from M$. Like the IRS they probably know everything about you.

With Mac OSX, you are paying the full license up front with the hardware. The upgrades require a valid host.

[Noahtuck]

I go to extremes to stay legit with all software

Yeah well when they try to charge you full price 3 times for the same OS software and version, you already paid for, it is legitimate & on the same machine, because their sub-par "equipment" failed, you may change your mind.


Because if anyone thinks E-machines, DELL, Gateway, ect., sell's top of the line components, just because they are paying a premium for them, are only fooling themselves.......

Screw M$ & E-machines!!!!

[minidv2dvd]

i'm not sure i would group dell with e-machines and gateway, but i know what you mean. but also i fail to see how m.s. is to be faulted for the failure of a hardware maker. if a new build is defined as a new motherboard, as is usually the case, m.s. does have the right to refuse a new license. you may have a beef with e-machines (are they really still in business????), but yelling at m.s. service "techs" who make minimum wage probably wasn't called for. if e-machines failed to live up to their warranty report them to your state's attorney general, they have consumer protection divisions.

[Noahtuck]

i'm not sure i would group dell with e-machines and gateway,

Prebuilt scammers are prebuilt scammers, regrdless of their name.....
8)

Not even one week ago i had someone bring me their "DELL" pc because it crashed bad!!

I fixed it up and returned it to them yesterday.
Today i saw him and he said, and i quote, It is running faster then it did the first day i bought it!!!!
And it is 3-4 years old!!!

And all i thought in my head was , you gotta be kidding me!!!!!!
It is was slow compared to even my old PC!!!!!!!!!!


But then i did not load it with the 100 pieces of bloatware that come with most prebuilt PC's!!!!
And i wont even go into the the sub-par components they build them with to maximize their profits!!!

[budz]

Going OT to rant!
Well, I'm because Newegg didn't ship my W7 until yesterday. I got a email from them on Tuesday saying it was shipped out. I contacted UPS who told me Newegg didn't ship it out till yesterday which is why I'm not getting it till 10/27/09. I'm thinking newegg couldn't get all their pre-orders out in a timely manner. Or they couldn't ship it out until the official release date which was yesterday. None the less I'm not choosing UPS again....I was trying to be el cheapo since my job began furloughs today (twice a month= 8% reduction in pay).
On the bright side at least I still have a job and didn't get laid off.

[minidv2dvd]

i'm not sure i would group dell with e-machines and gateway,

Prebuilt scammers are prebuilt scammers, regrdless of their name.....
8)

Not even one week ago i had someone bring me their "DELL" pc because it crashed bad!!

I fixed it up and returned it to them yesterday.
Today i saw him and he said, and i quote, It is running faster then it did the first day i bought it!!!!
And it is 3-4 years old!!!

And all i thought in my head was , you gotta be kidding me!!!!!!
It is was slow compared to even my old PC!!!!!!!!!!


But then i did not load it with the 100 pieces of bloatware that come with most prebuilt PC's!!!!
And i wont even go into the the sub-par components they build them with to maximize their profits!!!

most dell's i've worked on seem ok in quality of components. when something fails it's usually a hard drive, or ram. unlike some others. their custom motherboards seem to hold up ok.

but i had a women bring in her 13 month old compaq laptop recently. m.b. failure. i could get a replacement m.b. and fix it for about $500 with labor. not worth it, so i told her to buy a new one. she did, a dell, lasted a week and a key broke off the keyboard. not popped off but snapped under normal female typing. she returned it and got a full refund from best buy. who makes anything any better? toshiba? sony? i don't know what to recommend anymore. i'd build an ocz custom laptop for myself but not any normal person.

[edDV]

The M$ store site linked above shipped my $49.95 Win 7 Home Premium pre-order UPS for arrival today. True enough, it was there when I got home.

Earlier this week I ordered the Win 7 "Family Pack" from Amazon for $149.95 + CA tax and free shipping. It shipped today and should arrive next week.