Buying a copy of Windows - I'm confused

[MikeB]

I want to buy a layaway copy of Windows XP Pro. I don't need to
install it right away, but I want to have one, just in case I get a
new computer and XP isn't available at that time anymore.

Obviously I want a legal copy.

As far as I can see when searching, I can find the following types:

Full version (about $114-128)
OEM version ($90-110)
Media only ($29)
License + media ($135)

So what's legal with what?

Since I sometimes build/upgrade my own computers, I believe I can
legally install the OEM version on such a modified computer, right?

But what is the media-only option? What does that not have that makes
it so cheap?

And what makes the License+media option so expensive?

Thanks for any clarification.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

You need to be careful and purchase Windows XP from
an established, reputable source. Anyone offering a
"media only" version is attempting to sell you a
non-genuine version which does not include a
genuine license nor a Certificate of Authenticity.


What to Know before you Buy:
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/howtotell/content.aspx?displaylang=en&pg=prepurchase

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience -
Windows Vista Enthusiast

---------------------------------------------------------------

:

I want to buy a layaway copy of Windows XP Pro. I don't need to
install it right away, but I want to have one, just in case I get a
new computer and XP isn't available at that time anymore.

Obviously I want a legal copy.

As far as I can see when searching, I can find the following types:

Full version (about $114-128)
OEM version ($90-110)
Media only ($29)
License + media ($135)

So what's legal with what?

Since I sometimes build/upgrade my own computers, I believe I can
legally install the OEM version on such a modified computer, right?

But what is the media-only option? What does that not have that makes
it so cheap?

And what makes the License+media option so expensive?

Thanks for any clarification.

 

[Bob I]

It could be you don't get the media with the first two. The "media only"
is just that, no license, but you broke your CD and need another. be
sure to read the fine print as to what you are going to get.

 

[NTAdmin]

I want to buy a layaway copy of Windows XP Pro. I don't need to
install it right away, but I want to have one, just in case I get a
new computer and XP isn't available at that time anymore.

Obviously I want a legal copy.

As far as I can see when searching, I can find the following types:

Full version (about $114-128)
OEM version ($90-110)
Media only ($29)
License + media ($135)

So what's legal with what?

Since I sometimes build/upgrade my own computers, I believe I can
legally install the OEM version on such a modified computer, right?

But what is the media-only option? What does that not have that makes
it so cheap?

And what makes the License+media option so expensive?

Thanks for any clarification.

If I understand correctly,
Full Version means that you can call Microsoft for help in
certain circumstances.
OEM means that whoever you install it for calls you for help.
Media only is an install disk for someone who has a license
but lost the disk.
Media plus license I haven't dealt with. Can't help you there.

 

[R. McCarty]

Full - 100% compatible for any use on a single PC.
OEM - New PC, non transferable, no upgrades.
Media Only - Just the install disk - No Product Key
*There are situations like businesses where a disk
only purchase is needed.
License-&-Media - Disk and Product Key, no idea of
whether it's Retail, OEM or upgrade

The vendors I deal with are having a run on Windows XP.
For most users I'd recommend checking with both Newegg
and Tiger Direct for XP. Avoid eBay and Craig's list as
purchases there are always risky when it comes to PK type
software.

 

[Alias]

I want to buy a layaway copy of Windows XP Pro. I don't need to
install it right away, but I want to have one, just in case I get a
new computer and XP isn't available at that time anymore.

Obviously I want a legal copy.

As far as I can see when searching, I can find the following types:

Full version (about $114-128)
OEM version ($90-110)
Media only ($29)
License + media ($135)

So what's legal with what?

Since I sometimes build/upgrade my own computers, I believe I can
legally install the OEM version on such a modified computer, right?

But what is the media-only option? What does that not have that makes
it so cheap?

And what makes the License+media option so expensive?

Thanks for any clarification.

You need to shop at a reputable place like this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=368&name=Operating-Systems

Alias

 

[Big_Al]

I want to buy a layaway copy of Windows XP Pro. I don't need to
install it right away, but I want to have one, just in case I get a
new computer and XP isn't available at that time anymore.

Obviously I want a legal copy.

As far as I can see when searching, I can find the following types:

Full version (about $114-128)
OEM version ($90-110)
Media only ($29)
License + media ($135)

So what's legal with what?

Since I sometimes build/upgrade my own computers, I believe I can
legally install the OEM version on such a modified computer, right?

But what is the media-only option? What does that not have that makes
it so cheap?

And what makes the License+media option so expensive?

Thanks for any clarification.

I'm surprised the later two don't come with explanations of content.
I'm surprised the web pages don't all come with explanations.
My guess is the first two are what you want. IIRC OEM means you take on
the support for the software, you can't run to mommy (MS).

Since media only is $29, I'd also guess its a CD without the CDKey.
Basically a replacement media for your original. You use your old key.

The last I can't guess at.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I want to buy a layaway copy of Windows XP Pro. I don't need to
install it right away, but I want to have one, just in case I get a
new computer and XP isn't available at that time anymore.

Obviously I want a legal copy.

As far as I can see when searching, I can find the following types:

Full version (about $114-128)

For the long term, this would be your best option.

OEM version ($90-110)
Media only ($29)
License + media ($135)

So what's legal with what?

They're all legal, under the proper circumstances.

Since I sometimes build/upgrade my own computers, I believe I can
legally install the OEM version on such a modified computer, right?

Certainly. But remember that an OEM license, once installed, is not
legally transferable to another computer under _any_ circumstances.
That's the primary reason it's so much less expensive than the retail
license.

But what is the media-only option? What does that not have that makes
it so cheap?

It has ho license; you're buying nothing but the CD. You would already
have to have an unused license (Product Key) for this to do you any good.

And what makes the License+media option so expensive?

That's the Volume License, normally sold to businesses in minimum lots
of 5.




--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[Tim Slattery]

I want to buy a layaway copy of Windows XP Pro. I don't need to
install it right away, but I want to have one, just in case I get a
new computer and XP isn't available at that time anymore.

Obviously I want a legal copy.

As far as I can see when searching, I can find the following types:

Full version (about $114-128)

This will allow you to do anything: install on a new machine, upgrade
an older system, reinstall on another machine if you remove it from
the original one. You also get support from MS.

OEM version ($90-110)

Installs only on a new machine (no OS currently installed). Will not
upgrade an older system, cannot be moved to another machine even if
the first one ceases to exist. No support from MS.

Media only ($29)

Just a disk, no license. If you load from the disk, you won't be able
to activate.

License + media ($135)

Like the full version, I guess. It depends on what kind of license.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I want to buy a layaway copy of Windows XP Pro. I don't need to
install it right away, but I want to have one, just in case I get a
new computer and XP isn't available at that time anymore.

Obviously I want a legal copy.

As far as I can see when searching, I can find the following types:

Full version (about $114-128)
OEM version ($90-110)
Media only ($29)
License + media ($135)

So what's legal with what?

Stay away from that very cheap "Media only" copy. It sounds bootleg.

You essentially have three choices:

1. OEM

2. Retail Full

3. Retail Upgrade

The OEM version is normally the cheapest of the three. Although if you
get a complete generic OEM version, it contains the same software, it
has the following disadvantages as compared with the retail version:

a. Its license ties it permanently to the first computer it's
installed on. It can never legally be moved to another computer, sold,
or given away (except with the original computer).

b. It can only do a clean installation, not an upgrade.

c. Microsoft provides no support for OEM versions. You can't call them
with a problem, but instead have to get any needed support from your
OEM; that support may range anywhere between good and non-existent. Or
you can get support elsewhere, such as in these newsgroups.

It's that first disadvantage, a, that's the deal-breaker, as far as
I'm concerned. It makes it a very bad bargain.

The Retail Full version is the most flexible of the three choices, but
it's also the most expensive.

The third choice, the Retail Upgrade, however, is the one I normally
recommend. It usually costs only slightly more than an OEM version,
and comes without the OEM version's restrictions. Moreover, despite
what many people think, Upgrade versions *can* do clean installations
as long as you own a CD of a previous qualifying version to show it
when prompted. Most people have such CDs, but worst case, if you
don't, one can be bought used inexpensively someplace like eBay.

 

[Phisherman]

I want to buy a layaway copy of Windows XP Pro. I don't need to
install it right away, but I want to have one, just in case I get a
new computer and XP isn't available at that time anymore.

Obviously I want a legal copy.

As far as I can see when searching, I can find the following types:

Full version (about $114-128)
OEM version ($90-110)
Media only ($29)
License + media ($135)

So what's legal with what?

You can use the OEM version with the home-built computer which is what
I did. I bought from Zipzoomfly, but Newegg is good too. These
companies are legit.

Since I sometimes build/upgrade my own computers, I believe I can
legally install the OEM version on such a modified computer, right?
Yes.


But what is the media-only option? What does that not have that makes
it so cheap?

Media only is the disc minus the product key and no manual. You could
install this version on a (questionable) computer to see if it works,
then buy a license separately within the 30 days.

And what makes the License+media option so expensive?

The product key (license) is what you are buying. Protect your
product key, it is tied to your unique computer.

 

[Anteaus]

Then again, what's legal anyway? Have these T&C ever been tested in court?

AFAICS they are purely one-sided stipulations made by Microsoft, there has
(to my knowledge) never been any validation of them by any legal authority.
The bottom line is that in most countries you DO need a license to use
software, but there is no certainty as to whether legal chicanery in T&C
(some of which may violate consumer rights) could actually be enforced. Some
of these conditions of use may actually be illegal in some countries.

As regards OEM copies being transferred, is there an accepted legal
definition of what makes a computer a 'different' one? I suspect not.

A topical subject as so many people are finding preinstalled Vista
unsatisfactory. Do they legally have to pay again for XP? MS say Yes, local
authorities I've asked say that downgrading software is legal, so who is
right?

If MS are right, that gives rise to a crazy situation. Create a mediocre
product, force computer buyers to pay for that product as part of their
purchase, and then insist that the buyer pays a second time for a product
that works. It actually becomes the case that the worse the product, the more
profitable it is. :-/

For that mattter, if Vista fails to perform satisfactorily, is it legal to
replace Vista Home with XP Corporate, being as XP Home would not activate,
thus the option of downgrading to the same variant of the product (an action
which AFAICS would be legal under our law) is prevented by the activation
feature? Good question.

 

[HeyBub]

As regards OEM copies being transferred, is there an accepted legal
definition of what makes a computer a 'different' one? I suspect not.

If nothing else, the "reasonable person" test would suffice.

I saw a hatchet advertised on Ebay. The claim was that this was the very
hatchet George Washington used to chop down the famous cherry tree.

In describing the hatchet, the owner did say that in almost 300 years, the
handle had been replaced eight times and the head three times, but other
than that, it was 100% original.

 

[Anteaus]

Exactly my point, like a hatchet a computer is of a modular design, intended
to allow any part to be replaced when it wears out.

MS I believe say that changing the mobo for one of a different type makes it
a different computer. Yet, I've seen two mobos sold under the same typenumber
that have radically different chipsets. Manufacturers do things like that!
So, even a like-for-like mobo replacement as a repair could land you in
violation of this.

Even more illogically, the COA sticker is on the case, not the mobo. So in
principle you could swap-out a damaged case and still be legal, but no longer
have a license sticker, and therefore have a hard job proving it! That makes
no sense at all.

Have hit the latter problem several times, notably with case doors
breaking, and once with a case which took a nonstandard PSU. The PSU failed,
and the only sensible option was to swap the hardware into a standard case.

 

[Plato]

Then again, what's legal anyway? Have these T&C ever been tested in court?

As far as I know, MS wants to avoid a court ruling on such.

 

[Anteaus]

Undesrstandably, as despite the calibre of their lawyers they might just lose
this one. Although, it may happen anyway:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/19/eulas_unfair_investigation/

When EULAs were on paper, there was a limit to the smallness of print or the
amount of paper that could reasonably be included with the product. Thus,
though a major chore, it was actually possible to read the T&C/EULA.

Now with electronic distribution, EULAs can be anything up to several MB in
size, hundreds of pages if required. this makes it possible to hide
conditions that you don't want the buyer to see inside such a mass of
meaningless legal gobbledygook that it's physically impossible to spot the
part that matters. If you find that the unfair terms are still being spotted
by purchasers, you simply increase the EULA to 10,000 pages of 'padding.'
It's a kind of steganography, I guess.

 

[Michael]

I want to buy a layaway copy of Windows XP Pro. I don't need to
install it right away, but I want to have one, just in case I get a
new computer and XP isn't available at that time anymore.

Obviously I want a legal copy.

As far as I can see when searching, I can find the following types:

Full version (about $114-128)
OEM version ($90-110)
Media only ($29)
License + media ($135)

So what's legal with what?

Since I sometimes build/upgrade my own computers, I believe I can
legally install the OEM version on such a modified computer, right?

But what is the media-only option? What does that not have that makes
it so cheap?

And what makes the License+media option so expensive?

Thanks for any clarification.

can I buy an x64 copy of xp

 

[Big_Al]

can I buy an x64 copy of xp

Yes, if you have the money and can find someone selling one. I see
them at Newegg.