Do oem system builders get free M/S s/w?

[me]

A college lecturer told me about a year ago that oem system builders were
supplied with free Microsoft s/w for installation on new systems. I'm
considering building PCs for sale direct to the public and wondered if this
was (still) the case. If so, does it apply to both Windows and Office?
Thx.

 

[Alan Smith]

Contact MS sales and ask. They would know, and make any decisions not
newsgroup participants.

 

[Jim Macklin]

No, it isn't true. When you build a computer "for sale" you
buy a Microsoft OS that is intended for such purpose. These
OEM Microsoft CDs are the same as a retail OS, except for
the license (EULA). OEM OS supplied by manufacturers, such
as Dell, HP or eMachines, are licensed to the maker and may
not have all the files, drivers or other features that come
with the full MS OS.
Attending some seminars presented by MS, often at colleges,
does sometimes include "free" software.
Often there is "trial software" included, but it is
available on-line (order) to anybody. 30 day software
trials.

If you build one to a few dozen computers, you'll probably
be buying software from a wholesale source, such as NewEgg
(in the USA) but if you intend to build thousands of
computers you will negotiate with MS for "your" deal and
prices.

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm



|A college lecturer told me about a year ago that oem system
builders were
| supplied with free Microsoft s/w for installation on new
systems. I'm
| considering building PCs for sale direct to the public and
wondered if this
| was (still) the case. If so, does it apply to both
Windows and Office?
| Thx.
|
|

 

[Wesley Vogel]

System builders receive lower priced versions.

Do you really think that an American business gives software away for free
to people that in turn sell it to the general public? I hope that your
major isn't Business.

I am saddened to see that the colleges in the UK are as screwed up as they
are in the US.

There may be some trial versions involved.

[[Trial software is a time-limited version of a Microsoft product; some
trial software does not expire but may have limited functionality or
features. You can order or download most trial software from Microsoft free
of charge (shipping charges may apply), install it on your computer, and use
it to decide whether you want to order a full version of the product. When
the trial period ends, you have no obligation to purchase.]]
http://www.microsoft.com/products/info/render.aspx?view=22&type=mnp&content=22/faq#EAAAA

Microsoft Trial Software Center
http://www.microsoft.com/products/i...ent=22/EvalCenterHome&ss=22/xslt/campaignhome

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Ken Blake]

In

A college lecturer told me about a year ago that oem system
builders
were supplied with free Microsoft s/w for installation on new
systems. I'm considering building PCs for sale direct to the
public
and wondered if this was (still) the case. If so, does it
apply to
both Windows and Office? Thx.

Your lecturer was either wrong or you misunderstood him. It was
never true.

 

[Ron Martell]

A college lecturer told me about a year ago that oem system builders were
supplied with free Microsoft s/w for installation on new systems. I'm
considering building PCs for sale direct to the public and wondered if this
was (still) the case. If so, does it apply to both Windows and Office?
Thx.

The only "free" software that is supplied to OEMs is the OEM
Preinstall Kit which allows them to put the Windows installation
files, plus hardware drivers and any application software that the OEM
may be including with the computer onto the hard drive.

OEMs buy their OEM versions from Microsoft at a price that is
considerably lower than the retail price for the equivalent software.
There are several reasons for this:
1. OEMs buy the software in quantity, normally a minimum of 3 to 5
licenses in a package.
2. Packaging is just shrink wrap plastic rather than a retail box.
3. and most importantly, in order to purchase OEM software the OEM
must sign a contract with Microsoft which provides that the OEM, and
not Microsoft, will be responsible for all support and product
warranty matters regarding these OEM versions.

Large volume OEMs actually produce their own "system recovery" disks
(or partitions) and just purchase a block of product keys from
Microsoft at prices that are even lower than the generic OEM software
prices.

As the provision for support costs comprises a substantial portion of
the retail cost of software this allows Microsoft to sell the OEM
versions at a price that is much less than retail product and still
make a comparable profit.

Hope this explains the situation.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

 

[me]

It originally came up in a discussion about who had XP. It transpired that
I was the only one who had actually bought it as opposed to having a
'pirate' copy. The lecturer suggested acquiring oem status as a means of
getting XP provided free - although it would obviously have to remain with
the system built to accommodate it. As he had several years experience in
the electronics industry, we had no major reason to doubt him at the time.

As for Wesley's comments: "Do you really think that an American business
gives software away for free to people that in turn sell it to the general
public? I hope that your major isn't Business." I hope your major isn't
sarcasm, Wes. Ever heard of drug dealers giving it away to get people
hooked? Given Microsoft's history of anti-competitive behaviour, it's not
entirely unreasonable to expect something along those lines.

Let me see - there's the $600m EU fine; in Japan, Microsoft were accused of
making companies such as NEC, Hitachi and Sony, who wanted to pre-install
its Windows software on their computers, sign away their right to sue, even
if they found Microsoft has used their patent technology; $1.6bn spent
settling class actions in the US in 2003; $750m settlement in the AOL case,
etc. Microsoft clearly believes that it has the financial muscle to distort
standard market practice and to buy its way out of a lawsuit. Enron and
WorldCom also showed us that the US leads the way in honest
trading...........(end of rant).

Guess I'll stick to Linux and OpenOffice ;-) Thanks for all replies.

 

[Ron Martell]

Guess I'll stick to Linux and OpenOffice ;-) Thanks for all replies.

Let's examine this magic mystical world of free software from a
practical point of view.

Software is written by programmers.
Programmers are living, breathing human beings.
And like all other humans programmers are addicted to eating.
Eating requires food.
Food costs money.

So unless there is some means by which the work done in creating the
software has the end result of providing the programmer(s) with money
to buy food, pretty soon there will be no more free programs.

As Heilein put it - TANSTAAFL - There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free
Lunch. Somewhere, somehow, somebody has to pay for it. Or there will
be no more lunch.


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

 

[HeyBub]

As for Wesley's comments: "Do you really think that an American
business gives software away for free to people that in turn sell it
to the general public? I hope that your major isn't Business." I
hope your major isn't sarcasm, Wes. Ever heard of drug dealers
giving it away to get people hooked? Given Microsoft's history of
anti-competitive behaviour, it's not entirely unreasonable to expect
something along those lines.

Let me see - there's the $600m EU fine; in Japan, Microsoft were
accused of making companies such as NEC, Hitachi and Sony, who wanted
to pre-install its Windows software on their computers, sign away
their right to sue, even if they found Microsoft has used their
patent technology;

An agreement not to sue is standard, often replaced with binding
arbitration. Nevertheless, such an agreement can be part of a contract and
NEC, Hitachi, etc., signed willingly after careful study by legions of
lawyers. What you didn't mention is that often these agreements not to sue
don't actually prevent anyone from suing! That's when the next clause of the
contract latches in: huge penalties if you DO sue.

$1.6bn spent settling class actions in the US in
2003; $750m settlement in the AOL case, etc.

Cost of doing business. In New York, the fine for illegal parking is $50/day
in areas where garages charge $100/day. Which would you choose?

Microsoft clearly
believes that it has the financial muscle to distort standard market
practice and to buy its way out of a lawsuit.

It does. Microsoft has over thirty billion dollars in CASH stuffed in a sock
somewhere. After several years of wrangling, Microsoft is now offering XP
without Media Player in Europe (XP N). Guess how many manufacturers plan to
install it?

Zero.

As one hardware manufacturer put it: "Our customers expect a system
delivered with the ability to reproduce music and video pre-installed." By
dragging out resolution of the issue for two years, Microsoft established
these expectations in the user's mind. Real Player is a goner.

Enron and WorldCom
also showed us that the US leads the way in honest
trading...........(end of rant).

I don't know much about WorldCom, but Enron is an exemplar of the business
model: buy low, sell high. It wasn't their trading practices that brought
them down, it was their back-office accounting.

Guess I'll stick to Linux and OpenOffice ;-) Thanks for all replies.

We wish you well on a knock-off of a 40-year old operating system originally
designed by a money-losing division of the local phone company and used
today primarily by those who believe the MS-DOS Command line is not obscure
enough.

 

[Kerry Brown]

We wish you well on a knock-off of a 40-year old operating system
originally designed by a money-losing division of the local phone company
and used today primarily by those who believe the MS-DOS Command line is
not obscure enough.

ROFL While I don't agree with you that is a very funny statement. It based
on Unix as Windows is based on CP/M, both of which are based on a mish mash
of what came before. Both have evolved. Both are viable today. Both need a
bit of training to get the best out of them.

Kerry

 

[bumtracks]

MS hands out free OS copies to some of their customers IT personnel for
their own personal use - usually when attending some function at MS HQ. My
brother sometimes gives me his free gates specials l) .

 

[Peter A. Stavrakoglou]

It originally came up in a discussion about who had XP. It transpired
that
I was the only one who had actually bought it as opposed to having a
'pirate' copy. The lecturer suggested acquiring oem status as a means of
getting XP provided free - although it would obviously have to remain with
the system built to accommodate it. As he had several years experience in
the electronics industry, we had no major reason to doubt him at the time.

I wonder what his "experience" in the electronics industry was. I'm not in
that business and even I know that MS does not give away copies of their
software free yo system builders. This lecturer is blowing a lot of smoke
up-your-you-know-what. Sounds to me like he's had very little experience in
the "real world" of business to make such a statement.

As for Wesley's comments: "Do you really think that an American business
gives software away for free to people that in turn sell it to the general
public? I hope that your major isn't Business." I hope your major isn't
sarcasm, Wes. Ever heard of drug dealers giving it away to get people
hooked? Given Microsoft's history of anti-competitive behaviour, it's not
entirely unreasonable to expect something along those lines.

Let me see - there's the $600m EU fine; in Japan, Microsoft were accused
of
making companies such as NEC, Hitachi and Sony, who wanted to pre-install
its Windows software on their computers, sign away their right to sue,
even
if they found Microsoft has used their patent technology; $1.6bn spent
settling class actions in the US in 2003; $750m settlement in the AOL
case,
etc. Microsoft clearly believes that it has the financial muscle to
distort
standard market practice and to buy its way out of a lawsuit. Enron and
WorldCom also showed us that the US leads the way in honest
trading...........(end of rant).

Guess I'll stick to Linux and OpenOffice ;-) Thanks for all replies.

I don't equate MS with a drug dealer trying to get me hooked on their
software. When I look at the value I get for my $ 189.00 copy of XP Pro,
it's not expensive. The OS is the software foundation of your system. When
users pay hundreds more for office suites, graphics programs, etc., the
price of Windows is not all that high. We're all free to choose what OS and
applications we want to run. For me Linux is not yet a viable option so
I'll gladly pony up the cash for a copy of Windows.