OEM or Retail

[JRB]

What are the advantages of using a retail version instead of an OEM version
?

Regards & TIA

 

[Galen]

What are the advantages of using a retail version instead of an OEM

version ?

Regards & TIA

Retail:

Support from Microsoft directly.
Transfer to a new PC when the old one dies.

OEM:

Price

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/ http://kgiii.info/

"Chance has put in our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and
its solution is its own reward." - Sherlock Holmes

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Retail: Can do "upgrades" even though not an upgrade version (???)

 

[Donny Broome]

You can save a bundle of money by using OEM. Most new PCs use OEM versions
of Windows. If you've been able to live with that type of licensing in the
past, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to live with it now.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

What are the advantages of using a retail version instead of an OEM

version ?

Although the software on a generic OEM version is the same as on a retail
CD, OEM versions come with the following disadvantages:

The OEM version can only legally be sold with hardware, although these days,
any piece of hardware, even a power cord, qualifies. 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:

1. 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.

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

3. 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.

The first of those is the deal breaker for me. Since a retail upgrade
version can be bought for very close to the same price as an OEM version, I
always recommend that upgrade version instead of an OEM one. Worst case, if
you don't own a qualifying product to upgrade from, you can buy a used copy
of Windows 98 very inexpensively on eBay.

 

[Galen]

In Yves Leclerc had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Retail: Can do "upgrades" even though not an upgrade version (???)

Ah - another one for retail.

(In other words, yes. Though I seem to recall seeing OEM that had upgrade
options and no, I don't mean OEM XP Upgrade but instead had an upgrade
option in the full install... I /think/ it was an option with the Panasonic
laptop? I could be mistaken or it could have been the XP was pretty new back
then.

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/ http://kgiii.info/

"Chance has put in our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and
its solution is its own reward." - Sherlock Holmes

 

[Al Dykes]

You can save a bundle of money by using OEM. Most new PCs use OEM versions
of Windows. If you've been able to live with that type of licensing in the
past, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to live with it now.

Just make sure you get a full Microsoft distribution CD (or an
identical one with a PC manufacturer's brand on it.) Recovery CDs are
a PITA for a machine you indent to keep past the next service pack
release.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

What are the advantages of using a retail version instead of an OEM version
?

Regards & TIA

There are some very important reasons that an OEM license costs so
much less than a retail license. OEM licenses are very limited:

1) OEM versions must be sold with a piece of non-peripheral
hardware (normally a motherboard or hard drive, if not an entire PC,
although Microsoft has greatly relaxed the hardware criteria for WinXP)
and are _permanently_ bound to the first PC on which they are installed.
An OEM license, once installed, is not legally transferable to another
computer under any circumstances. This is the main reason some people
avoid OEM versions; if the PC dies or is otherwise disposed of (even
stolen), you cannot re-use your OEM license on a new PC. The only
legitimate way to transfer the ownership of an OEM license is to
transfer ownership of the entire PC.

2) Microsoft provides no free support for OEM versions. If you
have any problems that require outside assistance, your only recourse is
to contact the manufacturer/builder of the PC or the vendor of the OEM
license. This would include such issues as lost a Product Key or
replacing damaged installation media. (Microsoft does make allowances
for those instances when you can prove that the OEM has gone out of
business.) This doesn't mean that you can't download patches and
service packs from Microsoft -- just no free telephone or email support
for problems with the OS.

3) An OEM CD cannot be used to perform an upgrade of an earlier
OS, as it was designed to be installed _only_ upon an empty hard drive.
It can still be used to perform a repair installation (a.k.a. an
in-place upgrade) of an existing WinXP installation.

4) If the OEM CD was designed by a specific manufacturer, such as
eMachines, Sony, Dell, Gateway, etc., it will most likely only install
on the same brand of PC, as an additional anti-piracy feature. Further,
such CDs are severely customized to contain only the minimum of device
drivers, and a lot of extra nonsense, that the manufacturer feels
necessary for the specific model of PC for which the CD was designed. To
be honest, such CDs should _not_ be available on the open market; but,
if you're shopping someplace on-line like eBay, swap meets, or computer
fairs, there's often no telling what you're buying until it's too late.
The "generic" OEM CDs, such as are manufactured by Microsoft and sold
to small systems builders, don't have this particular problem, though,
and are pretty much the same as their retail counterparts, apart from
the licensing, support, and upgrading restrictions.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



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

 

[Ron Martell]

What are the advantages of using a retail version instead of an OEM version
?

Regards & TIA

1. Transferability
OEM Licenses are permanently locked to the first computer they are
installed on and may not be legitimately transferred to another
computer under any circumstances, even if the original computer is
stolen, lost, destroyed, or scrapped. Retail licenses for Windows XP
can be moved from computer to computer to computer as the owner sees
fit, provided that it is only ever installed on a single computer at
any given point in time.

2. Repair and Recovery (hardware failure)
Many OEM licenses use the "BIOS Locked" (SLP) system which are
self-activating when installed on a computer with a motherboard BIOS
from that specific OEM. However in the event of a motherboard failure
the replacement motherboard must also be from the original OEM or the
Windows will not be able to be activated.

3. Repair and Recovery (software)
Many OEM versions come only with a System Recovery disk (or hidden
hard drive partition) rather than a full installation CD. This often
means that many problem solving or error recovery procedures,
specifically those that require either booting to the Windows XP
Recovery Console or doing a Repair Install (also called an Upgrade In
Place), will not be possible with these OEM versions.

Hope this explains the situation.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."