Master P said:
Hi,
I'm planning on buying a vista os and I'm wondering which one to buy:
- OEM
-Upgrade
As I still didn't get my upgrade disk from moduslink and I'm tired of
waiting.
And if possible try (shortly) to explain what are the main difrences from
the two above
I have a Acer Travelmate 6410 notebook
thanks,
Here's the real deal. I've been using OEM versions of Windows since Win95
without any problems. The ONLY difference between OEM and retail is
support. With retail you can call Microsoft and get support. With the OEM
version, since Original Equipment Manufacturers usually provide it with a
PC, they are the support contact. Other than that, they are the same. I
had originally bought OEM Vista Home, took it off, then installed Vista
Ultimate as an upgrade. With the OEM version you get the FULL version of
the software, unlike retail where you have to select between full or upgrade
versions. Actually, if you look at the DVD, all versions are there, but
the key is tied to the version you paid for and will install.
Other than the above, THEY ARE EXACTLY THE SAME. Save a few bucks and buy a
new OEM hard drive while you are at it. The money you save will allow you
to do that, and you can do a vanilla install anytime you want.
As for being tied to the CPU - all versions of Vista do gather some hardware
information about your system which is tied to your product key. If you use
up the three allowed installs, you will be told to call a number (Bopal,
India) toll free and obtain new product key. The ONLY thing they want to
know is if you are using the software on more than one PC, THAT'S ALL. The
reason Microsoft did it this way was to prevent customers from installing
it's software on more than one PC and one way to do that was to gather some
hardware fingerprints. I've had it bomb if I installed a new video card and
some other piece of hardware too. It's still no problem. Just call and get
a new key. I've received about three or more new keys on the same package
due to stupidity in tweaking around where I shouldn't have.
If I'm wrong, I'm sure one of the Microsoft folks here will correct me and I
hope they do, and at the same time explain to me why I can obtain a key
anytime I want and explain the hardware fingerprint issue.
Hope this helps you and others that are pondering the same issue.