Pre-installed or purchase separately?

[Guest]

Am getting ready to order a new system but don't know
whether to purchase Windows XP Pro from the manufacturer
and have them install it or order the system without any
software (XP, Office, etc), buy it off the shelf and do it
myself. Does anyone know what the differences are
between Windows software purchased from a manufacturer
and that purchased from my local computer store?

 

[Malke]

Am getting ready to order a new system but don't know
whether to purchase Windows XP Pro from the manufacturer
and have them install it or order the system without any
software (XP, Office, etc), buy it off the shelf and do it
myself. Does anyone know what the differences are
between Windows software purchased from a manufacturer
and that purchased from my local computer store?

It depends on from whom you're buying it. The advantage to buying an OEM
machine (Dell, HP, etc.) is 1) that you know the hardware will work
with the operating system; 2) it will come bundled with preinstalled
software that would be more expensive to buy retail; 3) you have some
sort of warranty. The disadvantage is if you buy from an OEM that only
offers a restore disk instead of a full version of the operating
system. Dell still ships the cd's with their systems. HP does not ship
cd's, but has a hidden partition on the hard drive for restore. Some of
their models allow you to make one backup copy on cd-r of the operating
system and installed drivers and software. HP's restore program gives
you the opportunity to do a "repair install" as well as a return to
factory condition install. Compaqs and eMachines only allow you to
restore to factory image. I would stay away from them because of that.

HTH,

Malke

 

[Alex Nichol]

Am getting ready to order a new system but don't know
whether to purchase Windows XP Pro from the manufacturer
and have them install it or order the system without any
software (XP, Office, etc), buy it off the shelf and do it
myself. Does anyone know what the differences are
between Windows software purchased from a manufacturer
and that purchased from my local computer store?

You will probably find it quite a bit cheaper purchased as part of the
system 'OEM'. Downside is that you may not get a 'proper' CD from which
to repair the system if needed, though you could probably twist the
maker's arm on that, and second that the license is solely to that
machine, as compared with a retail copy you buy and install yourself,
which you could then transfer on to a successor machine. That would
probably only be worth while if you expect to change machines fairly
often though

The actual system as installed will be the same; a maker may also bundle
in other software (though beware of '60 day trials' of Office which get
to be expensive to keep after the trial. And from some of the big
makers the system may also be on proprietary hardware where upgrading or
change may be tricky

 

[Andre Da Costa]

The OEM Edition of Windows XP Professional is much cheaper than if you were
to purchase it through retail.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=302796

Andre

 

[Alex Nichol]

The OEM Edition of Windows XP Professional is much cheaper than if you were
to purchase it through retail.

And an OEM one installed by the maker will be cheaper still