Vista - number of reinstalls after product release

[Donald L McDaniel]

Not every time or every other time. The OS is able to detect if it's
being reinstalled on the same hardware or different hardware (well, most
of the time ....). You are allowed an infinite number of reinstalls on
the same hardware. Issues only arise when you change the hardware (and
"change" here means massive changes, so large that Vista considers it a
different computer). You can make "upgrade" changes small enough that
vista still considers it to be the same computer, and do an unlimited
number of reinstallations on what Vista thinks is the "same computer".

It's only when you move to a different computer (or make truly massive
changes to the same computer, such as new motherboard) that you have an
issue.

An unanswered question, however, that is crucial to the entire argument,
is whether or not Vista's product activation database, like XP's, resets
after 4 months with no changes to a given product key.

All of this is COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT to the fact that Microsoft is CHANGING
the "Retail" license to be EXACTLY like the "Generic OEM" License of XP,
with the addition of being able to move the OS to ONE new machine.

If this is true of the so-called "Retail" license (and apparently it is),
WHAT will be the conditions for an OEM license?

Will you stand by and let Microsoft change your "Retail license" into an
"OEM license", while charging inflated RETAIL prices for it?

I certainly hope not.

Donald
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[Bill]

Will you stand by and let Microsoft change your "Retail license"
into an
"OEM license", while charging inflated RETAIL prices for it?

So you're saying that Microsoft will not support their own retail
version, and that the vendor of my PC must support it - that's the
definition of an OEM license.

I don't think so...

 

[Chris May]

| I think that your analysis of what happened (or more correctly, why it
| happened) is incorrect. Drivers are not part of the analysis that is
| done to characterize the hardware. No changes in drivers will, by
| itself, trigger product activation if the underlying hardware remains
| unchanged.

Then perhaps you could explain precisely why the activation notice didn't pop up
until the exact moment video drivers were uninstalled? The computer had been
turned off and back on several times from the last hardware change until then.

ChrisM

 

[Donald L McDaniel]

So you're saying that Microsoft will not support their own retail
version, and that the vendor of my PC must support it - that's the
definition of an OEM license.

I don't think so...

Dream on, Bill.

Have fun trying to activate your "Retail" copy of Vista if your SECOND
machine's motherboard has to be replaced.

What good is all that Microsoft "support" when they refuse to activate your
Retail OS?

Its useless, sir.

Donald
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[Bill]

Dream on, Bill.

You said the retail is now an OEM license, when it appears it is not.

Have fun trying to activate your "Retail" copy of Vista if your
SECOND
machine's motherboard has to be replaced.

Kind of hard to make that determination since Vista has yet to be
released, and Microsoft has been rather tight lipped about the EULA
and hardware requirements.

I don't like the idea that retail versions can not be transferred more
than once, but I doubt that will be the end result. There are far too
many home and business customers that would be screwed. A friend works
at a graphics company and they upgrade once or twice a year to
increase performance. Having to replace a dozen copies of Vista every
other time would be incentive to stay with XP or migrate to another
operating system.

I doubt even Microsoft is stupid enough to piss off those users.

 

[Alias]

You said the retail is now an OEM license, when it appears it is not.


Kind of hard to make that determination since Vista has yet to be
released, and Microsoft has been rather tight lipped about the EULA and
hardware requirements.

I don't like the idea that retail versions can not be transferred more
than once, but I doubt that will be the end result. There are far too
many home and business customers that would be screwed. A friend works
at a graphics company and they upgrade once or twice a year to increase
performance. Having to replace a dozen copies of Vista every other time
would be incentive to stay with XP or migrate to another operating system.

I doubt even Microsoft is stupid enough to piss off those users.

You give them more credit than they deserve.

Alias

 

[Donald L McDaniel]

You said the retail is now an OEM license, when it appears it is not.

No, Bill, I thought I was plain in comparing the Vista "Retail" license
with the current XP OEM license, not in equating them. I have on more than
one occasion called the "Retail license" an OEM license "for all intents
and purposes". Do you understand the difference?

Kind of hard to make that determination since Vista has yet to be
released, and Microsoft has been rather tight lipped about the EULA
and hardware requirements.

If that was the case, it no longer is. The Vista EULA's are available
publically on Microsoft's Website for all to see. Their terms are EXACTLY
as we have outlined them.

I don't like the idea that retail versions can not be transferred more
than once, but I doubt that will be the end result. There are far too
many home and business customers that would be screwed. A friend works
at a graphics company and they upgrade once or twice a year to
increase performance. Having to replace a dozen copies of Vista every
other time would be incentive to stay with XP or migrate to another
operating system.

I doubt even Microsoft is stupid enough to piss off those users.

Microsoft is not stupid: It is downright ARROGANT.

Donald
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