Vista Retail vs Vista OEM

D

Donald L McDaniel

So I'm ready to purchase Vista Home Premium from my neighborhood computer
store (Microcenter in Cambridge, MA) and I'm confused with the options. I
can buy Vista upgrade for $129.00 or Vista Full for $159.00 or Vista OEM for
$129.00. Looking at the different options
1) What is involved if I purchase the upgrade and I want to rebuild (fresh
install) my machine down the road. Do I need to install XP MCE first then
Vista or can I install Vista directly by inserting the XP DVD to prove I
actually qualify for an upgrade.
2) If I want to do a fresh install, what is the actual difference between
the full retail vs the OEM besides the $30.00 difference?

Thanks,
~alan

Actually, the prices are:
$159 for the Retail upgrade to Home Premium
$99 for the Retail upgrade to Home Basic.

I guess small system builders can sell the System Builder kits for any price
they want. If you can get one for $129, then more power to ya.

I paid $139 for a "System Builder Kit" with a Home Premium license.
As far as I know, the generic "OEM" kit is now called a "System Builder Kit",
(or may have been all along, but misnamed).

In addition, I don't think System Builder Kits are produced by the OEMs
anymore. They seem to be only produced by Microsoft itself.

Please correct me if I'm wrong?

Donald L McDaniel
Please Reply to the Original thread.
============================================================
 
D

Donald L McDaniel


There is an unsupported method for doing that, since the Vista Upgrade installer
NO LONGER asks for your previous OS disk, as XP before it did.

However, I certainly wouldn't count on that method being around much longer. I
truly believe that Microsoft is going to eliminate its possibility in an update
soon.

Donald L McDaniel
Please Reply to the Original thread.
============================================================
 
G

Gary VanderMolen

Donald L McDaniel said:
There is an unsupported method for doing that, since the Vista Upgrade installer
NO LONGER asks for your previous OS disk, as XP before it did.

However, I certainly wouldn't count on that method being around much longer. I
truly believe that Microsoft is going to eliminate its possibility in an update
soon.

MS can't very well eliminate the double install method, since their own
tech support reps are recommending it as a fix for certain conditions.
 
M

Michael Jennings

We all have these true beliefs - life is fair, my girl is true to me,
this is the year for the cubs - it keeps life from being dull.
 
H

HEMI-Powered

Today, Alias made these interesting comments ...
Yes, it's been removed but you can install Vista and not put
the product key in and then install it again and put the
product key in and it will fool Vista and install correctly.

Anything to make a buck, I guess. Wouldn't you expect Redmond to
remove this back-door method as well sometime in future, certainly
before I go to Vista?
 

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