Hello
Everyone tells me that xp home upgrade and xp home are the same.
First, note that it's not "Home Upgrade" vs. "Home." It's the
*Upgrade* version of XP Home vs. the *Full* version. (By the way,
there's a third type, the OEM version, discussed below).
Well i
have been wondering , if they are the same why will xp home upgrade cost me
99.00 and xp home cost me 194.00?
help me if you can
They are exactly the same as far as what software they contain.
However they come with slightly different licenses, and that affects
the rules for how you can install them:
1. The Full version can do either a clean installation or an upgrade
installation without restrictions.
2. To install the Upgrade version, you must own a copy of a previous
qualifying version of Windows. That previous version can be installed,
in which case you can upgrade over the top it, or if it's not
installed (you want to do a clean installation), you have to insert
its CD as proof of ownership when prompted to do so.
Note that when you use an Upgrade CD to install, Windows XP becomes
tied to that previous version, and the previous version's CD is *not*
available to be resold or used on another computer. That's the reason
the Upgrade version is cheaper--you end up with one license, not two;
if you had used a Full version, you would have two licenses, the XP
one and the previous one.
For the sake of being complete, I'll mention that the third type, the
OEM version, comes with 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. That's the show-stopper, as far as I'm concerned, and
the reason I almost always recommend against it (especially since it
usually costs only slightly less than the Upgrade version).
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.
