Windows Vista - OEM Vs Retail Licensing
Part 1
The first things to note is that there is a difference
between what you can do legally under the license agreements and
what you can physically do.
The analogy I like to give is having a Driving License.
Legally I cannot drive without one, physically there is nothing
to stop me – it is however against the law.
The second thing to note is that this is very much a “basics” of
how OEM & Retail OS licenses work.
The EULA is a lot more complicated and does explain everything
in great detail. You really should make sure you read it through
at some point so you know what you are agreeing to.
Buying
Retail
Anyone is of course able to buy a Retail version of the
Operating System.
Numerous places online will sell you this version; it is also
the version you are most likely to encounter in many of the High
Street stores.
It is in a full retail plastic box.
With the exception of the Ultimate edition you will receive only
the 32bit version of the operating system inside the box.
Where a 64bit version is available you will need to send off for
the media, this has an additional administration fee of around
£7 and will take 1-2 weeks to process.
With the retail version of Vista Ultimate you will receive both
32bit & 64bit media inside the box.
OEM
As with the retail version anyone can buy this version of the
Operating System.
Most large High Street stores will not be dealing with OEM
versions and if you wish to buy this over the counter you may
well be restricted to independent and local stores.
Many online retailers will be happy to sell you an OEM version.
The OEM version ships wrapped in cellophane and comes with a
basic manual and also a “Certificate of Authenticity” for you to
attach to the machine on which the OS is to be installed.
You will buy either the 32bit or the 64bit version of the OEM
software.
There is no option to replace the 32bit version with the 64bit
version – so make sure you make the correct choice before
purchase.
Finally there is no longer a requirement for the OEM version of
the OS to be purchased with hardware.
With older OS’s this was a way some retailers would get around a
licensing restriction that stopped them selling OEM versions.
However Microsoft dropped this restriction with Windows XP and
the OS can now be legally purchased on its own.
Full Retail Vs Upgrade Retail
The full version of the OS is designed to be installed on a
brand new machine without any other existing OS installed.
It is a brand new license, is not dependant on you owning a
license for anything else.
The upgrade license is designed as a lower-cost way to upgrade
from a previous version of Windows to the latest.
With MS Vista for example you can upgrade from Windows 2000 or
Windows XP to Windows Vista – however not from earlier versions.
Once you upgrade you are “upgrading your license” so your old
license for your old OS is no longer valid as a separate entity
– it has simply been replaced with a license to use the newer
OS.
In real terms this means for example that should you upgrade
from Windows XP to Windows Vista your old Windows XP license
ceases to exist once you’ve done the upgrade, you cannot use the
Windows XP license on another PC as it forms part of your new
Windows Vista license.
It should be noted that whereas with the Windows XP upgrade
package you did not have to have the old OS you were upgrading
from installed on your machine (simply pointing the installer at
a copy of the media sufficed) this is no longer the case with
Vista.
If you wish to purchase and use a Windows Vista Retail Upgrade
your machine needs to already have Windows 2000 or newer
installed on the machine for the upgrade to work correctly.
If the OS you are upgrading from is reasonably up to date
(Windows XP) then an “In-Place Upgrade” will take place.
If your OS is older (Windows 2000) then the new OS will be
installed as Clean and totally remove your old OS before
installation.
The matrix
here explains this process better.
Guide Parts 1,
2,
3,
4
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