Pretty sure the pure "retail" version of the OS disappeared with XP->Vista. Everything on a store shelf today is an upgrade copy, and the version sold from people like Newegg (which is what I meant) is titled something like "OEM version for system builders".
Me too. And unlike the new "personal use license", it doesn't include new, ambiguous changes to the license text, like the prohibition against "licensing more than five copies of the software for commercial use in total" (concurrent or consecutive?) and the restriction that it may only be used on computers that "you are building for your own use". Given any reasonable interpretation of "build", this should exclude, say, a MacBook, and it leaves open questions about computers that I own but am "building" for the use of others.
I suspect the real reason for this train wreck of an EULA is that "no retail copies" is yet another stick to force volume license users to purchase software assurance, as it does mean that the only current-version Windows base license available to companies with more than five seats is the restricted, nontransferable OEM EULA. Or, oddly enough in the case of most volume license agreements, Mac OS X.
Offer valid from October 26, 2012 until January 31, 2013
and is limited to five upgrade licenses per customer.
To install Windows 8 Pro, customers must be running
Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista, or Windows 7.
While not exactly true, the exceptions don't apply to upgrade copies. Though from reading the Windows 7 Pro license agreement and the material on Microsoft's Web site, you could presumably get a full- or part-time student to buy a $65 copy[1] for you "while supplies last".
Upgrade price for Win7 was ~115, so it's much more reasonable than Win7 was, which probably means they're going to try and monetize the Windows Store or whatever it's going to be called pretty hard.
I found this out in a predictable way, at Google they had machines that they bought for desktops which came with an OEM windows sticker but they always put Goobuntu on. I needed an XP license for a project so I thought, "Oh I'll use this one, I know its not being used elsewhere." and did an install with a vanilla distro and the product code.
The first thing that broke was it wanted the oem cab file. Fixed that.
Then it would complain "this product key is intended for the original system."
Since I was running in a VM I changed it piece by piece until it accepted the product code, first changed the type of CPU it was reporting, then the bios identifier string, and finally the ethernet MAC address. It finally acceepted the product code after all of that (not sure which parts were optional but only needed it for like a week) Considered those licenses pretty much worthless from that point on.
For your future reference, Microsoft offers virtual machines of XP, Vista, and 7 for browser compatibility testing. They expire after three months, but for your uses, they're fine. You'd just grab the VHD out of the VM and use any of the import tools to convert it to your preferred VM format.
I've used these VMs and they are so infuriating I also want to just buy a full license. They're never able to validate, so they always nag you about "is your windows genuine?" (well I downloaded it from MS so I should hope so!) and shut down every half an hour. They're more trouble than they're worth.
Note: You may be required to activate the OS as the product key has been deactivated. This is the expected behavior. The VHDs will not pass genuine validation. Immediately after you start the Windows 7 or Windows Vista images they will request to be activated. You can cancel the request and it will login to the desktop. You can activate up to two “rearms” (type slmgr –rearm at the command prompt) which will extend the trial for another 30 days each time OR simply shutdown the VPC image and discard the changes you’ve made from undo disks to reset the image back to its initial state. By doing either of these methods, you can technically have a base image which never expires although you will never be able to permanently save any changes on these images for longer than 90 days.
Yes? I know that there is an elaborate forewarning of the VM's uselessness in the TOS. My comment was aimed at the parent, who mistakenly implied that the MS VMs were useful for something.
The stupid things restart every 30 minutes. I don't know what else I can say to underline what an annoying waste of time they are.
At the time I was there (2006 - 2010) and this may sound strange to some, I am sure that someone at Google had MSDN access but finding that person would have taken longer than hacking together a solution (which took a couple of hours in front of the VM instance). I don't doubt that at the if at the time I needed this that the TechStop guys (and gals) hadn't yet been dismantled I could have just said "I need an XP license for about a week" and they would have obliged. But I didn't have time to hunt down an owner, I didn't want to expense an XP OEM kit for this simple project that was a 20% thing anyway, and well TechStop had fallen way hard from being a resource to being a nop.
That's a pity. I just bought a new ThinkPad and there was no way to get it without Windows. It runs Xubuntu now and it's really snappy. I'd be happy to give away or sell the unwanted Windows license.
At least in Germany (possibly in the EU in general), that's no longer true. There has always been a market for OEM license resales, but recently there was a ruling that gave it a legal foundation. Microsoft wouldn't tell you it's okay, but they are no longer allowed to prevent it.
Upgrade copies of Vista and Win7 can be installed on an empty hard drive with minimal tweaking, but I guess being kosher with the licensing is important for some users.
If you're not willing to honor the license, what possible point would there be to paying for the software in the first place? I'm willing to be a Win8 crack is live on thepiratebay within the week.
The discussion was about whether or not MS has decided to reduce their retail OS price from the ~$100 it is at right now. AFAICT, they have not.
There is a grey area where you can have a Genuine copy of Windows that you paid for (and that can still Windows update) but was derived from an OEM license that was transferred to another machine.
This is still desirable compared to torrenting because a pirated copy will end up failing the Genuine check, will no longer get updates, and will happily be a part of some botnet some day.
That said my current machine is Win7 enterprise that I somehow, if only through brute force rather than actual know-how, managed to convince that its install had been validated.
>If you're not willing to honor the license, what possible point would there be to paying for the software in the first place?
This practice is actually fairly common. For example, almost all the technical people I know have bought OEM licenses rather than retail licenses for previous versions of Windows when they're building new systems. According to Microsoft, an OEM license is only valid if you sell the new system to someone else, not use it yourself[1].
I know plenty of people who would hate to torrent of, say, Photoshop, but also don't think it's worth $550 to them. Having a bought license that's legally of questionable origin is a compromise many non-business users would be more than willing to entertain.
But in case of OEM Windows licence it is black and white, no?
What would be peoples motivation to buy it for existing computer?
* "It's sorta legal, it's at least some kind of a licence, right?" -- they're misinformed / tricked /fools
* "I want to pay something, but retail costs too much" -- if you pay without getting anything useful in return, you're donating. Why not donate to charity?
* "I want to get Windows Updates" -- cracked copies used to get updates, and they're often bundled with updates already applied
My point is, I don't understand buying half-valid licence. Licence is either valid or you have no licence.
I think a valid, although not legal, motivation for that could be "I just want something Microsoft will activate because I want a clean (i.e.: without applying a random crack from the Internet which could install malware) Windows install, at the minimum possible cost".
>* "I want to pay something, but retail costs too much" -- if you pay without getting anything useful in return, you're donating. Why not donate to charity?
Because your sense of fair play says you've got something from MS so they, and not some random charity, deserve some of your money? Do you follow the same logic and donate to charity instead of tipping at restaurants?
It seems to me that many people treat software licences like physical goods in their minds.
The idea of buying a chef's knife from Victorinox for one price if it's to be used to chop vegetables and another if it's to be used to trim fat from steaks is absurd. You buy the knife at the lowest price it's offered and use it however you like.
Software licensing does include the ability to charge different prices for different usage scenarios, but violating those conditions doesn't strike most people as unethical while obtaining the software without paying seems similar to theft.
This is the same reason why the idea that you can't bequeath your iTunes purchases on death seems like lunacy to most people.
Purchased goods are purchased goods, and the idea that something is licensed with restrictions seems ridiculous to most people unless it's something upfront like a subscription that you are paying monthly fees to access.
Does the license really need the installation itself to be an upgrade? That would be silly, as everyone who has tried knows that a Windows installation upgraded from a previous version is never as snappy as a clean installation. And in that case, reinstalling the OS would require user to install the old Windows first. That wouldn't much make sense, would it?
You can do a fresh install, but only if there's already a licensed version of windows on the hard drive. If you previously replaced the OS, then the upgrade won't let you register until you run a command from the shell and say it's ok.
Oh. I thought we were talking about win7 now. It wasn't hard to find when searching for obvious keywords like upgrade verification new install windows whatever.
