Should I buy OEM?

[Roadhog]

I'm thinking about buying the Vista Home Premium OEM. What are the disadvantages of the OEM over the retail besides the 32 bit and 64 bit. Will I have problems with upgrading my pc and whatnot?

[nippyjun]

I'm thinking about buying the Vista Home Premium OEM. What are the disadvantages of the OEM over the retail besides the 32 bit and 64 bit. Will I have problems with upgrading my pc and whatnot?


I've seen various answers to this very question. Aparently you are not supposed to be able to "move" the program to another system once it's activated in a system.

But i've seen people say that with XP they have been able to reactive their oem windows in another system.

I don't think there is real answer yet as these just came out and i haven't seen anyone post about them moving it from system to system.

I think the best deal is to get an upgrade version which should not have these issues.

[scorpio1977]

Me and roadhog actually wanted to know what the difference is with OEM and Retail
we know that OEM does not let you change components (up to 5 devices)but what about retail? upgrading ??
i also read about ICS limited to 10 users ? That would suck for our Lan parties :headexplode:

[nrs421]

Me and roadhog actually wanted to know what the difference is with OEM and Retail
we know that OEM does not let you change components (up to 5 devices)but what about retail? upgrading ??
i also read about ICS limited to 10 users ? That would suck for our Lan parties :headexplode:

they change the EULA for the retail version so you could change components.

[Digital_Trans]

they change the EULA for the retail version so you could change components.


Are you sure about that? Why does retail have the advantage over OEM? It's two full version CD's in the retail box 32-bit and x64-Bit. I went with a full version x64 OEM since I don't need the retail version with the extra 32-Bit disc inside.

[Dual Core Joe]

Only Unlimited comes with both 32 and 64 bit. I went retail Ultimate because I didnt want to mess with OEM. I put together my own system,and I didnt want some OEM manufacturer having his hand in my OS. Could be bunk philosophy, but Ive just heard to much junk about OEM.

[Digital_Trans]

Update: For the record, I talked to an ebay power seller who sells the ***** out of Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate OEM Full Version. He said
Install as many times as needed....you are fine as long as you do not change out the motherboard and finally OEM software does not come with free technical support from Microsoft. Well there ya go!

[grey_1]

Update: For the record, I talked to an ebay power seller who sells the ***** out of Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate OEM Full Version. He said
Install as many times as needed....you are fine as long as you do not change out the motherboard and finally OEM software does not come with free technical support from Microsoft. Well there ya go!
I have never had an issue with OEM XP. I'm thinking I may change my mind and grab OEM Vista as well.

[Darkoz]

You should read the info about OEM in this thread..........
http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=85292

[Roadhog]

bump.

[john19055]

The only difference really is that the Retail comes in a shinny new box and offers tech support and has a papper in it where you can get the 64bit upgrade ,you pay for shipping.The oem is just like the XP oem you can change parts out to upgrade ,but when you change the motherboard you will have to reactivate ,just call microsoft and they ask the normal question,is this your first time installing ,how many computers do you have this on ,and after you say you a harddrive mess up or a virus that just meesed up everthing ,they will give you the 148 number code.

[Digital_Trans]

Sweet! I'm glad I purchased the OEM version vs. retail. I'll never need their tech support other then getting a new CD-Key if I need to reinstall Windows Vista Ultimate x64 Edition OEM again due to a virus or hardware failure. Looks like you ended our thread on that answer! :D