«

When you purchase OEM from a retailer the advantage is price what are
the disadvantages.
Frank

In article <>,
says...
> When you purchase OEM from a retailer the advantage is price what are
> the disadvantages.
> Frank
>



Software --

It's probably breaking licence conditions so no (or barely) more legal
than making a pirate copy.

No pretty packaging

Possibly no "extras" -- eg graphics software might come without
templates, fonts etc

Probably no tech support from the software makers. In fact if you ring
for support they might say you have an illegal copy.




Hardware

Probably no, or sparse, instructions

No pretty box

no fitting gear, eg a hard drive will probably come without screws,
brackets etc

Less software -- eg maybe no burner program with a DVD drive

Again little or no tech support from the makers

frank <> wrote in news3hrg15rgieuktm85vkhknre2hgo2f7ua2
@4ax.com:

> When you purchase OEM from a retailer the advantage is price what are
> the disadvantages.
> Frank
>

I don't know of any disadvantages but another advantage I know is that you
don't have to enter the license key every time you want to reinstall the
OS.

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"frank" <> wrote in message
news...
> When you purchase OEM from a retailer the advantage is price what are
> the disadvantages.
> Frank


I don't think you get any support from Microsoft. That was my experience
when I was using Win98 OEM.

On Thu, 25 Aug 2005 14:04:09 GMT, vbMark <> wrote:

>I don't know of any disadvantages but another advantage I know is that you
>don't have to enter the license key every time you want to reinstall the
>OS.

When I reinstalled WinXP a few months ago I had to enter the license
key. I got an OEM version with a new computer. (so in this case it was
perfectly legal)

I believe Microsoft says "support" for OEM software is supposed to go
through the vendor. So you might not get the support for which
Microsoft is justifiably infamous.

If a vendor sells OEM software in violation of his contract with the
software manufacturer is the buyer in violation of any law?

frank wrote:
>
> When you purchase OEM from a retailer the advantage is price what are
> the disadvantages.

Often lack of printed docs or driver CDs. Sometimes lack of support from
MS if you buy XP OEM.









--
http://www.bootdisk.com/

frank <> wrote:

>When you purchase OEM from a retailer the advantage is price what are
>the disadvantages.
>Frank

1. The End User License Agreement terms for an OEM version tie that
license permanently to the first computer that it is installed on, and
the license cannot be legitimately moved to another computer even if
the original computer is lost, stolen, destroyed, or scrapped. A
retail license belongs to the purchaser and may be moved from computer
to computer to computer as the owner sees fit, subject of course to
the requirement that it can only be installed on a single computer at
any given time.

2. Warranty and end-user support for OEM versions is the
responsibility of the OEM and not of Microsoft. That is part of the
OEM licensing agreement that the OEM signs with Microsoft. It is as
if you purchased "Acme Computer Corp. Windows, licensed from
Microsoft" rather than Microsoft Windows.

3. OEM versions that come preinstalled on new computers are likely to
be the SLP (= BIOS Locked) versions which may impose even greater
restrictions and limitations, such as not being able to replace a
failed motherboard (or to upgrade it) except with one from the same
OEM, inability to use the Windows XP Recovery Console or to do a
Repair Install.


OEM versions can be an less expensive way of acquiring the operating
system for a new computer, and given that over 90% of computers go to
the scrap heap with the same operating system version and same
hardware as they were purchased with the above considerations do not
really affect the majority of users. But for some........

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

Ron Martell wrote:

> 1. The End User License Agreement terms for an OEM version tie that
> license permanently to the first computer that it is installed on, and
> the license cannot be legitimately moved to another computer even if
> the original computer is lost, stolen, destroyed, or scrapped.

That's just blatant greed, especially for an OS that is targetted at
home users. If I buy a music CD, and my CD player subsequently dies, do
I have to throw away the music CD too? No, because despite their many
faults the record companies still treat (most of) their paying customers
with a little respect.

I've also noticed that the OEM version can be almost half the price of a
'full' (a.k.a 'in a cardboard box') version, at least as far as high
street retailers go. I can't vouch for internet prices. I'm not sure
who's to blame here for the huge mark-up, MS or the retailer.

Sorry for the rant, your information on the topic is much appreciated,
and I'll be careful when advising people on which version to buy from
now on. They're getting away with far too much though, aren't they? It's
as if they've written their own rules..

aleX wrote:
>
> I've also noticed that the OEM version can be almost half the price of a
> 'full' (a.k.a 'in a cardboard box') version, at least as far as high

One can get OEM XP SP2 for $89 or so at OfficeMax or other stores. It
says upgrade disk but it's the whole deal.

Seems like a resonable price for the most recent MS OS to me.

aleX <> wrote:

>Ron Martell wrote:
>
>> 1. The End User License Agreement terms for an OEM version tie that
>> license permanently to the first computer that it is installed on, and
>> the license cannot be legitimately moved to another computer even if
>> the original computer is lost, stolen, destroyed, or scrapped.
>
>That's just blatant greed, especially for an OS that is targetted at
>home users. If I buy a music CD, and my CD player subsequently dies, do
>I have to throw away the music CD too? No, because despite their many
>faults the record companies still treat (most of) their paying customers
>with a little respect.

Not a good analogy.

>
>I've also noticed that the OEM version can be almost half the price of a
>'full' (a.k.a 'in a cardboard box') version, at least as far as high
>street retailers go. I can't vouch for internet prices. I'm not sure
>who's to blame here for the huge mark-up, MS or the retailer.


Most of the price difference can be accounted for in terms of support
and the associated costs. Retail versions include 2 free support
calls to Microsoft. The last figures I saw indicated that the average
cost of a tech support phone call was $US45, and that was a few years
ago. The terms of the OEM licensing agreements require the OEMs to
provide the end-user support for the OEM versions they sell. Most
OEMs provide little or no support, hence no support costs, and
therefore they can sell at a lower price.


>
>Sorry for the rant, your information on the topic is much appreciated,
>and I'll be careful when advising people on which version to buy from
>now on. They're getting away with far too much though, aren't they? It's
>as if they've written their own rules..

OEM products are found everywhere. Dell printers, for example, are
OEM versions of Lexmark printers. But it is Dell and not Lexmark who
is responsible for the end-user support and product warranty for these
printers. Other examples would be appliances sold by large chain
stores (e.g. Sears) under their own brand names. Very seldom do these
chains actually own a factory that produces these items. Instead they
are OEM versions produced by some other manufacturer who most often
also produces the same or similar products for sale under their own
brand name.

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm