In article <2012120208452515394-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom>,
savageduck1@{REMOVESPAM}me.com says...
>
> On 2012-12-02 08:23:24 -0800, Alan Browne
> <> said:
>
> > On 2012.12.02 11:10 , DaveS wrote:
> >
> >> When you register XP after a new install, you are then tying it to a
> >> specific computer.
> >
> > The WinXP I run under Fusion on the Mac is the same WinXP license I had
> > on 2 other machines (serially) and is itself predicated on owning a
> > Win98 license (checked from the install CD when installing WinXP).
> >
> > Doesn't seem to care what physical machine it is on at all.
>
> Yup!
> I have a version of XP running under Fusion on my iMac and on my MBP
> 17'' without issue.
The "issue" is activation. Once Windows is activated it's generally
happy. Microsoft has so many different licensing models that it's
difficult to keep track. Some tie a specific copy of Windows to a
specific motherboard, others allow it to be transferred to different
hardware as long as it is completely removed from the previous hardware,
some but not all allow it to be installed as both a real and a virtual
system on the same hardware at the same time. Very few if any allow
simultaneous activation on different hardware. Many also allow
downgrades--a Windows 7 retail license for example also allows you to
install Vista or XP using the same key, but you can only use one at a
time. Some Windows 7 licenses inlcude a virtual XP license--you can
download the virtual XP preconfigured straight from Microsoft.
The trouble is that the licensing is so complicated that their own techs
can't keep track of it, as a result of which their techs are generally
pretty generous about licensing--if you call in with a halfway
reasonable story they'll generally give you an activation code even if
your particular use violates the license as long as you aren't too
egregious about it--they'll generally activate an OEM copy on a
different motherboard for example even though that's technically a
violation of the OEM license. On the other hand if you've tried to
activate the same copy on 20 different pieces of hardware in the past
week they'll likely flag the serial number you're using.
I'm told that there is a time consideration as well--after some period
of months or years in which a serial number has not been reactivated it
gets reset in their system so it can be activated again on different
hardware--but I have never seen an official statement to that effect.
Anyway, XP doesn't care what machine it's running on, but Windows
Product Activation does care.