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Posted by Gordon Sande on 05/07/06 22:08
On 2006-05-07 15:05:46 -0300, Donald McDaniel <orthocross@invalid.net> said:
<snip>
>> The retail version of MaxOsX seems to install nicely into a newly formatted
>> partition. It will also do an upgrade.
>>
>> The "OEM" versions check for the specific model because thye typically have
>> additional software bundled and on the install disks. The iLife packages or
>> MacOs/9 ("Classic") of some such bundle.
>>
>> There are some vendors who supply OEM Windows?XP on a retila basis because
>> they include a piece of hardware (usually a cable woth $0.25 or such) and
>> those versioninsist on doing a clean install. The fine print of the vendors
>> product descriptions expalin this reatriction if you know how to understnad it.
>>
>
> Your definition of an "XP Retail version" and an "XP OEM version" are a
> little confused.
>
> Windows "OEM" products can ONLY be installed CLEAN, and CANNOT do an
> "upgrade" of an existing OS, while Windowws RETAIL products may be
> installed ANY WAY one chooses, either as a "Clean" installation, or as
> an "Upgrade" of an existing OS.
>
> So while many system builders sell "Generic OEM" (always distributed in
> shrink-wrap without a box, with the COA inside the shrink-wrap)
> versions of XP to the "retail market", and ususally costing about $125
> for XP Pro OEM, ALL OEM versions (no matter whether they are sold
> "retail" or only with a new machine) STILL can ONLY be installed
> "CLEAN", and CANNOT do an upgrade of an existing Windows OS, while the
> so-called "Retail" distribution of Windows XP Pro (the one with the SRP
> of $299, ALWAYS BOXED in an official Microsoft package (Blue for Pro,
> and Green for Home), with the COA placed on the box-top itself) may be
> installed ANY WAY one chooses, even if one has no existing license to
> Windows.
>
> In addition, ALL "OEM" distributions of XP MUST be sold with an
> "essential" piece of hardware. (this used to be a HD or motherboard,
> but now may even be just a power cord or mouse).
>
> Now, that is the way WINDOWS USERS differentiate between an "OEM"
> version and a "Retail" version.
> There is a THIRD type of XP distribution, called a "Retail Upgrade"
> version. This one is $100 cheaper than the "Full Retail", and may be
> used to do either a "Clean" installation or an "upgrade" of an existing
> Windows OS. However, one must be able to PROVE that he has a licensed
> previous version of Windows. This is usually accomplished by inserting
> the media for a previous distribution of Windows when the installer
> fails to find a previous Windows OS on the HD.
>
> In addition, there is a FOURTH type of XP distribution, called a
> "Volume License" distribution. This one is almost always sold to
> corporate customers, although it may be sold to anyone, including
> private citizens, as long as they purchase a minimum of 5 site licenses.
> (The so-called "Devil's Own version", commonly called the "Corporate"
> version) is a pirated and hacked version of a Volume License
> distribution, since no such "Corporate" distribution exists.
>
> The FIFTH type of XP distribution is called an "Academic", or "Students
> and Teachers" edition. This one is also an official release from
> Microsoft.
>
> The SIXTH type of official XP distribution is the MSDN download
> version. This one is NOT distributed on a bootable CD or DVD, while
> all other official distributions are bootable.
>
> In addition, EACH one of these distributions MUST have a CD key created
> EXPRESSLY for each type of distribution media. These CD keys are NOT
> interchangeable among themselves. In other words, a "Full Retail"
> distribution will have a CD key which can ONLY be used with a "Full
> Retail" distribution disc, while an "OEM" CD key can only be used to
> install an "OEM" version.
>
> In addition, some "OEM" versions distributed with a NEW computer will
> ONLY install on that manufacturer's machine, and usually are
> "BIOS-locked" to enforce it.
>
> However, ANY "Generic OEM" (what ya'll call "retail OEM" versions) may
> be installed on ANY Wintel machine which meets the current Windows
> hardware requirements.
>
> Confusing, ain't it? It almost confuses me, and I've used Windows
> since Windows 1.0, so I can understand why it would confuse
> exclusively-Mac users.
Marvelous job of repeating yourself at length and verifying what was said.
You make it sound like a correction when none is required so generate the
impression that you could not be bothered reading anything. Less haste
would lead to more logic.
The Mac original install disks are machine specific as they include bundled
software, to be repetative. When Apple is the midst of an OS version change
they are prone to toss some "retail" disks into the original computer box
rather than do a new set of disks. I got an iMac with 10.2 machine originals
and 10.3 retail disks. So "in the box" and "OEM" get rather confused.
Since there is no bundled software with Windows the issue of checking
for the right machine does not usually arise. Vendor specific versions
are clearly the exception.
The retail sale of "OEM (with $0.25 of hardware)" and "Upgrade Versions" and
"Full Versions" is a confusing feature of the Windows market which is not
present for Macs and requires careful wording that many miss. And then
there are the wholesale/corporate and educational variants. What happened
to the Beta versions in yoour list?
So, yes there are suppliers of "OEM" Windows who sell to retail customers.
Not just white box clone assemblers but walkin cash customers, or internet
credit card customers as the case may be. You just have to toss the cable,
or whatever that makes it OEM, and live with the "clean only" installs for
the savings. One presumes that Microsoft was a bit untidy with their license
wording, or that the preferred wording would too restictive so they life
with it.
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