OEM vs Full version of Windows?

Question

My understaning of OEM was that it's good to use on one computer & that's it. If you upgrade your PC then your old OEM version is useless. However if you buy the full version, it's your copy & if you upgrade your PC then you can put it on the new one. Is that correct or is there no benefit to buying the full version?

Answer 1

Usually there is NO difference between OEM vs. Retail version of windows. The Retail upgrade version is another matter, but overall functionality is the same.

OEM just means the copy is sold to OEM (PC manufacturers). It comes with a perfectly valid license, and a CD/DVD, and that's it. It MAY come with a short manual, but definitely no box. No support from Microsoft at all except the standard "Windows Update".

Retail means you get it in a store with a box and registration forms and CD and all that. Microsoft will support you installing and troubleshooting for some issues via telephone.

Upgrade means the copy is only licensed to be used on a PC that already has a valid Windows Operating System (Win98, 2000, etc.) Otherwise, it's identical to the retail version.

So what *do* you get when you buy retail (full version) vs. OEM? Direct support from Microsoft. Also, you are NOT supposed to buy OEM version w/o any hardware, and MS is quite serious about that. There may be some bonus content but that's up ot Microsoft.

Answer 2

Technically, what you think is how the Terms of Service agreement is written. OEMs are meant for one machine and supposedly they sometimes register themselves with one motherboard making it impossible to activate it after it's installed on a different machine.

However, I've heard plenty of people claim that calling to activate it over the phone and explaining that you're just moving the windows license to another computer will get you around this problem. They really don't care as long as only one computer is using it at a time.

Also, comparing OEM to full version is misleading. A more appropriate comparison is OEM to retail. The newer Windows come in multiple versions. So Full version could mean Windows with all the bells and whistles, while other versions might not have all of these features.

Answer 3

Check with Microsoft - the last time I checked, the only people who could buy the OEM version were OEMs (IOW, it's not legal for someone to sell you an OEM version, unless it's the OEM selling you their disk for your computer). If you buy an OEM version, and it won't activate on your hardware, that's it - you're out $189. (Depending on whether it's Microsoft's OEM version, or some manufacturer's OEM version, it may or may not work, and there may or may not be some disabled or added features.) Why not just install 64 bit 7? It's now available, and it'll run faster and better than Vista.