Vista expensive...but OEM?

[GreyMackUK]

Over here in the UK vista is incredibly expensive the home premium going for £220, but then i noticed some online retailers are selling oem versions for substantially less...£77

So i can i buy an oem version of windows vista and have trouble free use or will it come back to haunt me?

 

[xwgpx55]

I don't see how it can really 'haunt' you. I've bought OEM XP Pro, and it was fine for me. Its just the CD and the Key.

The retail I think just comes with a bunch of jibber jabber that most of us techies could care less about.

 

[Snake-Eyes]

OEM means just the product itself. Retail (the 220 pounds price) means it's the same thing that is going to the stores with all the manuals and "tutorials," and, as xqgp put it, jibber jabber that most of us could care less about.

 

[mikee]

I heard the licensing is different in oem, like only being able to activate it 3 times.

 

[GreyMackUK]

Well that's what worries me about the oem version. For example if i had a major pc breakdown and decided to format and reinstall would it let me?
This to me is a fairly big issue because vista is so expensive and its like it's now the price of a flashy graphics card where as the oem version is the price of mid range sound card.

I'm sure there will be definitive answer to this once the actual product goes on sale which i belive is now 9 days away

 

[KSoD]

If your system breaks down yes you will be able to reinstall. The only time you should have a major issue with the Activation is when you do a major hardware change. Like a mobo and CPU. Then you can run into problems.

Other than that you should have no problem just as if you had XP. the License has changed a bit but not that much.

 

[mikee]

If you do end up upgrading your mobo or cpu you can still resolve this by calling M$ right?

 

[GreyMackUK]

The other thing i find odd is why microsoft allow companies to sell the oem version.

At a third of the price and if what is said above is true it surely makes no sense to pay for the retail version.

 

[KSoD]

If you do end up upgrading your mobo or cpu you can still resolve this by calling M$ right?

No. They are trying to stop this act from happening as it did with XP. So it will be much tougher to get Vista Activated by phone. So buying one copy and thinking you can upgrade all you want and just call might not work as easily once Vista gets off the ground.

The other thing i find odd is why microsoft allow companies to sell the oem version.

At a third of the price and if what is said above is true it surely makes no sense to pay for the retail version.

It does. OEM is just the disk. You get the serial but nothing else with it. Retail you get the fancy box and all that. to some people that matters.

Plus OEM is tailored to specific companies for the machines they build. So it might not be fully up to date with all the drivers and such that the retail version would have since they are catered discs.

 

[GreyMackUK]

It does. OEM is just the disk. You get the serial but nothing else with it. Retail you get the fancy box and all that. to some people that matters.

Wow there must be some people out there with too much money if they're happy to pay over £150 more for a box

Plus OEM is tailored to specific companies for the machines they build. So it might not be fully up to date with all the drivers and such that the retail version would have since they are catered discs.

Now that bit actually worries me, i'm thinking oem is the way to go then you say it may not be as up to date...mmmmm back to square one.