Windows OEM hardware requirements

[pixel]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc,comp.os.ms-windows.misc (More info?)

so far some places i've asked to buy an OEM version of WindowsXP Pro
have said that it has to be with an entire PC, not just a non-peripheral
component. others have said you can buy OEM with one of four core
components (mobo, cpu, ram, hdd).

so there is either some confusion with my local resellers... or the
agreement with MS lets the reseller decide on the extent of the hardware
required...?

i hear a lot of people saying you can buy Windows OEM with a power
cable... i live in hope

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc,comp.os.ms-windows.misc (More info?)

pixel wrote:
> so far some places i've asked to buy an OEM version of WindowsXP Pro
> have said that it has to be with an entire PC, not just a non-peripheral
> component. others have said you can buy OEM with one of four core
> components (mobo, cpu, ram, hdd).
>
> so there is either some confusion with my local resellers... or the
> agreement with MS lets the reseller decide on the extent of the hardware
> required...?
>
> i hear a lot of people saying you can buy Windows OEM with a power
> cable... i live in hope
>

It depends to a large extent on where you are buying.

Canadian courts, for example, shot down a lot of MicroSoft's
rules for OEM purchases so that just about any part can be
used to qualify for buying an OEM copy of Windows. However,
the buyer has to be buying that part for a new system: buying
a power cord for a new system qualifies, but buying a power
cord for an old system does not. However, the vendor selling
the (part + OEM Windows) is not obligated to make sure the buyer
is indeed building a new system. The rules are also fuzzy on
what makes something a "new system" - but it so far seems to
be defined as one in which the OEM copy of Windows will be the
first OS with which the core components have been used.

Note that the above is not a "legal" opinion - it is something
I picked up from a few local vendors I have talked to. Hopefully
they knew what they were talking about.

In the US, the OEM rules are apparently still like what we had
in Canada a few years ago: MicroSoft gets to decide and MicroSoft
can change their mind at will.

 

[pixel]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc,comp.os.ms-windows.misc (More info?)

Rob Stow wrote:
> In the US, the OEM rules are apparently still like what we had
> in Canada a few years ago: MicroSoft gets to decide and MicroSoft
> can change their mind at will.

i've received a lot of reponses on this question on other ngs,
basically the response is all the same - no-one seems entirely sure
specifically what the rules are.

however someone found this:

http://oem.microsoft.com/downloads/sbLicense2004/English_SB_License.pdf

"If the individual software license is a desktop operating system
(including Windows XP Media Center Edition),we grant you a nonexclusive
right to distribute individual software licenses; provided that each one
is distributed with either (a) a fully assembled computer system or (b)
a nonperipheral computer hardware component. A �fully assembled computer
system� means a computer system consisting of at least a central
processing unit, a motherboard, a hard drive, a power supply, and a
case. A �nonperipheral computer hardware component� means a component
that will be an integral part of the fully assembled computer system on
which the individual software license will be installed."

doesn't give specifics on the 'integral parts' of hardware tho...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc,comp.os.ms-windows.misc (More info?)

pixel wrote:

> Rob Stow wrote:
> > In the US, the OEM rules are apparently still like what we had
>
>> in Canada a few years ago: MicroSoft gets to decide and MicroSoft
>> can change their mind at will.
>
>
> i've received a lot of reponses on this question on other ngs, basically
> the response is all the same - no-one seems entirely sure specifically
> what the rules are.
>
> however someone found this:
>
> http://oem.microsoft.com/downloads/sbLicense2004/English_SB_License.pdf
>
> "If the individual software license is a desktop operating system
> (including Windows XP Media Center Edition),we grant you a nonexclusive
> right to distribute individual software licenses; provided that each one
> is distributed with either (a) a fully assembled computer system or (b)
> a nonperipheral computer hardware component. A �fully assembled computer
> system� means a computer system consisting of at least a central
> processing unit, a motherboard, a hard drive, a power supply, and a
> case. A �nonperipheral computer hardware component� means a component
> that will be an integral part of the fully assembled computer system on
> which the individual software license will be installed."
>
> doesn't give specifics on the 'integral parts' of hardware tho...
>

And since the hard drive is useless without an IDE (or SATA
or SCSI or ...) cable, that makes said cable "integral",
does it not ? Just one of the reasons why MicroSoft's
OEM rules were pretty much entirely defanged in Canada.