Vista Retail vs OEM version

[leatherneck1954]

ok lets try this again to see if I figured this out.
vista "Ultimate" comes in 3 versions.

SP1 32-bit for system builders - OEM

SP1 64-bit for system builders - OEM

SP1 - RETAIL

Basically my original question was what is the difference between Retail vs 32 bit or 64 bit OEM?
Why does the RETAIL version come in only 1 version and which is it? 32? bit or 64? bit.

After 2 days of digging what I am reading between the lines is that the Installed processor will determine which bit version RETAIL ultimate will load on the install??????

Another words I am building with a i7 CPU and x58 MBO and I read that the i7 is a 64 bit processor. So Ultimate retail will load the 64 bit version automatically??????

I searched for vista manuals on line and found some good intallation information. But none of them specify any control on how to set 34 or 64 bit on the Retail version.

 

[Cuddles]

There is two disks depending on what OS you want to load for the retail version.
There is a 32 bit one and a 64 bit one but both come with the retail version of Vista Ultimate.
There is quite a few differences between the 32 bit one and the 64 bit one. The 32 bit OS is more backward compatable so if you have really, really old programs you may want to select that OS.
The 64 bit OS can use more memory and on some applications it can be a little faster.
The difference between Retail and OEM is that Retail you own the OS and can use it on different computers but only one computer at a time.
OEM the OS is tied to just that one computer and once the computer is gone so is the OS.

I'm pretty sure everything I said is correct and if it isn't somebody will be along soon enough to correct me.

 

[leatherneck1954]

Hi Cuddles- thanks for the reply and you gave me both the information I needed, but also gave me the answer I want.
That answer was there are to disks in the the retail package. I could not find that info on MS website, Intel website, newegg or on plain old search. I knew the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit OS and memory but could not figure out this retail vs OEM thingie.
thanks again and have a good un