Vista oem

[C64]

Everywhere i look including here has oem vista for sale isn't this limited to one board where on earth can you buy the retail vista if anywhere?
edit: never mind found it and the price is just plain daft will wait until its £100.

 

[MarcLister]

Yeah OEM versions of Vista/XP etc are limited to just the one PC as defined by the motherboard I think it is.

Retail can be installed on as many PCs as you want BUT only on ONE PC at a time.

 

[stoofa]

Everywhere i look including here has oem vista for sale isn't this limited to one board where on earth can you buy the retail vista if anywhere?
edit: never mind found it and the price is just plain daft will wait until its £100.

It will never be that price.
Retail Vista is approx. twice as much as OEM.
Why?
OEM Vista can only ever be installed on a single PC - as soon as you're ready to replace your motherboard you need to buy another OEM copy of Vista.
The retail version would allow you to replace the motherboard and then simply move your copy of Vista onto the new PC.

So, ask yourself this.
If you do not plan on upgrading your motherboard during the lifetime of Vista then OEM is the way forward.
If you plan on doing a single replacement during the life of Vista you should break about even by buying Retail.
If you plan on two or more new motherboards during the life of Vista then Retail will be your best bet.

Price is not everything - look at the license you are actually paying for, OEM and Retail are quite different.

 

[Corasik]

Windows XP Pro was still retailing at £200+ in 'Retail' version just before vista came out. Honestly just get the OEM versions, you can replace it 3 times before it becomes more expensive than retail, and you can always try and sell the old motherboard & its associated vista if you upgrade. Unless a motherboard only lasts you a month

And if your motherboard actually 'breaks' microsoft will gracefully give you a new activation code anyway. You just call them, explain it broke and your repairing the computer, and all will be sorted out.

Basically OEM reactivation does envolve some trust on microsofts part, but as long as the majority of people are honest about it, microsoft will continue to release oem versions at a fraction of the price of full retail software.

Upgrade versions 'can' be a fair comprimise, but it does depend what your original software was.. If you have OEM XP, you end up with OEM Vista.. and pay a premium price for it. Upgrades are only worthwile if you already have a retail copy of XP.