oem vs retail

Something Else · 13 Mar 2012 at 19:12

sorry if this has been covered before and please link me to the correct thread if there is one, i havent found anything that answers my question.

im currently building my system and i need to purchase the os soon which will be windows 7

i understand that the retail version contains both 32 and 64bit systems and is intended for the average person at home, and that the oem version is for system builders and according to microsofts policy a system builder is somone who builds a system :rolleyes:

and pre installs the software for the end user i.e customer purchasing a prebuilt system.

my question is if i need worry about purchasing the 64bit oem version and will it cause any problems validating my software? or should i just purchase the retail version?

numatic.nathan · 13 Mar 2012 at 19:14

OEM is for system builders and is tied to one machine only. Also if you build the machine yourself it's kind of against Microsoft's EULA.

Retail can be used on one PC but you can swap the licence over if you bought a new PC or got new parts.

Go for retail, saves a lot of hassle when it comes to upgrade time.

Something Else · 13 Mar 2012 at 19:20

numatic.nathan said:
OEM is for system builders and is tied to one machine only. Also if you build the machine yourself it's kind of against Microsoft's EULA.

Retail can be used on one PC but you can swap the licence over if you bought a new PC or got new parts.

Go for retail, saves a lot of hassle when it comes to upgrade time.

yea i was swinging towards the retail to save complications. cheers

theheyes · 13 Mar 2012 at 20:58

What Nathan said. Aside from being technically incorrect, OEM can be a false economy sometimes as well.