Windows license question (when virtualised - e.g. Virtualbox)

[Hades]

First off I have a genuine Vista license and I don't intend installing it as I'm about to describe. So this is a theorhetical question simply because I've been playing around with Virtualbox recently and the question popped into my head.

Under Virtualbox I think that all guest OS's would effectively appear to be on the same hardware (e.g. the same sized hard drive, memory, CPU, etc, etc). So if you were to install Windows multiple times on the same physical machine under a virtual environment then I *think* that Windows would think it's the same machine at registration time. So my questions:

1) What does the license say about multiple installs on the same machine? Is the license for one machine or for one instance on one machine?

2) Any idea if the registration process would think it's the same machine.



Once again, just pointing out that I don't intend to try this even if the license is valid. All my guest OS's are running Linux so this really is just a theorhetical question.

 

[theheyes]

Not sure about the registration process, but it's one instance per machine. If I was running Windows on bare metal with a VM Windows I would require two licenses. There are even limits on how many CPUs Windows will support without incurring additional costs. Cores are unlimited but distinct CPUs are limited to two (I think) on XP Pro - you'd have to check the documentation (I'm sure someone will correct me).

 

[Hades]

Thanks.

 

[J.B]

its a good question, I've never thought of the legality of virtualisation or ever heard it talked about. theheyes is probably right though, you'd need one license per copy installed. Regardless of if its virtual or physical.

 

[Vertigo]

With desktop operating systems it's just that simple - each instance requires a licence. With servers it gets a lot more complicated.