Windows Retail prices ?

Dicehunter · 28 Sep 2014 at 09:32

Just wondering if anyone knows if the retail version of Windows might come down in price any time soon ?

The reason I'm asking is that current version of Windows was put on by a friend who works as an IT Tech Support and it's fully official etc... but seeing as I can no longer call him as he's moved away and say "Hey I need Windows" £80 from OCUK for the OEM seems like quite a lot for a 1 time Windows install.

demonix · 28 Sep 2014 at 16:34

MS scrapped retail versions with the launch of windows 8 (retail versions of windows 7 and lower were more expensive then the OEM versions), so the OEM version is actually a retail version and isn't tied down to the single use restrictions of the old OEM license (it was all changed with windows 8 to allow the OS to be moved to another computer as long as you removed it first).

Caged · 28 Sep 2014 at 16:57

Dicehunter said:
The reason I'm asking is that current version of Windows was put on by a friend who works as an IT Tech Support and it's fully official etc...

It probably isn't.

Glaucus · 28 Sep 2014 at 17:29

Just to back up what demonix said OEM is retail. Licenses were totally overhauled with win8. You can reinstall as many times as you want on totally different hardware (still only allowed to be installed on 1 pc at a time).

After a few installations you will have to phone activate, but it's all automated and all you got to do is when it says how many pcs is it installed on, press 1.

Dicehunter · 28 Sep 2014 at 19:28

demonix said:
MS scrapped retail versions with the launch of windows 8 (retail versions of windows 7 and lower were more expensive then the OEM versions), so the OEM version is actually a retail version and isn't tied down to the single use restrictions of the old OEM license (it was all changed with windows 8 to allow the OS to be moved to another computer as long as you removed it first).

Awesome thanks dude

Caged said:
It probably isn't.

Oh it was came with official stuff, Serial etc...plus the fact that he got as many copies of any MS OS he wanted being a MS tech support guy and all

, Well MS certified not working for them however.

Glaucus said:
Just to back up what demonix said OEM is retail. Licenses were totally overhauled with win8. You can reinstall as many times as you want on totally different hardware (still only allowed to be installed on 1 pc at a time).

After a few installations you will have to phone activate, but it's all automated and all you got to do is when it says how many pcs is it installed on, press 1.

Good to know thanks

nightmare99 · 28 Sep 2014 at 19:50

Oh it was came with official stuff, Serial etc...plus the fact that he got as many copies of any MS OS he wanted being a MS tech support guy and all , Well MS certified not working for them however.

Yeah it will be licenced for internal company use, not for mates etc

Dicehunter · 28 Sep 2014 at 20:08

nightmare99 said:
Yeah it will be licenced for internal company use, not for mates etc

Ahhhh ok guess I better get shopping fast then

Caged · 28 Sep 2014 at 21:54

Depending on the scheme it was obtained under it will either be licensed for testing or development anyway, not production.

I mean I wouldn't worry about replacing it, but just bear it in mind.

Dicehunter · 28 Sep 2014 at 22:05

Caged said:
Depending on the scheme it was obtained under it will either be licensed for testing or development anyway, not production.

I mean I wouldn't worry about replacing it, but just bear it in mind.

Looked like a normal disk and casing to me, Nothing special.

Bane · 30 Sep 2014 at 17:08

Could hold out for potential pre-order deal of Windows 9. But April is a long time off.

Dicehunter · 30 Sep 2014 at 17:09

Bane said:
Could hold out for potential pre-order deal of Windows 9. But April is a long time off.

Indeed, I might need to reinstall Windows between now and then and as I have no option of doing so I think buying W8.1 now would be wise

Bane · 1 Oct 2014 at 11:12

Can't you use the refresh or reset option that is meant to return OS to bare install state? One benefit of Windows 8 to potentially avoid having to reinstall.

Dicehunter · 1 Oct 2014 at 11:17

Bane said:
Can't you use the refresh or reset option that is meant to return OS to bare install state? One benefit of Windows 8 to potentially avoid having to reinstall.

No clue, Already bought and reinstalled W8.1, If this were to happen in the future I'd just feel more at ease wiping the drive and putting a fresh Windows install on

Bane · 2 Oct 2014 at 16:47

Oh well. could have tried Windows 10 technical preview as a stop gap.

Dicehunter · 2 Oct 2014 at 16:49

Bane said:
Oh well. could have tried Windows 10 technical preview as a stop gap.

True but I need it to work all the time as I work from home a lot so coming home to find out the preview has ended when I need to do work would be a pain in the ball bag

I'm keeping my eye on W10 though, Hoping for some nice performance increases